One of the fastest growing hobby businesses of the last 10 years is soap making. If you were to "google" the phrase "soap making" you would come up with over 1.6 million indexed web pages on this topic. The process of soap making can be a tedious somewhat dangerous enterprise, which begs the question, why? Why are so many Americans pursuing a task

our colonial ancestors were glad to be rid of? The trial and error method of soap making was a long and thankless task that sometimes left the maker with an unusable commodity after many hours of hard work. Oprah relates how as a child her grandmother tried to teach her how to make soap and she declined not seeing the purpose in her young life.

Have you ever looked at the ingredient list of a modern day bar of soap?

Common ingredients include DEA, Isopropyl Alcohol, BHT and Triclosan. This is just a starter list. Can you imagine what all these chemicals are doing to your skin? Most commercial soap ingredients are petroleum based. This alone should be enough to scare off the average soap consumer. The commercial soap making process strips commercial soap of the best ingredient, glycerin. This is then sold separately by the manufacturer as another profit center for the soap company. Yet this is the main conditional agent available in soap to soothe irritations and protect the skin. Dermatologists across our country are doing a

brisk business remedying the consequences of the use of commercial soap.

Along comes the natural handmade soap maker. Making soap from common kitchen oils, including olive, soybean and coconut oils. In home based soap making the natural glycerin is retained in the soap. I would venture to say almost any handmade soap would out perform commercial soap as far as enhancing the natural properties of the skin. This would include both moisturizing dry skin, and cleaning excess oil from oily skin. Handmade soap is good for your body.

With a wide variety of fragrances now available to the handmade soap maker the possibilities for great smelling soap are endless. The most popular fragrances include lavender, vanilla and the love or leave it fragrance patchouli.

Most soap makers I have talked to find soap making addictive. They tell me the idea of creating a wonderfully utilitarian product that one can use, share or even sell to the accolades of others is euphoric. I must agree. One of the most exciting days for me is delivery day from the fragrance company. Examining all the new scents and imagining the newly possible fragrance combinations, keeps me coming back to my soap making bench again and again. I wish you many joys if you decide to venture down the soap making highway. Find a good soap making book and take your time. Don't be discouraged by set-backs, and check out some of the many soap making forums for tips and ideas.