Frequently Asked Questions

How do you make soap?

Soap is made with oils, water, and lye. Any additional ingredients are not necessary by definition but add different qualities to the soap. Salt adds hardness, coffee or oat grounds add exfoliation, preservatives make it last longer in storage, and foaming agents make it bubble more. Of course, A Local Soap Co-Op does not use preservatives or foaming agents. Oils are mixed together, the water and lye are mixed together, and then the two mixtures are all mixed together and poured into a mold. In about 24 hours, this hardens into soap but still can use about four weeks of time to dry out and "cure."

Can you make custom orders or do a large, bulk order?

Within reason, yes! If you have special requests, please send us an email: dank@alocalsoapcoop.com

Do you have any soap making classes?

We do not have any usually scheduled soap making classes, but the possibility is open! Can be for one person or a small group of friends, cost varying between what you would like to do. Just send an email!

Where are your scented soaps?

If you smell very closely, our soaps are naturally scented just by the oils and ingredients in the soap! We do not focus on scented soaps right now because it is our feeling that there are so many scents in modern life, why not take a little break and smell what is naturally in front of you? Of course, this does not mean we are hate gentle smells from essential oils or infusions, just that we may get there one day soon!

What ingredients do you use to make your soaps?

We use oils from Soaper's Choice (aka Columbus Vegetable Oils), Lye from Belle Chemical LLC (both sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide), and generic distilled water. Sometimes, we will add a tiny amount of pure table salt to make the soap harder and last longer.

Why do you have "Co-Op" in your name? Where are the rest of the people?

I chose to use "Co-Op" in the name because I want it to be a cooperative business! For the time being, it is just myself, Daniel, running things, but it would be wonderful to include others in an equal manner if the business grows.

Why do you have order forms instead of a regular online store?

We use order forms because they are just simpler and easier to manage with the extremely small scale of our business. In the beginning, we tried to make a shiny, flashy online store with a shopping cart, products, and automated checkout, but these things often gave us too much of what we didn't want and too little of what we did want. Lack of customization and an overly complicated website led us to use submission forms.