Artigianati.com

by Kenna Caprio

Making soap may seem completely scientific, but it’s really about creativity and chemistry. Soap has three main components: vegetable or animal fat, water and lye. When the ingredients reach the same temperature, makers mix a fat with lye and water, and watch saponification, a chemical process, occur. Then they add fragrances and essential oils; the result is soap. But the process involves more than that — it’s a way of life, a hobby-turned-career, a nod to native ingredients, and a love song to healthy living, especially here in Hunterdon.

Crunchy Granola

Samples from Deerfield's oatmeal soap line.

Jane Deerfield’s soaps don’t contain granola as the name suggests, but she does have an oatmeal line. After taking a workshop in 1998, Deerfield started making her own soaps as a hobby, and selling them at fairs, festivals and shows. As the words “crunchy” and “granola” were thrown around (customers compare her items to 1960s throwbacks), Deerfield realized they were on to something. Crunchy Granola had its name, and with Deerfield’s expertise in weaving and spinning, as well as soap making, she had a homegrown company. “I’ve gotten to a point where if I can make it myself, I prefer to,” she says. She lives a green life and prefers to use vegetable oils in her soaps; she cares about how the soaps feel on the skin. The soaps cost between $5.50 and $7.50 a bar. Big sellers from the oatmeal soap line include lavender, mint and patchouli. Deerfield specializes in shampoo/conditioner bars and silk soaps. The shampoo/conditioner bars remove tangles and the silk bars literally contain silk — a smoother feel for the skin......

Read more at   -   http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2010/05/rub-a-dub-dub_the_handmade_soa.html