Artisan Soap

Why spend money on big corporate soap when you can make your own at home? Come glean the knowledge and skills of homemade soap making from Sharon, who used to be one of those soap vendors in the farmer's market. She'll share her tips and tricks—and lots of safety advice—in this fun, hands on workshop.

What You Will Learn:

• The various ways to make soap, including cold process and hot process recipes
• The science behind the chemical reactions in soap recipes
• Safety practices for handling and integrating materials
• How to cure soap loaves for optimal use
• The science and art of molding soap into loaves and other shapes
• Creative ways to package soap for gift giving

What You Take Home

• A two-pound loaf of soap (equivalent of eight, 4-ounce bars) for you to cure and cut at home
• A handmade soap mold
• Cold process and hot process soap recipes

Recommended for Folkies ages14 and up (youth with adults only). Have younger children you want to bring? Kindly email us before you register to talk make arrangements.

Head Folkie for the Day

For ten years, Sharon Umphlett was proprietor of Lompoc Valley Soapworks, making and selling artisan soaps at farmers markets and fine boutiques across Santa Barbara County. "Making soap is totally addicting," she says. "When you see the chemical reaction take place, you just want to do it again, again, and again!" She expects students to not only gain a love for the process, but also a healthy respect for working with chemicals and safety, that science is cool, and that soap-making is a blast!

Several years ago, she helped her sister fill in at a local wine tasting room, and this Renaissance woman has been working in the wine biz ever since. Today, she's the Tasting Room Manager at Bedford Winery in Los Alamos.