Wilcox County
Soap Making
Ginger once saw a loaf (of soap) and
thought “I can do that” so she tried it “and enjoyed it. It is not hard to do,
but it takes a bit of practice and a certain knack to make more complicated
looking patterns…I have had to re-do many bars of soap”. She said she learned
“by trial and many errors”.
After a break of about fifteen years,
Ginger started making soap again, but she admits that her “real passion is fine
needle work…cross stitch and hand embroidery” including candle wicking, crewel
and traditional/primitive work. She stated her hand stitching would never be
for sale because “it holds a piece of her soul”…but soap, is soap.
Ginger admits that living in the Black Belt
has influenced her because “it forces you to get creative with supplies because
you can’t just run out to your local craft store on a moment’s notice…and
unlike large cities, we are much closer to nature, and this often inspires
creativity.”
Her primary ingredients are purchased off
the internet, but also include the local grocery store, her kitchen and
outdoors. Glycerin, shea butter and goat’s milk form her soap base. Other
ingredients might include flowers, herbs, coloring and fragrances. Depending on
the various ingredients used, completion can take ten minutes to two hours from
start to finish.
Ideas for her soap making might “pop into
my head at random times”. They might have come from something she has seen or
from something her kids might have said.
“Some of my ideas are good, but I have also torn apart many a bar of
soap and had to start over” she admitted.