MowryJournal.com   Life's Passions

Velda is obsessed.

I’ve thought that for some time now … oh wait, I meant possessed.

But in this case, she is definitely obsessed with the making of soap. She’s mastered the lotions, balms & scrubs that Mrs M has now been selling for a couple of years (!), and soap is the latest challenge accepted.

She’s spent months researching ingredients. Trolling user forums. Buying protective equipment. And, she’s actually been making soap – which truly looks like a science experiment, complete with goggles, rubber gloves & caustic chemical reactions.

And she’s doing it all in the name of cleanliness.

She’s discovered a lot: believe me, I know. I’ve been hearing about it over breakfast & dinner for months now. No complaints – the more she talks about soap, the less she talks about the body fluids & such that she encounters in her real “job.”

So I’m a fan of soap discussions.

As she learned & improved, she’s upped her game considerably. She’s grown from making soap in a small silicon mold to ordering 3x custom, large molds and a 500 bar Soap Drying Rack from me. I’ve convinced demanded that she buy quality software and a custom soap slicer (a 12″ mandolin that cuts 1″ bars 12 at a time – and beautifully) so that her soaps will be as good as they can be.

She went one step further and bought a shaver & a steamer so she can manicure each bar. I drew the line there, but once she’s possessed obsessed, there’s little to do but get out of her way.

So sayeth the wisdom earned over the 38 years of our marriage. I’ve endured loved every minute.

(ed note: I love Friday the 13th, and today is “our day.” Happy Anniversary, Velda!)

There. Taken care of for another year.

The webmaster (me) has finally gotten some screen time, so the soaps are now up and for sale on Mrs M’s website. Please visit www.MrsMsHandmade.com.

Finally, a part of this product introduction has been my researching what it will take for us to up our game with product photography – I just haven’t been happy with the inconsistency of my shots of the boards you’ve been seeing lately. We bought a photo array just for product shots (amazingly inexpensive, by the way!), and here are the soap shots from our first session: