Beginning Soap Making - Instructor Sheila Ruud

This class will teach the fundamentals of several different methods of soap making. We will do “hands on “soap making using the hot process, cold process, and melt and pour techniques We will also cover making soap related products for your home ex. laundry detergent, cleaning products.  The equipment and safety gear needed for making lye soap and the ingredients will be discussed and provided.  We will cover the ingredients that can be used for your soaps and the different ways these ingredients combine to give you the outcome you want.  We will explore some of the additives you may want to use in your soap such as goats’ milk, coconut milk, botanicals, coloring and scents, and how these can affect the outcome of your soap.  The different types of soap molds will be discussed, how they will give you many options for making your soap, as well as help you determine the best soap formula to use for the mold.  All you will need for this class is an apron. There is a $10 materials fee paid directly to the instructor the first day of class.

Sheila lives in Young Harris with her husband, Gerald, on their mini goat farm off Crooked Creek Road.   She has been making soap for over 35 years and began to turn her hobby into a business, Crooked Creek Farm and Foxfire Blends Bath and Body™, after she retired for a second time.  Sheila makes goat milk soap, lotions, body butters and scrubs.  Sheila and her husband have been in a booth at the Farmer’s Market in Blairsville for the past 10 years, as well as working with the Art Guild shows, festivals, and Relay for Life fundraisers.  They have their store and soap kitchen on the farm and an online business as well.