About Us
Thank you for visiting our site. As we enter into our 15th year of business, our company keeps growing and making new changes.
We have gone through many transformations throughout the years. Growing from a tiny company as a home-based business, to a full-time warehouse establishment, manufacturer and an online merchant. As times and needs change, so does our company to keep up with the growing needs of our customers. As the savvy consumer educates themselves on commercial products, the demand for raw materials to create handcrafted natural bath & body products increases.
About our classes
We offer classes January through October with all classes held in Davison, Michigan. The Soap Barn Company has been creating natural skincare products for over 15 years and teaching the public how to make natural skincare products from simple, natural ingredients. Besides experience in natural skincare, credentials and education also include degrees from the University of Michigan-Flint in Ecology with a minor in Field Biology, Resource Planning with a minor in Physical Geography and Arts and Communications. Employment with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in an educational position has also contributed to the experience and knowledge that we pass on to our customers. In years past, our family has also owned and operated a farm planting over 6000 organic apple trees along with operating a commercial greenhouse growing three to five thousand herbs every year from seed or plugs. All of these endeavors and experiences are incorporated into each class to provide each student with a maximum, well-rounded learning experience.
We have worked hard throughout the years to establish our name as leaders in the natural skincare and soap making supply business. Our company and family has a strong desire for maintaining a natural way of life and business. As always, we are committed to quality and excellence both in product and customer service. We still test all products before we add our name and logo to the label, never on animals; and above all, our company strives for superior customer service with 100% customer satisfaction, making that our bottom line.
We warmly invite you to browse our online catalog. As always, we hope you enjoy our products as much as we enjoy making them for you.
Warm thoughts,
The Grant Family
Return to the Top
Our Goal
As a business owner, I have certain responsibilities and empowerments in the hiring process of our company. It is in this role that I have the ability to help change the way of life for employment-seeking individuals. Along with my role as a business owner, I hold title to another role common to many; I am a parent who advocates for persons with special needs.
One mile-stone that I have observed that has always been a challenge for special needs is employment. I have watched the hiring, firing, and discrimination against individuals because employers and people simply do not understand. People with special needs and their families face challenges everyday of their life. Employment and livelihood should not be one of them.
It is in my roles as a parent and business owner that I hope to make a difference. It is my belief and experience that regardless of the disability, all individuals have the capability to do something in the work force that makes them productive adults and they should get paid a fair wage for their services. People with special needs are some of the hardest working, sincere individuals that usually give 150% effort in their job performance. I believe that’s because it comes straight from their heart.
My son once dubbed himself and his siblings “Teapot Kids.” As a parent I remember laughing, as an employer I thought, how appropriate. What is tea made of? It is a unique blend of many different herbs and botanicals with the end result being a distinctive, one-of-a-kind product. Just like our family, just like our company, just like the individuals we hope to help.
So while some businesses call it their "social responsibility," I call it my quest. I challenge our clientele that patronizes our company to heighten and sharpen their awareness of the unique and wonderful work-force that is available and so eager to work. If you are an employer, please consider hiring someone with special needs.
Tina Grant
Return to the Top
About Our Soaps
Here at The Soap Barn Company, we start off with only pure ingredients. Each “batch” of soap is handcrafted. For our cold processed soap, we start off with a base of 100% pure organic coconut, organic palm and olive oil and transform this blend into a unique, magical piece of art. Each bar is hand-cut. Each soap-on-a-rope is individually hand-rolled. No two soaps are identical, therefore giving each their own, unique character. All of our soaps vary slightly in shape and thickness, but all are a generous 4 ounces or larger in weight.
We also manufacture hot processed soap. In this process we use a base of organic coconut oil, organic palm and castor oil to achieve a transparent or semi-transparent soap. All the natural glycerin is once again retained for hydrating the skin. These soaps are highly aromatic, bright in color and are wonderful for both body and hair.
We do not use animal fats or artificial preservatives in our soaps nor do we test on animals. Our soaps are naturally fortified with vitamins and nutrients, retaining all of their natural glycerin. For extra benefits, many of our soaps have additional nutrients in them ~ such as aloe vera, avocado oil, apricot kernel oil and wheat germ oil just to mention a few. Our finished product~ a firm, fresh, unique bar of soap actually good for your skin. And because of our organic coconut, palm and olive oil base, our soap explodes with lather even in hard well water.
Our natural skincare products that contain a "wet base" such as lotions and scrubs do contain a gentle and mild commercial preservative. Unlike commercial products and some natural products, our products use a preservative mainly used in baby care products which is not a formaldahyde donor. There are preservatives on the market offered through many soap making supply sites that are formaldayde donors that natural soap and skincare products makers use. We do not use those. The FDA approves formaldayde donor preservatives for adult skincare products, but not for baby care products. Our preferred preservative is FDA approved for baby care, is mainly added to keep bacteria at bay and will only give our products a shelf life of 24 months. We use less than 1% in our products maintaining over 99% natural products.
There are different age groups, regions of the country and world, ethnicities and many other factors that play a role in the way skin reacts and behaves. We will always believe natural skincare products are the very best way to treat skin and are firmly committed to these skincare methods and continuously research new natural materials. All of these factors are taken into consideration when we create and offer new products.
There will always be something magical, a kind of folk art when you walk into a bath and see a basket of handcrafted soap and natural skincare products. Soaps slightly misshapen and slightly wrinkled on the top; imperfect yet still perfect, just like nature. This aromatic slice of art is sure to give each bath a persona and character all its own. You can even place baskets of it in other rooms of your home or office for a unique decorating trick to replace potpourri. An enchanting gift to give or receive, we’re sure you’ll be delighted with our soaps.
Return to the Top
Soap Making Supplies
We are always increasing our soap making supplies and updating our website to reflect our increase in products. We carry large and small quantities of soap making products available for the hobbiest or business establishment. We are a re-pack house which purchases larges quantities of products, many in 55 gallon drums, and re-pack them into smaller quantities for the home hobbyist or crafter. If you’re looking for something special and don't see it on our site, please contact us, we work with individuals all the time to seek out hard to find products.
Return to the Top
Sodium Hydroxide
We ship thousands of pounds of sodium and potassium hydroxide each year. This is the alkali needed to create soap. These products must be shipped via ground service only and can not be shipped via air. This includes our soap making kits which contain raw sodium hydroxide. Currently we are shipping this product via the U.S.P.S. or FedEx ground. When shipping via the postal service, this sometimes can take up to 2-3 weeks to arrive. Please plan accordingly when ordering these products or our soapmaking kits, specially around the holiday season or for a gift.
Return to the Top
Guarantee
Here at The Soap Barn Company we weigh each bar of soap before we ship it. If it falls below our advertised weight, we add an additional bar of soap to make or exceed our weight expectations… at our expense. This is part of our ongoing quality commitment to our customers. We hope you enjoy our handcrafted herbal soap and skincare products.
Recycle
We have always maintained an environmentally-conscious attitude. We recycle and reuse as much packing material and as many boxes as possible. We pack the majority of our orders in recycled grocery boxes. We actually patronize local grocery stores to collect boxes once a week. The packing material we use inside the packages is 100% recycled material also. Peanuts, plastic bubble wrap are used inside as well as end-roll paper that we get from a local printing company. We waste nothing at our shop. So if you receive your products in a gently used box, please understand we are trying to do our part at being environmentally responsible. We believe every small effort helps.
Return to the Top
Shipping
We ship all orders within 24 hours or less after receiving them. Orders in after 2 pm will ship on the next business day. If orders come in while we are closed, orders will be processed the next business day we are opened. If an item is out-of-stock, we will contact you via email and see if you would like to substitute the item if we can offer an alternative. If we do not hear back from you, we delete the item, credit your account and ship as normal; we do not back order items.
Return to the Top
