Sharing knowledge and sincere interest in what new soapers are doing is a common thread among these veteran soapmakers.
Kimberly Abrahams
The Soap Dish Online Community
Kimberly Abrahams is the owner and manager of an online soap community called the Soap Dish forum. The diligence of Abrahams and the moderators (often known in online communities as “mods”) keeps “the Dish” (as it is called by participants) up and running.
Scott Blackson
Scott Blackson is one of the rare male soap-makers. He's been making soap for more than ten years. He now has a high-production facility and two shops that keep him very busy. Although his company, the Soap Fairy, produces soap in huge amounts, it is all still made the same, artisanal way.
Catherine Failor
If you've been enchanted by a soap molded into a sweet-faced sun, a prehistoric goddess, or an entwined pair of dolphins, you've likely seen the inspired work of pioneering soapmaker Catherine Failor. Her line of soap molds is used by soapmakers all over the world. She sculpts the images, then has them made into sturdy, useful, and beautiful plastic soap molds.
Sandy Maine
Small soaps wrapped in pretty calico and hefty cubes wrapped in illustrated paper are two of the hallmarks of Sandy Maine's work. Maine's book, The Soap Book, is one of the most-cited starting places for contemporary soapmakers.
Loretta Stockmaik
Loretta Stockmaik, owner of Nature's Wild Child, is a small supplier of exotic materials. She stopped making large amounts of soap to pursue other creative outlets. She is a wonderful painter and a computer whiz.
Kaila Westerman
In the 1990s, more people started discovering the delights of re-forming transparent or “glycerin” soap. This method captured the imagination of Kaila Westerman, who, along with AnneLiese Moran, is one of the “mothers” of the contemporary soap-casting method of soapmaking.
