The art of making soap

Meet Emma FitzGerald, a successful entrepreneur.
Five years ago she did what so many of us dream of doing- starting: a business from her own kitchen.

Today Emma’s Purple Herb Soaps are much in demand as popular gifts.

I called in to see her this afternoon, for Emma is taking part in
Forth Valley Open Studios, (venue 31) and watched while she prepared a batch of soap.

The big surprise was the inclusion of castor oil and caustic soda.

Other visitors soon arrived and soon we were all fascinated watching the process of making soap, a product we use daily yet until now none of us had any idea of how the stuff is made.


It reminded me of something Hans Ulrich Obrist, co- director of the Serpentine gallery said last week at the Hay Book Festival. People are mesmerized seeing how objects are made and will watch for minutes, even hours while the
average amount of time spent looking at the Mona Lisa, regarded as the world’s greatest visual icon, is 30 seconds.
Even less time is spent looking at art.

Meanwhile we watched the soap making process for the best part of half an hour.

So how did it all start?
“Well, I have three small children and I wanted a business I could run from home that did not involve much capital outlay. I taught myself soap making off the internet,” said Irish born Emma who trained as a science teacher.

It’s a business that fits in neatly with that of running a home with a young family.
Watch her on Youttube