felted soap

I recently discovered a new craft I wanted to attempt: felted soap. What exactly is felted soap, you ask? You start with wool roving (combed wool, often dyed and used most frequently for spinning into yarn) and felt it around a bar of soap. Why would one want to do this? It's like having a washcloth and soap in one. The wool helps the soap lather nicely and exfoliates as you scrub. As you continue use, the felt shrinks around the soap until it is all gone, so you aren't left with tiny unusable shards of soap. I love crafts and bath products, so I purchased a kit off of Etsy to try my hand at felting soap.


You don't need many materials, only hot water, soap, towels, and wool roving. The idea is simple enough. You wrap a few different layers of wool around the soap, making sure the corners are covered. Next, you saturate the bar with hot water (I used a plastic squirt bottle filled with boiling water) and start rubbing with your hands until the wool has turned to felt.

It's not quite as easy as it sounds, but once you get going, it is more doable. The key is to get the bar really wet, rub really hard, and get a good lather going. The soap helps the wool to felt.


I can't wait to try this again with different colors and different soap. It would make great gifts, but I think I'll keep my first two bars for myself. :)

You can check out a couple different felted soap tutorials here:
http://www.mielkesfarm.com/felt_soap.htm
http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-make-wool-felted-soap.html
http://judyperez.blogspot.com/2009/12/felted-soaps.html

Wool roving is widely available from many online retailers like Amazon, Etsy, Jo-Ann, and even Wal-Mart. You can find it at yarn shops or craft and hobby stores (like Jo-Ann or Hobby Lobby).

Or you can buy a kit like I did:
I used this one, but you can find a couple others here, here, and here.

she's alive!

I'm back! I have been away on a lengthy hiatus (that's a word you don't get to use often) while traveling, being sick, cleaning, packing, and admittedly--being lazy. I haven't forgotten about my blog and I'm excited to share lots of new things with everyone.

Chicago was great, and surprisingly Iowa was as well. After my last few trips being abroad, it's really nice to experience my own country's heartland. This was my first visit to Chicago (outside of O'Hare) and my first trip to Iowa. I have pictures, hotel reviews, food reviews, and more to share from my travels.

To ease back into the blogosphere, I'll start with a shop and product review. My travel stories will be a bit disjointed--it's just how I roll.

While in Iowa City (home of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes...more on this later), I did some shopping downtown in the wonderful, unique boutiques. The first one I checked out was the very aptly-named Soap Opera. In case you couldn't tell, I love bath & beauty products, so I naturally loved this store. An entire shop full of soap!

Not only do they carry some more well-known brands like Crabtree & Evelyn and L'Occitane, they also feature organic and local products. You can find any soap with any possible ingredient. In case soap isn't your thing, they also sell bath toys, loofahs, nail care, moisturizers, face care, hair care, lip balm, fragrance oils and more. They even have their own line of bath and beauty products.

I had to limit myself to one bar of soap and it took me a long time to find that one special bar. Did I want one shaped like a Chihuahua? I couldn't justify spending $20, even if it did look like Carmella. Did I want one of those big bars of lavender L'Occitane soap? No, L'Occitane is readily available. An Iowan-crafted one? An organic one? A goat's milk one?

I ended up choosing a bar made by Vivo Naturals. It caught my eye because of the ingredients (100% African Shea Butter and bamboo) and the slogan of "Personal Care. Global Impact." They purchase their ingredients from a collective farm in Togo run entirely by women. Rather than donating proceeds directly to charity, they are directly improving the livelihood of people who need it.

I chose the Green Tea + Mint bar. I love the scent of mint and this one had crushed bamboo added for extra exfoliation. I was intrigued. This soap ended up being a godsend for my sunburned arms. It makes a rich, silky lather that is lightly scented. The bamboo, as promised, exfoliates very well, leaving your skin soft and smooth. The soap rinses clean, but moisturizes without leaving any film. I was very pleased with this product, especially for only $4.75.

This brand is surprisingly easy to find. They sell their products on their website, even offering a special of 10 soaps (and these are BIG) for $30 with free shipping. They are sold at Whole Foods and even Amazon.com, but I think I would feel most comfortable ordering from them directly. They offer five different formulas: Green Tea + Mint, Brazilian Acai + Pomegranate, English Lavender, Lemongrass + Verbena, and Rose Water + Jasmine. Another plus: they are packaged in 100% recycled materials.

Check out their website here (they're also on Facebook): http://www.vivonaturalproducts.com

Visit The Soap Opera's website here: http://www.soapoperaiowacity.com/index.html
You can order online from them!