Life on the Edge

Making soap isn't just a wham-bam thank you ma'am affair. There's a lot of steps between pouring the olive oil and wrapping the final bar. Pictured above is just one of those steps.

I like the tops of my soap bars to be clean cut. It's a preference that varies from soapmaker to soapmaker. Some love the rustic look. Some sprinkle with botanicals. I just like to see a smooth top.

Before I cut the logs into bars, I swipe a handmade wire cutter swiftly across the top of each one. This gives me a wafer thin cut, and gives the log a clean-edged surface that will become the top of each bar.

To many, this might seem like an unnecessary step. To me, it's the pride in my work. Without it, it could never be Manor Hall.