-
Thistle Ridge Soap MFG LLC
94 Forest Road
Lilesville, NC 28091 -
By appointment
Jamie Estes has been making handmade soaps for nearly two decades. She began in 1997 in her kitchen near Walhalla, SC. when opportunity met passion.
As Jamie's children grew older, she found more time to explore her creative endeavors. While attending a local fair, she watched a soap making demonstration and became inspired. Jamie soon realized she had a gift and passion for soap making. She immersed herself in extensive research, reading and experimentation. As a result, the cold process method of soap making was chosen, and the decision was made to use natural ingredients.
It was this love of soap making that lead Jamie to found Thistle Ridge Soap Company in 1999.
Thistle Ridge Soap creates and produces the highest quality all natural soaps, which Jamie’s customers have grown to love.
She begins from scratch using vegetable and nut oils as the base. Herbs, spices and clays are utilized for color and texture. Essential oils scent and complement each bar. There are absolutely no synthetic fragrance oils, dyes or petroleum based products used in the Thistle Ridge Soap making process.
Today the soap is prepared in forty pound batches and each is sliced into individual bars and allowed to cure for several weeks. After drying, each bar is examined for quality, labeled and prepared for sale.
Thistle Ridge Soap has also created a complementary line of products to go with the soaps, including body soaks, lip balms, lotion sticks and body oils. These products are created with the same care and commitment to quality as the soaps, using natural ingredients and enriching with essential oils. Try some today! Review our craft fair calendar or shop online.
From the start, Thistle Ridge Soap has only used quality essential oils to scent and complement their products. It is critical to study percentage usage and skin safety in the use of essential oils. Each ingredient we use has been chosen for what it adds to the final product, not because it is the latest fad.
Thistle Ridge Soaps are made with the cold process method. When the soap has reached the proper stage, it is poured into our molds, insulated and allowed to finish the saponification process in the mold.
This is the original mold that my husband made for me. We lined those with freezer paper before pouring the soap into them. We now use deep commercial molds that we line with silicon paper. I'm happy to report that the original molds are still being used by another soap making friend in Virginia!
Cutting soap with a knife was not an exact process, but that is how we started! I now use a wire cutter and cut first into logs and then into bars! They look much nicer now!