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Chandler's Soaps >> Help zone
About Us
Our soap-making facility is located on our family ranch, somewhat off the beaten track. We're 7 miles
out a dirt road from the nearest Post Office, 25 miles round-trip (an hour) to the grocery store and 100
miles round-trip to Wal-Mart or a movie theater! However, thanks to the internet, UPS, telephone and the
Post Office we can always be in touch with our customers and friends.
Chandler's Soaps came into being in 1998 when I escaped from the big city and moved to my family's ranch
in southwest Oregon. While reading up on old homesteading practices, the whole idea of making soap from
scratch really struck a chord with me. The clincher was when I discovered that old-time soap makers were called "Soap Chandlers" ... and here I was Marie Chandler Gale, living on our Chandler family ranch. It was destiny calling, so I answered!
Our first batch of natural soap was cooked in a big canning pot in our kitchen, while having coffee with
friends. It took a long time and was hard stirring there for a while but to me it was fascinating. To see
the water, lye and oil magically turn into smooth and creamy soap seemed miraculous. Even now, after having
made thousands and thousands of bars of soap, I still am somewhat amazed at the seemingly magic of the
chemical process of making natural soap.
It wasn't long after making our first batches of natural soap that we discovered there were many more
natural skin care products we could make. For a while we were making all sorts of different products--until it got to a point where we found we were trying to keep way too many products in stock. After some serious soul searching I determined that the best thing for us to do would be to simplify--to concentrate on what we do really well, which is our soap and a few additional products. Our creams, especially, are loved by many people for their rich and deep moisturizing properties.
One of the things I'm really proud of with our business is that we can create these marvelous products
and have a negligible impact on the environment. Our environmental footprint is almost zero, and our
environmental sustainability is very high.
Since 2004 our products have been carried in a brick-and-mortar store in Myrtle Point, Oregon. It's on
the main street (Spruce St.) and carries all our natural
soaps and a selection of our
bath & body products.
In the spring of 2004, I became the President of the Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild, Inc, a non-profit trade association representing
handcrafted soapmakers. I served until June, 2009, and am still active on several committees.
For more information on me, see www.mariegale.com where I keep an on-going blog.
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