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Vermont Soapworks Announces New Soap Museum and Expanded Factory Outlet

      Middlebury, VT – The people at Vermont Soapworks are natural soap enthusiasts, and they are eager to educate visitors about the colorful history of natural soap and how it is made. The company is unveiling a new Soap Museum at its facility at 616 Exchange Street in Middlebury to entertain the public and is expanding its popular Factory Outlet to enhance the shopping experience and tours.

      “We handcraft more than a million bars of handmade soap here every year,” notes Vermont Soapworks President Larry Plesent. “On our website and during our factory tours, people frequently ask us what soap is made from and why it foams, why most ordinary soaps dry the skin and who invented soap,” he adds. “We are creating a fun and educational environment that can answer these questions and more,” says Plesent.

      Construction is underway on the Vermont Soapworks Soap Museum and expanded Factory Outlet store. Two large glass windows and a door have been cut directly into the factory's main production area so visitors can watch soap being made the old-fashioned way. Daily factory tours have also been added. “We coordinate the scheduling of our tours in conjunction with the folks across the street at Otter Creek Brewing, another popular tourist attraction,” states Ross Conrad, the Assistant General Manager. “We also offer privately scheduled tours for groups of 10 or more,” adds Conrad.

      “Our bar soaps are mild and moisturizing due to the use of botanical ingredients, and to the handmade process itself,” notes Plesent. “It takes a month to make and cure a bar of handmade soap,” he adds. Natural plant-based ingredients and an alkaline solution are blended in small batches and poured into wooden block molds. The molds are warmed for several days, which forces the soap to set up very slowly. Excess alkali, a major cause of the dryness and irritation often found in conventional bar soaps, rises to the top like cream and is skimmed away. When ready, the soap is wire cut into bars, placed on oak drying frames and aged in a special curing room for nearly a month. “This is the mildest way to make a bar of soap,” says Plesent.

      The expansion will more than triple the floor space of the Factory Outlet Store. Customers like the factory seconds - the dents and bents, overstocks, discontinued packaging, experiments and just plain goofs. “Folks are able to enjoy incredible savings on handmade soap, castile soap and other natural personal care products by visiting our Factory Outlet,” notes Conrad.

      “The whole shopping experience is greatly enhanced by integrating the new Museum into our store,” he adds. Scattered throughout the Outlet Store are museum exhibits featuring antique soaps and soap paraphernalia. Most of the early twentieth century exhibit items were collected over the years by Larry Plesent, the Vermont Soapworks founder that is nicknamed “Soap Man.” A large antique tub, reputed to be the first in Middlebury, is on loan from the Sheldon Museum.

      The factory project will also include environment-friendly features. Incorporated into the roof structure of the new addition are two solar hot water panels. Vermont Soapworks has also installed energy efficient near-full spectrum lighting in the new Outlet, and is in the process of converting the rest of the facility to this state-of-the-art technology. “We have always been an industry leader in the manufacture of truly natural body care and cleaning products - so this is a natural step for us,” claims Plesent. “We seek win-win solutions and this project meets that because it includes energy efficiency that benefits the environment and our bottom line,” he adds. “The improved lighting and work environment also improves employee health and morale,” he adds.

      Vermont Soapworks' natural products are sold in natural health stores and pharmacies nationwide. For more information about Vermont Soapworks and handmade natural soap, please visit www.vermontsoap.com or call toll-free at 1-866-SOAP4U2.