 |
| Adrianne Finlay & Rachel Morgan |
The November Final Thursday Reading Series takes place one week early due to Thanksgiving. It is a special “Sudsquicentennial” event as part of UNI’s 150th anniversary celebration. Authors Adrianne Finlay and Rachel Morgan are also the proprietors of Semisweet Soaps, an organization that sells handmade soap to raise money for type 1 diabetes research. The evening will feature artisan soaps combined with short literary pieces. In-person attendees will receive a free sample of their work (as supplies last), and other Semisweet offerings will be available for purchase.
The Final Thursday Reading Series takes place at the Hearst Center for the Arts in Cedar Falls, Iowa. There will be an open mic at 7:00 p.m. (bring your best five minutes of original creative writing). Finlay and Morgan takes the stage at 7:30. The featured reading will also be simulcast on Zoom. Click to register for a link.
Interview by Jim O’Loughlin.
Interview by Jim O’Loughlin.
JIM O’LOUGHLIN: Can you explain how you two decided to start Semisweet Soaps and what your work with it has entailed?
RACHEL MORGAN: After my son was diagnosed, I read a lot of medical literature about diabetes, and started a blog, called Semisweet. Adrianne had been making soap for a little while, and encouraged me to try it. We’re both creative people: writers, knitters, so soapmaking was another natural creative project for us. One Saturday morning, Adrianne said, “Hear me out…” She pitched using the Semisweet name, combining forces, and making soap to sell, so we could donate the proceeds to type 1 diabetes research. In 2015, we hosted our first open house, and now it’s 10 years later, and we’ve donated over $8,000 to type 1 diabetes research. Specifically, we’ve donated to Beta Bionics; Breakthrough T1D (Formerly JDRF); Spare a Rose, Save a Child; and Faustman Lab
RACHEL MORGAN: After my son was diagnosed, I read a lot of medical literature about diabetes, and started a blog, called Semisweet. Adrianne had been making soap for a little while, and encouraged me to try it. We’re both creative people: writers, knitters, so soapmaking was another natural creative project for us. One Saturday morning, Adrianne said, “Hear me out…” She pitched using the Semisweet name, combining forces, and making soap to sell, so we could donate the proceeds to type 1 diabetes research. In 2015, we hosted our first open house, and now it’s 10 years later, and we’ve donated over $8,000 to type 1 diabetes research. Specifically, we’ve donated to Beta Bionics; Breakthrough T1D (Formerly JDRF); Spare a Rose, Save a Child; and Faustman Lab
ADRIANNE FINLAY: I started making soap in 2013 when my wonderful mother-in-law declared Handmade Christmas, which is a great idea. The only trouble was, it was declared in November, so I only had one month to figure out a handmade gift for everyone in the family. I made a few rules for myself regarding this task: the gift had to be consumable, it had to be useful, and it couldn’t look like it was made by a drunk monkey. In my search, I stumbled on handmade soap, something that felt both useful and luxurious. And yes, that Saturday morning I texted Rachel and said, “I have a really good idea…” Then I walked over to her house with my “hear me out” pitch.
JO: It wasn’t the plan when this event was scheduled, but, appropriately, November is Diabetes Awareness Month. What should people be more aware of when thinking about diabetes?
RM: My world was rocked when my son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 3 years old. T1D is an autoimmune disease, and there is no cure for it. To stay alive, folks with type 1 diabetes have to do the job of a pancreas, which means regulating their blood sugar with either sugar or insulin. In someone without type 1 or 2, your body keeps your blood sugar between 70-140. Numbers below 40 could mean seizure or death, and numbers above 200 could mean damage to the eye, kidneys, and circulatory system over time, or acute coma and death if the numbers are high enough. Basically, if you have type 1 or know someone who has type 1, these realities are always in the back of their mind. This is to say nothing about the price of insulin, one of the ten most expensive liquids on earth. I have so much to share about T1D history and advocacy, so ask me out for coffee and we’ll talk.
AF: I’ve learned a lot about type 1 since Rachel’s son was diagnosed. Our kids have all grown up together, and we even live across the street from each other, and I’ve witnessed the challenges faced by the parents of a kid with type 1 and the challenges facing the kids themselves. If we were going to be making and selling soap anyway, it was important to me that it be for a good cause.
JO: Can you describe the soap-making process for both of you?
RM: One of my favorite kinds of soap to make is castile soap, which is a very mild soap made from 100% olive oil, and it has to cure for an entire year before it’s used. At a minimum, cold processed soaps take about 4-6 weeks to cure, so before we have a soap sale, we have to plan ahead, and getting some of the ingredients, such as lye, can be difficult. Once we have everything, it’s a process of exact measurements, temperature monitoring, and basically mixing lye water into a combination of oils and butters, then pouring soap into molds. My favorite time to soap is in the fall, when the temperatures and humidity are lower.
AF: Rachel’s castile soap is great. It’s probably the most gentle soap out there. The process of soap making isn’t complicated, but it does require care: goggles, thick gloves, even closed-toed shoes. When my kids were smaller, I’d make sure they were out of the house before soaping, both because of the caustic smell of the lye and the danger of it. Now, I’m a little more comfortable with it all and enjoy the focus it requires and the satisfying results. A little lye water and some oils and, through the magic of chemistry and saponification, a whole new compound is formed: soap! It’s pretty pleasing.
RM: One of my favorite kinds of soap to make is castile soap, which is a very mild soap made from 100% olive oil, and it has to cure for an entire year before it’s used. At a minimum, cold processed soaps take about 4-6 weeks to cure, so before we have a soap sale, we have to plan ahead, and getting some of the ingredients, such as lye, can be difficult. Once we have everything, it’s a process of exact measurements, temperature monitoring, and basically mixing lye water into a combination of oils and butters, then pouring soap into molds. My favorite time to soap is in the fall, when the temperatures and humidity are lower.
AF: Rachel’s castile soap is great. It’s probably the most gentle soap out there. The process of soap making isn’t complicated, but it does require care: goggles, thick gloves, even closed-toed shoes. When my kids were smaller, I’d make sure they were out of the house before soaping, both because of the caustic smell of the lye and the danger of it. Now, I’m a little more comfortable with it all and enjoy the focus it requires and the satisfying results. A little lye water and some oils and, through the magic of chemistry and saponification, a whole new compound is formed: soap! It’s pretty pleasing.
JO: Okay, you knew this question was coming. You are both creative writers. Is the soap-making process at all similar to the work you both do as writers, or is it wholly unrelated?
AF: As a writer, I think one of the reasons I like soapmaking is because it’s satisfying in a completely different way. I like baking too, and that’s similar. There’s no revision in either process: the final product is what it is, and it feels clear and straightforward. Not a lot of subjectivity, unless I guess we’re picking which scents we like best. It can be fulfilling, as a creative person, to do something that, while it does require attention and focus, does not need the analysis, judgment, and intuition that is essential to creative work. Kind of like giving my right-brained self a rest.
RM: Well, there’s math and chemistry in soapmaking. In writing, a great portion of the process is revision. If I’m working on a poem and an ending isn’t working out, I can put the poem away and come back to it later for revision. So much of soapmaking is very specific: measurements of lye, water, butters, and oils. Also, in cold process soapmaking, it’s done at a certain temperature, which you have to monitor. If the chemical process goes wrong, there aren’t revisions, like in writing.
JO: What do you like best about soap making?
AF: I think I can answer this for both Rachel and me. Each of us loves engaging with the community and seeing the people we’ve known for years as well as anyone new who comes to buy our soap, and we love that it’s all going to fund type 1 diabetes research. We hold an annual Semisweet Holiday Open House in my home before the holiday season. We have snacks and socializing, and people come to buy our products. Not just soap, but lip balm, lotion, sugar scrub, and more. It all makes fantastic holiday gifts and stocking stuffers. No one is unhappy to receive a beautiful, locally made product that goes to a good cause. We welcome everyone, and if you’re interested, we’ll be at 519 Iowa Street in Cedar Falls on Sunday, December 14th from 1:00 - 6:00 p.m. Stop by, we’d love to see you!
AF: I think I can answer this for both Rachel and me. Each of us loves engaging with the community and seeing the people we’ve known for years as well as anyone new who comes to buy our soap, and we love that it’s all going to fund type 1 diabetes research. We hold an annual Semisweet Holiday Open House in my home before the holiday season. We have snacks and socializing, and people come to buy our products. Not just soap, but lip balm, lotion, sugar scrub, and more. It all makes fantastic holiday gifts and stocking stuffers. No one is unhappy to receive a beautiful, locally made product that goes to a good cause. We welcome everyone, and if you’re interested, we’ll be at 519 Iowa Street in Cedar Falls on Sunday, December 14th from 1:00 - 6:00 p.m. Stop by, we’d love to see you!
