Soap Lake couple makes soap out of lake water

SOAP LAKE - A Soap Lake couple makes soap using water out of Soap Lake, but they'll only keep it up as long as it never becomes a job.

Norm and Diane Perreault first began making soap for themselves and as presents for friends and family about 15 years ago.

They chose to move to Soap Lake eight years ago because Diane loves to go swimming in the lake, and they had camped in the area every summer since their children were little. Norm was stationed at Larson Air Force Base in the 1950s, and always spoke of returning to the Columbia Basin area.

"So we decided to try (the soap recipe) with Soap Lake water, and after a few adjustments and many failures the first year, we came up with our formula that lets us make a really nice bar of soap," Diane said.

The Perreaults previously lived in Lynden before moving to Soap Lake.

"On the West Side, we made it with rain water," Norm said.

"People say they really like it," Diane said of the Soap Lake water. "They feel like it really helps them."

Diane first began making soap for herself after taking a class in herbal studies. She didn't like the "junk" she found in so many products available commercially, she said, and she was trying to eliminate as many chemicals as possible.

The Perreaults mix olive oil, Soap Lake water and vegetable shortening, heat it on the stove and then pour it into a mold, where it must sit without disturbance for 24 hours. The heat lingers for two to three days after, Diane said, and must cure for a minimum of six to eight weeks before sale.

"The longer it cures, the older it is, the longer it lasts," Norm said.

The couple usually makes 30 bars per fragrance, although they try to make more for lavender, which is the most popular. Tangerine and apple are less popular, Diane and Norm said.

The Perreaults primarily make the soap for the Columbia Basin Farmers Market, beginning again in May, and it is available in a few locations around Soap Lake during the tourist season.

"We make soap off and on through the spring and get ready for the market, and then we do the market on Saturdays," Diane said. "We won't let it be a job, we like to go camping all week and go to the farmers market on Saturday."

"Right now, this is just kind of a fun thing that we do," Norm agreed. "And if it ceases to be fun, we don't want to do it."

The couple does not encourage people to call them for the soap.

"People who have bought it at the market or something will give us a call if they run out or if they want to get a gift for someone," Diane said. "We”ll either say, 'Yeah, we're going to be at the market,' or 'We can meet you in Moses Lake,' or whatever."

"We don't encourage it because we don't want a job," Norm said. "We don't want this to be a job or an income. When it starts being a job, it ceases to be fun."

Diane said people have asked why they do not sell it online.

"That would be a job," she said. "It wouldn't be fun anymore."

The couple estimates they sell an average of 35 to 45 bars of soap on a Saturday at the market. Fragrances include lavender, lavender oatmeal, mint, mint oatmeal, mud, coconut, vanilla, calendula tea tree, musk, tangerine, apple, rose orchard, lemongrass and sage.

Diane said she is still amazed when she goes to the market and she and Norm hear from customers excited to see them.

"They got to the point that, toward the end of the market, they would come in and buy maybe six or nine bars," she said. "They'll buy like nine bars and say, 'OK, that will get me through the winter. You're going to be back?'"

Some customers who buy the soap no longer use anything else, Norm said.

"If we ever stop making it, I think we're going to be in trouble," he said with a laugh.

But Diane notes the couple likes the freedom of retirement and the ability to drop everything and go camping.

"In fact, every year, we say this is going to be the last year," she said. "We just figure, we enjoy the people, and our crafts. The pin money you make at the market gives you that extra spending money to go put gas in the truck to go camping."

As such, the Perreaults do not have any ultimate plan for their product, although they will give their recipe to customers who ask for it.

"When we quit making it, if somebody wants to make a business of it, make it, sell it online, then fine," Norm said.

"I'd be real happy to show them what I do," Diane agreed. "They might be able to take it from there."

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