Marla Bosworth is the founder and owner of Back Porch Soap Company. She teaches classes, corporate events and experiences including candle making, soap making, organic skincare and perfumery.

August 14, 2009

Soap Making Class Hosts Students From Nigeria, Venezuela and U.S.

Back Porch Soap Company's recent cold process soap making class hosted students from several countries. Ale and Fifi (pictured far left) flew in from Venezuela for three days of classes, Emilia (far right) is from Nigeria along with Cindy (from Montana) are both taking more classes this month, and other students came from New York, New Jersey and New England. Rick (pictured third from left) is a hair stylist from north of Boston who makes his own hair products. Sandy, Julie and Kiernan came from Massachusetts.

We made two batches of soap, and students selected their choice of additives for the top. Here, Ale is sprinkling lavender buds on top of her loaf of soap.



We made two batches of soap ~ and everyone takes home a loaf of each batch. Here students are spooning out and spreading the freshly made peppermint soap. We use natural plant oils - olive oil, palm oil and coconut oil.


George (New Jersey) is evening out his soap loaf. Behind him, Cindy (Montanta/New York) is choosing calendula petals as an additive to the top of her soap. Kiernan (Longmeadow, MA) finishes her loaves.


Cindy and George adding the lye/water mixture and stirring. (Note: I recommend that students wear closed toe shoes when making soap!)

Cindy and George working simultaneously to blend the lye/water and oils together before moving on to the stick blender.

Check out all my classes. I teach in NYC, Boston and am taking classes on the road in 2012! Looking for private classes or soap business consulting? Send me an email and I'll reply with more information.
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Soap making class, soap making classes, how to start a soap making business in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, California, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Wyoming, Montanta, Idaho, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawaii, Alaska, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York City, Boston.

July 31, 2009

Students Get Creative in Soap Making Class at Newton Community Education

Recently I taught a glycerin soap making class at Newton Community Education Center. A few of the students were interested in starting a soap business. Others wanted to try out swirling, embedding toys and layering just for the fun of it. (Above, check out the "overfed" goldfish soap!)

Here, calendula petals make a nice addition to the top of the bar.


Duck soaps and layered bar. All classes are completely hands-on and students choose to create whatever they like - after all, soapmaking is a creative process!


Everyone decided to show off their favorite bars at the end. So many interesting people in this class!
My next upcoming glycerin soap making class is on Thursday, July 20 from 6-9 p.m. in my Duxbury studio. Check out all my classes.
Looking for private classes or soap business consulting? Send me an email and I'll reply with more information.
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Soap making class, soap making classes, how to start a soap making business in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, California, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Wyoming, Montanta, Idaho, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawaii, Alaska, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York City, Boston.

July 25, 2009

Soap Making Classes and How To Start Your Own Soap Business Class


Have you always wanted to learn how to make soap? Or are you considering starting your own business? Whether you're in New York or Maine and looking to take a road trip, or if you're planning to visit Cape Cod this summer, take time for yourself to join a class at Back Porch Soap Company.

All classes are held in our Duxbury, Massachusetts studio, located just 30 minutes south of Boston and 40 minutes from Providence, Rhode Island. Come and learn from a 12-year soap business owner with more than 200 wholesale accounts and a retail website. I've hosted students from Venezuela, Ireland, Nigeria, Chile, Peru as well as from all over the U.S. Or if you would like to book private lessons that is also an option. There is a lot to see and do in this beautiful area. I can assist you with your travel plans.

Glycerin Soap Making, August 20
Come join in the fun as we make an array of beautiful glycerin soaps! This small, personalized soap making class covers the essentials of glycerin soap making. Lots of hands-on learning. Each student will learn how to make four personalized batches, which yield at least 16 bars of soap! Your creations will make wonderful gifts!
6:00 - 9 p.m.
Course: $65 & Materials Fee: $20

Cold Process Soap Making Class, August 22
Want to learn how to make soap from scratch? Curious about the cold process process? Then this is the perfect class for you!You will learn safety guidelines and reach a level of comfort so that you can finally make soap by hand at home! We'll discuss how to properly use and store lye, mixing lye and water, oils for soap making, fragrance oils, essential oils, superfatting, additives and exfoliants, coloring, molding and curing. Students will receive soap recipes and a list of my favorite places to buy soap making supplies and equipment. We will make two batches of soap as a class. Each student will take home 10 handmade bars of soap.9 a.m.- 1 p.m.
Course: $65 + $20 materials fee

Natural Lotions, Creams, Balms, Soaks & Scrubs, August 23
You're going to fall in love with making your own creams, lotions, balms, soaks and scrubs! In this class you'll spend the day making batch after batch of our tried and true recipes. In addition to taking home a box of products from what you make in class, you'll leave feeling confident about making these luxurious treatments at home for business or personal use.Come learn about sanitary precautions and practices, bottling and packaging ideas and options, how to price your products, the truth about preservatives, sourcing ingredients, labelling requirements and much more.
9:30 a.m.- 4 p.m.
Course: $250 + $75 materials fee


Everything you need to know to start your own soap business. Learn from me, a 12-year soap business owner.
2-5 p.m.
Course; $125

Private Consulting
Whether you have an existing bath and body company and you need assistance increasing sales or if you are a start-up, Marla is available for private consulting. Areas of expertise include establishing business focus and assisting with business plans, differentiating your business and finding your niche, marketing and sales, internet marketing, product development, as well as sourcing ingredients and exporting.

Please email for further information.

All soap making classes are taught by Marla Bosworth, owner of Back Porch Soap Company and 12-year expert in the handmade bath and body industry. Since 1989 she has been providing market research and marketing for businesses of all sizes across the U.S.In addition to group classes, Marla is available for one-on-one consulting for individuals interested in learning how to make bath and body products or for existing companies looking for market research and/or consulting.

Do you or your group want to learn how to make soap, bath and body products and how to launch your own bath and body business? Email marla@backporchsoap.com for more information. Sign up for our newsletter here to to be the first to know about our newest classes and announcements!*****************************************************************************
Maine Soap Making Classes, New Hampshire Soap Making Classes, Vermont Soap Making Classes, Rhode Island Soap Making Classes, Connecticut Soap Making Classes, New York Soap Making Classes, New York City Soap Making Classes

June 30, 2009

More Summer Soap Classes and Workshops Added To Our Schedule!


What are you doing new and fun this summer? Whether you're in New York or Maine and looking to take a road trip, or if you're planning to visit Cape Cod this summer, take time for yourself to join a class at Back Porch Soap Company. All classes are held in our Duxbury, Massachusetts studio, located just 30 minutes south of Boston and 40 minutes from Providence, Rhode Island.

Glycerin Soap Making, July 23
Come join in the fun as we make an array of beautiful glycerin soaps! This small, personalized soap making class covers the essentials of glycerin soap making. Lots of hands-on learning. Each student will learn how to make four personalized batches, which yield at least 16 bars of soap! Your creations will make wonderful gifts!
6:00 - 9 p.m.
Course: $65 & Materials Fee: $20

Cold Process Soap Making Class, July 25
Want to learn how to make soap from scratch? Curious about the cold process process? Then this is the perfect class for you!You will learn safety guidelines and reach a level of comfort so that you can finally make soap by hand at home! We'll discuss how to properly use and store lye, mixing lye and water, oils for soap making, fragrance oils, essential oils, superfatting, additives and exfoliants, coloring, molding and curing. Students will receive soap recipes and a list of my favorite places to buy soap making supplies and equipment. We will make two batches of soap as a class. Each student will take home 10 handmade bars of soap.
9 a.m.- 1 p.m.
Course: $65 + $20 materials fee

Natural Lotions, Creams, Balms, Soaks & Scrubs, July 26
You're going to fall in love with making your own creams, lotions, balms, soaks and scrubs! In this class you'll spend the day making batch after batch of our tried and true recipes. In addition to taking home a box of products from what you make in class, you'll leave feeling confident about making these luxurious treatments at home for business or personal use.Come learn about sanitary precautions and practices, bottling and packaging ideas and options, how to price your products, the truth about preservatives, sourcing ingredients, labelling requirements and much more.
9:30 a.m.- 4 p.m.
Course: $250 + $75 materials fee

Private Consulting
Whether you have an existing bath and body company and you need assistance increasing sales or if you are a start-up, Marla is available for private consulting. Areas of expertise include establishing business focus and assisting with business plans, differentiating your business and finding your niche, marketing and sales, internet marketing, product development, as well as sourcing ingredients and exporting. Please email for further information.

All soap making classes are taught by Marla Bosworth, owner of Back Porch Soap Company and 12-year expert in the handmade bath and body industry. Since 1989 she has been providing market research and marketing for businesses of all sizes across the U.S.

In addition to group classes, Marla is available for one-on-one consulting for individuals interested in learning how to make bath and body products or for existing companies looking for market research and/or consulting.

Do you or your group want to learn how to make soap, bath and body products and how to launch your own bath and body business? Email
marla@backporchsoap.com for more information. Sign up for our newsletter here to to be the first to know about our newest classes and announcements!*****************************************************************************
Maine Soap Making Classes, New Hampshire Soap Making Classes, Vermont Soap Making Classes, Rhode Island Soap Making Classes, Connecticut Soap Making Classes, New York Soap Making Classes, New York City Soap Making Classes

June 16, 2009

Summer Soap Making Classes and All-Day Creams and Lotions Class

What are you doing new and fun this summer? Whether you're in New York or Maine and looking to take a road trip, or if you're planning to visit Cape Cod this summer, take time for yourself to join a class at Back Porch Soap Company. All classes are held in our Duxbury, Massachusetts studio, located just 30 minutes south of Boston and 40 minutes from Providence, Rhode Island.

Glycerin Soap Making, June 25
Come join in the fun as we make an array of beautiful glycerin soaps! This small, personalized soap making class covers the essentials of glycerin soap making. Lots of hands-on learning. Each student will learn how to make four personalized batches, which yield at least 16 bars of soap! Your creations will make wonderful gifts!
6:00 - 9 p.m.
Course: $65 & Materials Fee: $20

Cold Process Soap Making Class, June 27
Want to learn how to make soap from scratch? Curious about the cold process process? Then this is the perfect class for you!
You will learn safety guidelines and reach a level of comfort so that you can finally make soap by hand at home! We'll discuss how to properly use and store lye, mixing lye and water, oils for soap making, fragrance oils, essential oils, superfatting, additives and exfoliants, coloring, molding and curing. Students will receive soap recipes and a list of my favorite places to buy soap making supplies and equipment.
We will make two batches of soap as a class. Each student will take home 10 handmade bars of soap.
9 a.m.- 1 p.m.
Course: $65 + $20 materials fee

Natural Lotions, Creams, Balms, Soaks & Scrubs, June 28
You're going to fall in love with making your own creams, lotions, balms, soaks and scrubs! In this class you'll spend the day making batch after batch of our tried and true recipes. In addition to taking home a box of products from what you make in class, you'll leave feeling confident about making these luxurious treatments at home for business or personal use.
Come learn about sanitary precautions and practices, bottling and packaging ideas and options, how to price your products, the truth about preservatives, sourcing ingredients, labelling requirements and much more.
9:30 a.m.- 4 p.m.
Course: $250 + $75 materials fee

All soap making classes are taught by Marla Bosworth, owner of Back Porch Soap Company and 12-year expert in the handmade bath and body industry. In addition to group classes, Marla is available for one-on-one consulting for individuals interested in learning how to make bath and body products or for existing companies looking for market research and/or consulting.

Do you or your group want to learn how to make soap, bath and body products and how to launch your own bath and body business? Email marla@backporchsoap.com for more information.

Sign up for our newsletter here to to be the first to know about our newest classes and announcements!
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Ideal for those looking for Maine Soap Making Classes, New Hampshire Soap Making Classes, Vermont Soap Making Classes, Rhode Island Soap Making Classes, Connecticut Soap Making Classes, New York Soap Making Classes, New York City Soap Making Classes

May 29, 2009

Teaching Aspiring Students at Newton Green Bodycare and Soap Making Classes

Recently I taught a Green Bodycare and Soap Making classes through Newton Adult Community Education at Newton South High School. These students were fantastic! They embraced the creation of natural bodycare and soap with ease!

This class of 20 students (some of them pictured above) made organic sugar scrubs, organic sea salt soaks, organic glycerin soap, and all-natural body balms. Students came from all over the Boston area. Newton Adult Community Education offers an in-depth course catalog quarterly, and classes are well-attended.

I also taught a Glycerin Handmade Soap. It was completely full, with 15 students!

Want to join me for a fabulous fun time? You can sign up for my summer classes in Newton here. Sign up with a friend and enjoy a wonderful evening with other inspiring creatives! You'll take home lots of products that you make yourself in both classes:

July 9, 6-9 p.m. Totally Green Organic Bodycare
Learn how to make natural and organic body-care products. You'll create and take home a dozen items: two exfoliating body scrubs, two luxurious body balms, four moisturizing soap bars, and four sea-salt bath soaks. These make great birthday gifts—or keep them for yourself (we won't tell). We'll cover the art of aromatherapy, how to blend essential oils, and which ingredients to use on your body and which to avoid. You'll also take home recipes, so you can make these fragrant and healthful products on your own. The class is $49 with a $25 materials fee payable the night of the class.

July 16, 6-9 p.m. Handmade Glycerin Soap
Make an array of beautiful, moisturizing soaps. We'll cover the essentials of glycerin soapmaking, with lots of hands-on learning, including how to use molds and add fragrance, color, shea butter and other moisturizing oils, herbs, and exfoliants. Each student will make three personalized batches of soap to take home. If you have sensitive skin, you'll learn how to make unscented soaps. This class is a great gift for a friend—or yourself. The class is $49 with an $18 materials fee is payable the night of the class.

Here are some of the beautiful soaps that students made in class:

Newton South offers great classrooms. In both spring classes, we made ourselves at home in one of the science labs. It was perfect because students grouped together at one of the six lab stations.

Can't make it to one of these classes? Then check out my other classes taught in our Duxbury studio
here. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to stay up-to-date with where I'll be teaching next!
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Ideal for those looking for Maine Soap Making Classes, New Hampshire Soap Making Classes, Vermont Soap Making Classes, Rhode Island Soap Making Classes, Connecticut Soap Making Classes, New York Soap Making Classes, New York City Soap Making Classes

May 28, 2009

Cold Process Soap Making Class; Memorable & Clean Memorial Day Weekend!

Memorial Day weekend for most people means barbeques, outdoor parties and parades. But for seven students who came from all parts of Massachusetts - including Nantucket - it meant learning how to make cold process soap.

After introducing themselves and their aspirations for wanting to learn to make soap (for some a new hobby, for others a new business), we discussed the nitty gritty of precautions and procedures. This particular class was full of questions, which kept me on my toes!

We discussed soap making for the first hour, then spent the next three hours making soap. Students measured oils, water and lye. Then they combined lye and water, then melted the oils (we used palm oil, coconut oil and olive oil). When the temperatures were just right, we slowly poured the lye/water solution into the oils and made two 13 lb. batches of lemongrass essential oil/ground oatmeal and Bulgarian lavender essential oil soap.

Soap was divided among the new soapmakers and everyone took home two molds which held at least five bars. After 24 hours students sliced up their soaps at home and put them in a safe spot to cure. Now comes the hardest part - waiting 4-6 weeks for a complete cure!

Want to learn how to make soap? Join me for the next Cold Process Soap Making Class on June 27. Or take Advanced Cold Process Soap Making on June 13. Or check out all my classes here.
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Ideal for those looking for Maine Soap Making Classes, New Hampshire Soap Making Classes, Vermont Soap Making Classes, Rhode Island Soap Making Classes, Connecticut Soap Making Classes, New York Soap Making Classes, New York City Soap Making Classes
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