Home Information Online Store LITTLE WHITE LYE SOAP
The story of LWLS

Welcome to our Soap Shop

Based in Ames, Iowa, Little White Lye Soap takes the traditional methods of the 19th Century and creates hypoallergenic handcrafted bars of soap. Each bar is as unique as snowflakes in the winter and individually wrapped by hand. We also crochet our own loofas that allow you to slip a bar of soap into. The soap making process begins with lye and rendered lard from Iowa-raised hogs. The mixture is stirred for approximately one hour before it is the right consistency to pour into our handcrafted molds. The soap is cut into bars the following day and left to cure for two weeks.  The soap is fragrance-free, leaving it gentle on the skin, whether used at the sink, in the shower, or in the washing machine. Our story really begins with owner, Shannon Bardole. She grew up in the small farming community of Ogden, Iowa. From there she went on to study at the University of Northern Iowa and majored in Family Services. Shannon, having a passion for history and traditional ways of an earlier America, studied and trained in these arts by working at Living History Farms. She held the positions of Broom Shop Supervisor and 1900 Farm Domestic Supervisor from 2001 to 2008. It was there that she fell in love with broom and soap making. And it was also there that she gained the friendship of many a woodsmith and blacksmith to bring all the pieces together to restore our beautiful equipment as it is today. In recent years she has become involved with the Ames Historical Society and furthers her love for old world America.    
Franklin Broom works, craftsmen of fine broom corn brooms