An opera of soaps By Gayle Smoot For The News-Chronicle Sweetsoap is not just a charming name, it is the name of a charming product manufactured in the kitchen of a shop located at 1000 Main Street in Crivitz. The building had formerly housed Poppy's Bar, a women's clothing store and a private residence. The converted barroom which was the large living room in the residence is now the showroom for the retail portion of the business. Karen Sweet is the owner. Karen and her husband had a seasonal home in the Crivitz area for about 12 years. When she tired of her stressful 9 to 5 job in Milwaukee, she decided to turn a hobby of 25 years (candle making) into a business. For Karen, the perfect place to put her business was in Crivitz, close to their now year-round residence. Her candles are made from a soy-based wax, which does not give off fumes or soot when burned. About four years ago Karen expanded her skills and began making her own homemade soap. She felt there had to be something better for her skin than soaps available in stores. Using her knowledge of oils and fragrances from her candle making, she developed a line of skin care products using high-quality vegetable oils. By adding potassium hydroxide to turn the oils into soap, a thick paste is formed in about three hours. After adding the paste to demineralized boiling water, she then begins the fun part of adding glycerin and lots of fragrance oils. Her "from scratch" soaps are made from small batches of coconut, palm, olive and canola oils. Sweetsoap does not dry out your skin because they are "superfatted," which means 10 percent of the oils used are not turned into soap and are there to soften your skin. Bars of soap are allowed to cure 4 to 6 weeks before being offered for sale to insure the saponification process (oils turning into soap) is complete. In addition to soap, she has gone on to make other "skin friendly" products which include a hand and body cream, facial cleanser and face cream. Another "fun thing" Karen enjoys making are bath fizzies, which soften the water and add fragrance to the bath. The trick is not to trigger the "fizzie" reaction when patting the concoction into balls with the small amount of water needed to form the material into balls. Karen is beginning to carry a line of low carb foods which she personally finds effective for her diet. She found that the food were hard to come by in the Crivitz area so decided others might enjoy the convenience of such items being offered locally. Every one likes warm feet. Karen can help you out there, too. By providing her with the length of your feet and choosing a color of yarn, she can provide you with a pair of hand "cranked" socks made on an antique, Legare 400, sock knitting machine. These antique knitting machines were one of the first home industries for women in the mid 1800s.