LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Dave Willett is the owner of STEM Handmade Soap. He compares his soap molds to long loaves of bread.

What You Need To Know

  • STEM Handmade Soap has two locations in Northeast Ohio
  • Dave Willett, the owner, compares his molds of soap to loaves of bread before they're trimmed for packaging

  • He said they donate the bars of soaps that don't turn out perfectly shaped

“So, it truly does [sic], is like a loaf of bread except for dough, it's actually soap,” Willett said.

He said the loaves have to go through a special process before they’re transformed into bars of soap for sale.

“We let it cure for four weeks," Willett said. "Then after the curing process is done, we just remove the edges, the sharp edges of the soap, to make a more comfortable use."

 Some bars of soap don’t always turn out perfectly shaped, so Willett said they donate them.

“They're very good soap, still a perfect soap to use," he said. "They're just not something that kind of fits our desired packaging, so to speak."

The shop goes on donation drop-offs and also has charities come to the store to pick up the supplies. Willett said it’s all a part of their mission as business.

“We have three pillars of our business," he said. "It's care of self, care of community and care of planet."

Trish Rooney is the executive director of Lakewood Community Services Center and said it thrills her clients whenever they receive the donations.

“Well, you know, you can't use food stamps for personal care products,” Rooney said.

 Willett said the shop is happy to help.

“Lakewood's very supportive of small businesses, so is Shaker Heights," he said. "So it's important to us to actually give back to those communities that are supporting us."