Our History

The Very Beginning

Ida was teaching middle school science when she chose natural soapmaking as her new hobby. Her husband, Howard, built a small wooden mold, Ida took over the kitchen, and their first successful batch was born: eight bars of Goat Milk & Oatmeal Soap.

When the soap helped improve Howard’s eczema, they realized she might be onto something worth exploring. Friends and family began asking for bars and encouraging her to keep going.

When it came time to choose a name, they looked to the place they lived: Chagrin Falls, overlooking the Chagrin River in the Chagrin Valley. Ida made soap, Howard made woodcrafts — and Chagrin Valley Soap & Craft was born.

In 2002, a simple website brought in the first online orders — and marked the beginning of something much bigger.

Readers can find the full story on “How It All Began.”

From Hobby to Something More

The business continued to grow. Ida was now selling soap to friends, friends of friends, and a small but loyal online community.

Soon, Ida and Howard decided it was time to make it official and formed a corporation, keeping the name they had chosen years earlier: Chagrin Valley Soap & Craft Company. Alongside Ida’s handmade soap, they offered wood shaving brushes, wine stoppers, soap decks, and garden dibbles made by Howard.

They began selling at small fairs and festivals, where seasoned soapmakers warned Ida that a business focused on “natural” soap would never succeed — customers, they said, wanted bright colors and fruity fragrances.

But Ida believed the world was changing, and that people were beginning to look for simpler, more natural products for themselves and their families.

A Big Turning Point

The business kept growing, and twenty-four hours a day no longer felt like enough. As Ida experimented with new products like bath melts, body creams, and lotion bars, it became clear that her little hobby had turned into something much bigger.

Despite her best efforts, she realized she couldn’t balance the demands of teaching with the needs of the growing business. With orders coming in faster than she could fill them, Ida made the difficult decision to retire from teaching and devote herself fully to Chagrin Valley Soap & Craft.

During the summer months, Ida and Howard became weekly vendors at a local farmers' market, introducing more and more people to their natural products.

Sam Joins the Team

Ida’s family and friends continue to support her efforts as the business grows. Howard built bigger and better molds in his woodshop and, with his business background, helped guide the administrative and financial side of things.

Ida’s son Sam returned from Spain and joined the company. With his natural communication and people skills, he took over customer service and began managing production of the non-soap products.

The little room under the deck soon became too small for the growing operation. Ida persuaded Howard to give up his woodshop so the growing business could move into a new “soap factory” attached to their home. And not to worry — Howard happily built himself a new barn for his woodworking.

Growing Through Change

The business continued to thrive, and with that momentum came the need for more hands and more heart. Ben, Christine, and Lindsey joined the team, and even Ida’s 90 year old mother, Sophie, helped wherever she could.

In 2010, Chagrin Valley Soap & Craft became a USDA Certified Organic company — a natural step for a business built from the beginning on organic, responsibly sourced ingredients.

Over the next few years, the product line continued to expand. Growth soon required moving operations from Ida’s home into a larger “soap factory” designed for the expanding business.

A newly launched website shared the company’s story more personally while improving the online shopping experience, and the company adopted the new name Chagrin Valley Soap & Salve to reflect its growing product line. At the same time, we embraced more eco-friendly packaging and created a unified brand look focused on simple, plastic-free packaging whenever possible.

Growing Family, Growing Company

In fall 2013, Ida’s daughter Sarah joined the business, bringing fresh energy and taking the lead in social media and public relations. The following spring, Sarah’s husband David joined as well, contributing his technical, financial, and marketing skills to help support the company’s continued growth.

Around this time, the company also earned Leaping Bunny certification, affirming its long-standing commitment to cruelty-free products and ingredient sourcing.

And then — here we go again!
The business had once again outgrown its space, and in 2014 Chagrin Valley Soap & Salve settled into its own building in Solon, Ohio — the newest and largest “soap factory” yet, with plenty of room to grow. (Ida even gained a real office.)

As the company expanded, so did our team. New friends joined the Chagrin Valley family, bringing energy, creativity, and a shared passion for our mission and values. We share ideas, we share a vision, and we’re rewarded with the sense that our time together truly makes a difference.

Bringing the Experience to Life

Shopping for handmade soap and skincare is meant to be a sensory experience — seeing the colors, breathing in the aromas, and feeling the textures — something online shopping simply can’t offer. Many local customers were craving that connection, so we opened a small shop right inside our Solon soap factory. Over the years, we’ve even welcomed visitors from other states and countries who wanted to see where their favorite products are made.

To make that hands‑on shopping experience easier for our west‑side customers — and to join the energy returning to downtown Cleveland — we opened a retail shop in the 5th Street Arcades in 2017. A few years later, we moved our retail location to City Goods in Ohio City’s Hingetown, a lively collective of independent local makers.

Throughout the years, customers have asked for new products, and whenever we can, we love to say yes. As the business continues to grow, so does our product line — shaped, as always, by the people who use and love what we make.

Looking Ahead While Honoring Our Roots

The past few years have brought so many exciting changes. In 2023, we celebrated 20 years as an incorporated business and launched a new website — technology moves quickly, and it felt good to refresh our photos, our words, and the way we share our story.

One of the biggest projects was our packaging redesign. Ida’s daughter Sarah spent months trying to capture the right look and feel — that tricky place where you know exactly what you want but can’t quite describe it. When it finally came together, we knew it fit. The new packaging simply feels like us.

In 2025, we celebrated 15 years as a USDA Certified Organic company.
And in April 2026, we’ll mark 25 years since Ida made her very first batch of soap.
It’s astonishing to look back and see how far we’ve come.

Many years ago, our small family team wrote a set of mission goals and core values to guide every decision we made as the company grew. We’re proud that, more than two decades later, those same values still guide everything we do — and continue to shape where we go next.