The word Saipua is derived from the Finnish word for soap. Yes, some of their staff are indeed Finnish. In 1999 Susan Ryhanen retired from 30 years of teaching and started tinkering with handmade olive oil soap in her basement using a shoebox as a mold.

Since then, Sarah and Eric moved to New York, got jobs, quit jobs, and began helping Susan take her incredible handmade soap on the road. Saipua continues to be a small family owned business located in Brooklyn.

Their soaps are carefully crafted in small batches using food-grade vegetable oils, butters, herbs and extracts. Each bar is hand cut, air dried and cured in their workshop.

Dedicated to small business, they continue to produce soaps in small batches to assure quality and sustainability.