Sandro Petrillo is a hobbyist who took a passion for soap and created SSSOAPS, a brand that creates 100 per cent natural soap bars.

At the beginning of lockdowns, Petrillo began to pursue soapmaking. After jobs in his career of installation and design work started to dry up, SSSOAPS was created in June 2020.

He learnt from other hobbyist soap-makers who uploaded YouTube videos, and then eventually reached out to suppliers and began testing out the process.

"I basically taught myself how to work with the material and create the product," Petrillo told blogTO. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by blogTO (@blogto)

Petrillo creates his soap by using hard ingredients such as coconut oil and shea butter, melting them down, then pouring in liquid ingredients like olive oil and hemp oil. 

When everything is melted and at the proper temperature, sodium hydroxide is added in to turn the mixture into soap. Activated charcoal, off-cuts and essential oils are added to finish the product. 

The soap dries in a mould and is then cut into individual bars, shaved, stamped and cured for six weeks before being sent to the customer. Soap from SSSOAPS stands out among others because it's all natural and is made in small batches and with no preservatives. 

"Being able to buy a product regularly or supply a product regularly that someone uses, loves, admires and watches fade away, and then reapply as that sort of cycle, I really love that," says Petrillo. 

Want more stories like this? Make sure to subscribe to Side Hustle, blogTO's show about people in Toronto who have pursued their passion as a side project and found success, with new episodes every week on Snapchat.