{"id":52,"date":"2010-08-09T14:03:05","date_gmt":"2010-08-09T14:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp3.wright.edu\/cats\/community\/?p=52"},"modified":"2022-09-26T11:55:31","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T15:55:31","slug":"scents-and-sensibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2010\/08\/09\/scents-and-sensibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Scents & Sensibility"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"photo<\/a>

Graduate student Stephen Rumbaugh takes pride in his all-natural soaps and unique product packaging designs.<\/p><\/div>\n

When his job was put on the chopping block, graphic designer Stephen Rumbaugh considered his options for the future. He\u2019d always wanted to pursue his master\u2019s degree, and he now could do so full time\u2014if he had a steady stream of income. Rumbaugh thought back to a book he read in the early \u201990s on soap making and sensed an opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always liked things that are a little different, unique. Growing up, I used to hate the grocery store soap in our house,\u201d recalled Rumbaugh. So the experiment began. He enrolled in the Master of Humanities program at Wright State University and tried to offset his costs through his new homemade soaps, which he dubbed Society Bodycare: Bodycare for The People.<\/p>\n

The inspiration behind the name came as Rumbaugh was walking through the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas. \u201cIt suddenly occurred to me that all levels of society need soap\u2014that and food, right?\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

Deciding to use his 2009 tax return on all the necessary equipment, Rumbaugh headed to a public library to research what would be needed. The library was about to throw away a stack of unused 1040 tax forms, when he had another \u201ca-ha!\u201d moment. He would package his soap bars with recyclable items that people use as members of society\u2014from old tax forms to phone book pages\u2014and finish them off with his own label design. With the name, equipment, and packaging all accounted for, he just needed to make his product.<\/p>\n

The first batch was a self-proclaimed disaster. \u201cIt\u2019s not like making cookies,\u201d he quipped. \u201cA lot of trouble goes into making a batch of soap. All the elements have to be aligned properly.\u201d He found his niche in making all-vegan soaps that, with the exception of lye, are made from edible ingredients, like oils and herbs.<\/p>\n

From his Yellow Springs, Ohio, home, Rumbaugh brews not only a steady line of income, but also the foundation for his master\u2019s project. Inspired by his participation in a service-learning class at Wright State, Rumbaugh met with Wright State associate professor Jennifer Subban and assistant professors Erin Flanagan and Sarah Twill about developing a humanitarian angle for his product.<\/p>\n

With the success of his product line, he wanted to find a way to give back to the greater good.<\/p>\n

Twill noted during their brainstorming that people who qualify to receive food stamps are unable to use those for personal hygiene products. \u201cThe social need for these items is just tremendous,\u201d said Twill. \u201cI mentioned that some of the soaps could go to homeless shelters, domestic violence programs, food pantries, and after-school programs that assist youth from low-income families. The possibilities are endless.\u201d Twill, Flanagan, and Subban are now serving as Rumbaugh\u2019s master\u2019s project advisors.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>

Rumbaugh cuts bar-sized chunks from a fresh loaf of soap in his kitchen.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited about the potential of helping others through my soaps,\u201d said Rumbaugh, who expects to complete his master\u2019s degree at the close of 2010. \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure if this was even going to work, but it\u2019s actually been very successful, especially around Christmas. I\u2019ve been able to pay for much of my tuition and books through the income it\u2019s generated. It\u2019s hard though, because my focus needs to remain on my education, so I can\u2019t dedicate as much time and energy as I would like to on Society Bodycare. I hope to be able to devote more time to it as I really develop my master\u2019s project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the next six months, Rumbaugh looks to add more-distinctive labels to each of his soap \u201cflavors,\u201d exploring a color-coded system for the bar wraps. \u201cI think that will make it more user friendly, and make the different soaps really stand out,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Soap-making Process<\/h3>\n

Visit the photo gallery<\/a> to see how Stephen Rumbaugh makes his distinctive soaps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When his job was put on the chopping block, graphic designer Stephen Rumbaugh considered his options for the future… Rumbaugh thought back to a book he read in the early \u201990s on soap making and sensed an opportunity. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4863,747,4827,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanities-and-cultural-studies","category-liberal-arts","category-magazine","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129627,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions\/129627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}