Every summer the Queerguru Team decamps up North for a few months to Provincetown. This small magical queer town on the very tip of Cape Cod is where many people, especially from our LGBTQ community, go to hopefully fulfill their dreams.
One such person is Will Treese who by day helps supply the Town’s gas, but at night and every spare hour he can find, pursues his passion (besides his boyfriend). He is an artisan savonnier but in Ptown we just call him our soapmaker. His story is the first in a new series this summer that we are calling Following Your Dream.
For the past three years, Treese has developed his soapmaking activity both as an escape from the everyday world and a way for him to express himself in his own unique way. He opted to pursue cold-process soapmaking as it is one of the original old-time ways of making soap.
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Through many trials and tribulations, he developed his own base recipe, and from that, he experiments with fragrance, color, and different soap design techniques. We LOVE the unique combinations that Treese now makes….. our personal favorite is Rosemary and mint …. which is a very light and delicious fragrance.
Treese makes his soaps in small batches and the soap bars take 8 weeks of curing time before they are ready for sale. It is a long, slow process. There did eventually come a time after he had spent some thousands of dollars on his ‘hobby’, he had run out of friends to sell to. So first he opened an In Instagram account and on October 20, 2020, Treese Soapery Esty Shop launched. He deservedly immediately sold out of everything.
This was not a one-off experience and since then many new customers have placed second and third orders and left five-star reviews! A five five-star review and a return purchase is Etsy gold!
When we talked to Treese he told us that he was very hopeful for the future success of Treese Soapery. And he added I’m completely content in where I sit today, getting to do what I love and finding a way for it to fit in with the rest of my life.
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/treesesoapery/ Etsy Shop - https://www.etsy.com/shop/TreeseSoapery Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/treesesoapery
P.S. In Provincetown there is a SOPER Street ….. a name that was traditional used to denote a soapmaking center
