Making Soap from Old Cooking Oil
Friday, 2026/05/01251 words4 minutes255 reads
Lin Ying-ju, a Taiwanese entrepreneur based in Helsinki, has successfully established a niche business transforming used cooking oil into artisanal soap. Her enterprise, JooSoap Studio, now supplies several prestigious establishments, including Nolla, a Michelin green star restaurant, demonstrating the commercial viability of sustainable practices.
Before relocating to Finland for graduate studies at Aalto University, Lin was introduced to this traditional craft at Taichung Maple Eco-School, an institution pioneering environmental education since 1996. The practice, requiring each soap bar to cure for over eight weeks, was relatively uncommon in Europe two decades ago. When Lin casually mentioned this technique during a university discussion, the enthusiastic response from her classmates catalyzed what would become her entrepreneurial journey.
Facing the challenging job market and visa pressures that many international graduates encounter, Lin leveraged her specialized knowledge to forge an unconventional career path. JooSoap Studio emerged organically from classroom demonstrations in 2011 and was formally registered in late 2014. Lin acknowledges that entrepreneurship provided the flexibility that traditional employment could not offer during that precarious period.
Adapting to Finnish cultural preferences has been crucial to her success. Unlike Taiwan, where large-scale workshops can produce thousands of soap bars daily, Finnish consumers embrace a more measured approach, preferring to create only what is necessary. Lin responded by transitioning to seasonal operations, inadvertently strengthening her brand identity. Recently, she visited Japan to connect with Sekken no Machi, the nonprofit organization that pioneered this practice in Asia over four decades ago, reinforcing the international network of sustainable practitioners.
