diff --git a/app/Services/Woo/CatalogWriteService.php b/app/Services/Woo/CatalogWriteService.php
index 477f308..27b2aeb 100644
--- a/app/Services/Woo/CatalogWriteService.php
+++ b/app/Services/Woo/CatalogWriteService.php
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ namespace App\Services\Woo;
 use App\Models\WooCategory;
 use App\Models\WooProduct;
 use App\Models\WooStore;
+use App\Support\WooHtml;
 
 class CatalogWriteService
 {
@@ -112,8 +113,8 @@ class CatalogWriteService
             'sale_price' => $this->majorPrice($input['sale_price'] ?? null),
             'manage_stock' => (bool) ($input['manage_stock'] ?? false),
             'stock_quantity' => isset($input['stock_quantity']) ? (int) $input['stock_quantity'] : null,
-            'short_description' => $input['short_description'] ?? null,
-            'description' => $input['description'] ?? null,
+            'short_description' => WooHtml::sanitize($input['short_description'] ?? null),
+            'description' => WooHtml::sanitize($input['description'] ?? null),
             'categories' => $categories,
             'images' => $input['images'] ?? null,
         ], fn ($value) => $value !== null && $value !== '');
@@ -127,7 +128,7 @@ class CatalogWriteService
         return array_filter([
             'name' => (string) ($input['name'] ?? ''),
             'slug' => $input['slug'] ?? null,
-            'description' => $input['description'] ?? null,
+            'description' => WooHtml::sanitize($input['description'] ?? null),
             'parent' => $parent > 0 ? $parent : 0,
         ], fn ($value) => $value !== null && $value !== '');
     }
diff --git a/app/Services/Woo/CategoryIngestService.php b/app/Services/Woo/CategoryIngestService.php
index 00a11ce..2f2fff7 100644
--- a/app/Services/Woo/CategoryIngestService.php
+++ b/app/Services/Woo/CategoryIngestService.php
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ namespace App\Services\Woo;
 
 use App\Models\WooCategory;
 use App\Models\WooStore;
+use App\Support\WooHtml;
 use Carbon\Carbon;
 
 class CategoryIngestService
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ class CategoryIngestService
                 'parent_external_id' => $parent > 0 ? $parent : null,
                 'name' => (string) ($payload['name'] ?? 'Category'),
                 'slug' => (string) ($payload['slug'] ?? 'category-'.$externalId),
-                'description' => $this->nullableString($payload['description'] ?? null),
+                'description' => WooHtml::sanitize($payload['description'] ?? null),
                 'product_count' => max(0, (int) ($payload['count'] ?? 0)),
                 'wc_updated_at' => $this->updatedAt($payload),
                 'metadata' => [
diff --git a/app/Services/Woo/ProductIngestService.php b/app/Services/Woo/ProductIngestService.php
index 164314c..ffb527c 100644
--- a/app/Services/Woo/ProductIngestService.php
+++ b/app/Services/Woo/ProductIngestService.php
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ namespace App\Services\Woo;
 
 use App\Models\WooProduct;
 use App\Models\WooStore;
+use App\Support\WooHtml;
 use Carbon\Carbon;
 
 class ProductIngestService
@@ -54,8 +55,8 @@ class ProductIngestService
                 'manage_stock' => (bool) ($payload['manage_stock'] ?? false),
                 'category_external_ids' => $categoryIds,
                 'images' => $images,
-                'short_description' => $this->nullableString($payload['short_description'] ?? null),
-                'description' => $this->nullableString($payload['description'] ?? null),
+                'short_description' => WooHtml::sanitize($payload['short_description'] ?? null),
+                'description' => WooHtml::sanitize($payload['description'] ?? null),
                 'wc_updated_at' => $this->updatedAt($payload),
                 'metadata' => [
                     'permalink' => $payload['permalink'] ?? null,
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ class ProductIngestService
 
     private function nullableString(mixed $value): ?string
     {
-        $text = trim(strip_tags((string) $value));
+        $text = trim((string) $value);
 
         return $text === '' ? null : $text;
     }
diff --git a/app/Support/WooHtml.php b/app/Support/WooHtml.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab858f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/Support/WooHtml.php
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Support;
+
+class WooHtml
+{
+    private const ALLOWED_TAGS = '<p><br><strong><b><em><i><ul><ol><li><a>';
+
+    public static function sanitize(mixed $value): ?string
+    {
+        if ($value === null) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        $html = trim((string) $value);
+        if ($html === '') {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        if ($html === strip_tags($html)) {
+            return self::plainToHtml($html);
+        }
+
+        $clean = trim(strip_tags($html, self::ALLOWED_TAGS));
+
+        return $clean === '' ? null : $clean;
+    }
+
+    public static function normalizeForEditor(?string $value): string
+    {
+        if ($value === null || trim($value) === '') {
+            return '';
+        }
+
+        if ($value === strip_tags($value)) {
+            return self::plainToHtml($value) ?? '';
+        }
+
+        return $value;
+    }
+
+    public static function plainToHtml(string $plain): ?string
+    {
+        $plain = str_replace(["\r\n", "\r"], "\n", trim($plain));
+        if ($plain === '') {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        $parts = preg_split("/\n\s*\n/", $plain) ?: [];
+        if (count($parts) === 1 && str_contains($plain, "\n")) {
+            $parts = explode("\n", $plain);
+        }
+
+        $paragraphs = array_values(array_filter(
+            array_map('trim', $parts),
+            fn (string $part) => $part !== '',
+        ));
+
+        if ($paragraphs === []) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        return implode('', array_map(
+            fn (string $paragraph) => '<p>'.self::escape($paragraph).'</p>',
+            $paragraphs,
+        ));
+    }
+
+    private static function escape(string $text): string
+    {
+        return htmlspecialchars($text, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_HTML5, 'UTF-8');
+    }
+}
diff --git a/resources/js/app.js b/resources/js/app.js
index e9554aa..93fb407 100644
--- a/resources/js/app.js
+++ b/resources/js/app.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import './bootstrap';
 
 import { registerLadillConfirmStore, registerLadillModalHelpers } from './ladill-modals';
 import { registerLadillSearchShortcut } from './ladill-search-shortcut';
+import { registerWooRichText } from './woo-rich-text';
 
 registerLadillModalHelpers();
 registerLadillSearchShortcut();
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ window.qrcode = qrcode;
 
 Alpine.plugin(collapse);
 registerLadillClipboard(Alpine);
+registerWooRichText(Alpine);
 
 Alpine.data('notificationDropdown', (config = {}) => ({
     open: false,
diff --git a/resources/js/woo-rich-text.js b/resources/js/woo-rich-text.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6ea2a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/js/woo-rich-text.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+export function registerWooRichText(Alpine) {
+    Alpine.data('wooRichText', (initial = '') => ({
+        html: initial,
+
+        init() {
+            this.$refs.editor.innerHTML = this.html || '';
+            this.sync();
+        },
+
+        sync() {
+            this.html = this.$refs.editor.innerHTML.trim();
+            this.$refs.input.value = this.html;
+        },
+
+        format(command) {
+            document.execCommand(command, false, null);
+            this.sync();
+            this.$refs.editor.focus();
+        },
+    }));
+}
diff --git a/resources/views/components/woo/rich-text.blade.php b/resources/views/components/woo/rich-text.blade.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5289a7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/views/components/woo/rich-text.blade.php
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+@props([
+    'name',
+    'label',
+    'value' => '',
+    'minHeight' => '6rem',
+    'help' => null,
+])
+
+@php
+    $editorValue = \App\Support\WooHtml::normalizeForEditor(old($name, $value));
+@endphp
+
+<div {{ $attributes->merge(['class' => 'mt-4']) }}>
+    <label class="block text-sm font-medium text-slate-700">{{ $label }}</label>
+    @if($help)
+        <p class="mt-0.5 text-xs text-slate-500">{{ $help }}</p>
+    @endif
+
+    <div x-data="wooRichText(@js($editorValue))" class="mt-1">
+        <div class="flex items-center gap-1 rounded-t-xl border border-b-0 border-slate-200 bg-slate-50 px-2 py-1.5">
+            <button type="button" @click="format('bold')"
+                    class="rounded-md px-2 py-0.5 text-xs font-bold text-slate-600 hover:bg-white hover:text-slate-900"
+                    title="Bold">B</button>
+            <button type="button" @click="format('italic')"
+                    class="rounded-md px-2 py-0.5 text-xs italic text-slate-600 hover:bg-white hover:text-slate-900"
+                    title="Italic">I</button>
+        </div>
+        <div
+            x-ref="editor"
+            contenteditable="true"
+            @input="sync"
+            style="min-height: {{ $minHeight }}"
+            class="w-full rounded-b-xl border border-slate-200 bg-white px-3 py-2 text-sm leading-relaxed text-slate-900 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-indigo-500/20 [&_p]:my-2 [&_p:first-child]:mt-0 [&_p:last-child]:mb-0 [&_strong]:font-semibold [&_em]:italic"
+        ></div>
+        <input type="hidden" x-ref="input" name="{{ $name }}" :value="html">
+    </div>
+</div>
diff --git a/resources/views/woo/categories/form.blade.php b/resources/views/woo/categories/form.blade.php
index 40f09b5..c9ee81e 100644
--- a/resources/views/woo/categories/form.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/woo/categories/form.blade.php
@@ -41,10 +41,10 @@
                 </div>
             @endif
 
-            <div>
-                <label class="block text-sm font-medium text-slate-700">Description</label>
-                <textarea name="description" rows="4" class="mt-1 w-full rounded-xl border-slate-200 text-sm">{{ old('description', $category->description) }}</textarea>
-            </div>
+            <x-woo.rich-text name="description" label="Description"
+                :value="$category->description"
+                min-height="6rem"
+                class="!mt-0" />
 
             <div class="flex items-center justify-end gap-3">
                 <a href="{{ route('woo.categories.index') }}" class="text-sm font-medium text-slate-600 hover:text-slate-900">Cancel</a>
diff --git a/resources/views/woo/products/form.blade.php b/resources/views/woo/products/form.blade.php
index 96e47a2..f896e27 100644
--- a/resources/views/woo/products/form.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/woo/products/form.blade.php
@@ -77,15 +77,15 @@
                     </div>
                 @endif
 
-                <div class="mt-4">
-                    <label class="block text-sm font-medium text-slate-700">Short description</label>
-                    <textarea name="short_description" rows="3" class="mt-1 w-full rounded-xl border-slate-200 text-sm">{{ old('short_description', $product->short_description) }}</textarea>
-                </div>
+                <x-woo.rich-text name="short_description" label="Short description"
+                    :value="$product->short_description"
+                    min-height="4.5rem"
+                    help="Shown on product listings. Bold the book or product name like in WooCommerce." />
 
-                <div class="mt-4">
-                    <label class="block text-sm font-medium text-slate-700">Description</label>
-                    <textarea name="description" rows="6" class="mt-1 w-full rounded-xl border-slate-200 text-sm">{{ old('description', $product->description) }}</textarea>
-                </div>
+                <x-woo.rich-text name="description" label="Description"
+                    :value="$product->description"
+                    min-height="12rem"
+                    help="Full product page copy. Use separate paragraphs for each block of text." />
             </div>
 
             <div class="flex items-center justify-end gap-3 border-t border-slate-100 pt-6">
diff --git a/tests/Unit/WooHtmlTest.php b/tests/Unit/WooHtmlTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ac7a9b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/WooHtmlTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Tests\Unit;
+
+use App\Support\WooHtml;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+
+class WooHtmlTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function test_sanitize_preserves_paragraphs_and_bold(): void
+    {
+        $html = '<p>Intro</p><p>In <strong>In Jail In My Own Society</strong>, author writes.</p>';
+
+        $this->assertSame(
+            '<p>Intro</p><p>In <strong>In Jail In My Own Society</strong>, author writes.</p>',
+            WooHtml::sanitize($html),
+        );
+    }
+
+    public function test_plain_to_html_wraps_legacy_paragraphs(): void
+    {
+        $plain = "First paragraph\r\nSecond paragraph\r\nThird paragraph";
+
+        $this->assertSame(
+            '<p>First paragraph</p><p>Second paragraph</p><p>Third paragraph</p>',
+            WooHtml::plainToHtml($plain),
+        );
+    }
+
+    public function test_normalize_for_editor_upgrades_plain_text(): void
+    {
+        $this->assertSame(
+            '<p>Line one</p><p>Line two</p>',
+            WooHtml::normalizeForEditor("Line one\nLine two"),
+        );
+    }
+}