Choosing the right soap
Just because it's handmade doesn't
mean it's good for you, however. You need to understand a few things
about the soapmaking process to know what to look for.
There are
basically three ways to make soap. One common way is called "melt and
pour" soap. There are even melt and pour kits you can buy to make cute
soap shapes with your kids. These are generally glycerine based
transparent soaps. They're not as harmful (usually) as the commercial
bars, but they're not what we're looking for here.
The other two
methods are "hot process" and "cold process." The hot process method
utilizes heat after the saponification process has taken place, while
the cold process method does not.
“Cold Process Method”
Unlike mass produced bars of soaps which have added harmful chemicals to speed up the hardening process and lowers the production cost. We produce our soaps using the original “Cold Process Method”. This method is more time consuming, and soap curing time is 4-8 weeks, but is undoubtedly the best method for producing the highest quality soaps.
The ingredients. Cold process soap bars are made using a combination of oils or fats and lye. Lye sounds a little scary, but all the caustic qualities of the lye are removed during the saponification process. When the lye interacts with the oils or fats, it creates glycerine. The type of oils and fats used make a difference in how hard or soft the soap bar ends up being, and how well it lathers.
With handmade soaps, just like with
commercially manufactured bars, you need to read the labels. You want to
find soaps that use only pure, organic oils or fats. If plants are used
in the bars (many bars incorporate seeds and petals from various
plants) they should be certified organic. Avoid any bars that use
artificial colors or fragrances. These are synthetic chemicals and you
don't want them on your skin or going down your drain. If you want a
colored or scented soap bar, look for one that uses organic essential
oils and natural, organic colorants.
