About Batty's Handmade Soap
Is There Really a Difference Between Handmade Soap and Commercial Soap?
There was a time when I wondered if there was much of a difference between handmade soap and commercially made soap. I knew the handmade stuff made my skin feel better but I wasn't sure why.
Now fast forward a few years to present day! I now know the answer to this question first hand because I make soap for a living! I didn't start out making it as a business. No no no no.. things started out much simpler than that. I started out making handmade soap that both my fiance and I could use without any irritations - rashes for him, dry itchy and cracked skin for me (my feet were the worse! ouch!). I quickly realized that there is a HUGE difference between the soap I was making, and the stuff we had used for so long from the department store! ... In fact, after learning about what we had been slathering on our skin for so long, I was amazed that we didn't have more problems!.. the skin sure can put up with a lot - the good news is it doesn't have to :)
Commercial soaps aren't actually "soap" - they are detergents. Detergents are made with stinky petroleum products and chemicals that are then heavily scented with perfumes (rather than fragrance oils or essential oils) to cover up the stink ... right away, this doesn't sound like what "soap" should be does it? If that wasn't bad enough many commercial "soaps" include animal fat (unused by-products that are obtained cheaply from the meat industry). If you're a vegan or vegetarian like I am, you've already decide that this is a bad thing, but for the meat eaters out there (like my fiance), you may be wondering why you need to worry about animal fats in "soap". The problem with this is that there are substances in this fat (beef tallow) that can't be broken down (saponify) and can cause skin irritations and break outs. Moreover, there has been a lot of controversy over the hormones, antibiotics, and other chemicals that these animals are subjected to that consequently end up on the dinner table - so shouldn't we also be concerned with these same chemicals ending up in our bath & body products that we rub all over our skin? I think so.
So now that you know a bit about what commercial "soap" (aka detergents) are, let's look at the handmade alternative! True soaps... like the handmade kind, are made with natural products, in my case, natural vegan products - glycerin, olive oil, shea butter, etc. All of the ingredients in true soaps are there for a reason; that means there's no fillers and no perfumes to cover up a stinky sorry excuse for soap lol! On the eco side of things, true soaps are made with very little energy, don't create by-products that fill up landfills and don't poison the earth with the suds that go down the drain. In fact, all those suds are biodegradable! There's no need to worry about true soaps causing harm when they are made, while they are being used, or after they go down the drain!
One of my mottos that I try to live by is to tread lightly. Each day I work closer and closer to reducing any negative marks my fiance and I may be leaving on this planet. I truly feel blessed and accomplished to be able to make true soap for my friends and family as a way of life. If there's one thing you can do for me after reading this blog post, it's to tell someone else about what you've learned so we can all tread lightly together :)
Now fast forward a few years to present day! I now know the answer to this question first hand because I make soap for a living! I didn't start out making it as a business. No no no no.. things started out much simpler than that. I started out making handmade soap that both my fiance and I could use without any irritations - rashes for him, dry itchy and cracked skin for me (my feet were the worse! ouch!). I quickly realized that there is a HUGE difference between the soap I was making, and the stuff we had used for so long from the department store! ... In fact, after learning about what we had been slathering on our skin for so long, I was amazed that we didn't have more problems!.. the skin sure can put up with a lot - the good news is it doesn't have to :)
Commercial soaps aren't actually "soap" - they are detergents. Detergents are made with stinky petroleum products and chemicals that are then heavily scented with perfumes (rather than fragrance oils or essential oils) to cover up the stink ... right away, this doesn't sound like what "soap" should be does it? If that wasn't bad enough many commercial "soaps" include animal fat (unused by-products that are obtained cheaply from the meat industry). If you're a vegan or vegetarian like I am, you've already decide that this is a bad thing, but for the meat eaters out there (like my fiance), you may be wondering why you need to worry about animal fats in "soap". The problem with this is that there are substances in this fat (beef tallow) that can't be broken down (saponify) and can cause skin irritations and break outs. Moreover, there has been a lot of controversy over the hormones, antibiotics, and other chemicals that these animals are subjected to that consequently end up on the dinner table - so shouldn't we also be concerned with these same chemicals ending up in our bath & body products that we rub all over our skin? I think so.
So now that you know a bit about what commercial "soap" (aka detergents) are, let's look at the handmade alternative! True soaps... like the handmade kind, are made with natural products, in my case, natural vegan products - glycerin, olive oil, shea butter, etc. All of the ingredients in true soaps are there for a reason; that means there's no fillers and no perfumes to cover up a stinky sorry excuse for soap lol! On the eco side of things, true soaps are made with very little energy, don't create by-products that fill up landfills and don't poison the earth with the suds that go down the drain. In fact, all those suds are biodegradable! There's no need to worry about true soaps causing harm when they are made, while they are being used, or after they go down the drain!
One of my mottos that I try to live by is to tread lightly. Each day I work closer and closer to reducing any negative marks my fiance and I may be leaving on this planet. I truly feel blessed and accomplished to be able to make true soap for my friends and family as a way of life. If there's one thing you can do for me after reading this blog post, it's to tell someone else about what you've learned so we can all tread lightly together :)
5 Reasons to Pamper Yourself with Handmade Soap
1. You value the largest organ in your body - your skin - and know that without the 3000 square inches of skin on your body, you wouldn't survive. It's definitely worth taking care of!
2. You don't want to have your skin rough, red, and dry after a shower or bath! You know that industrial manufactured soaps have harsh chemicals & detergents that cause just that! How? These harsh ingredients strip your skin of its natural moisturizers, irritate may people's skin, and even CAUSE may common skin problems!
3. You love that handmade soap is free of harsh ingredients and instead is made with natural oils, butters, and clays in particular combinations for various skin types! It's designed with specialized skin care in mind - not profits or bottom lines!
4. You LOVE Glycerin and each and every bar of handmade soap contains loads glycerin. Why do you love glycerin so much? Because glycerin draws moisture from the air into your skin! Is your skin craving moisture? If you're using industrial manufactured soaps you can bet it is because the glycerin is removed from these soaps and sold off for profit! Since the glycerin is removed from these industrial manufactured soaps, they replace that skin loving glycerin with poor quality fillers and detergents
5. You value affordable luxury and know that the simple things in like bring the most joy! Using handmade soap is like treating your skin to some serious pampering everyday! If you ever wanted to feel totally pampered on a small budget, handmade bath & body products are the way to go!
2. You don't want to have your skin rough, red, and dry after a shower or bath! You know that industrial manufactured soaps have harsh chemicals & detergents that cause just that! How? These harsh ingredients strip your skin of its natural moisturizers, irritate may people's skin, and even CAUSE may common skin problems!
3. You love that handmade soap is free of harsh ingredients and instead is made with natural oils, butters, and clays in particular combinations for various skin types! It's designed with specialized skin care in mind - not profits or bottom lines!
4. You LOVE Glycerin and each and every bar of handmade soap contains loads glycerin. Why do you love glycerin so much? Because glycerin draws moisture from the air into your skin! Is your skin craving moisture? If you're using industrial manufactured soaps you can bet it is because the glycerin is removed from these soaps and sold off for profit! Since the glycerin is removed from these industrial manufactured soaps, they replace that skin loving glycerin with poor quality fillers and detergents
5. You value affordable luxury and know that the simple things in like bring the most joy! Using handmade soap is like treating your skin to some serious pampering everyday! If you ever wanted to feel totally pampered on a small budget, handmade bath & body products are the way to go!
How to Make Your Soap Bars Last
Once you've tried handmade soap you want every silky skin loving bubble to last! Thankfully I wont stop making handmade soap any time soon BUT I know you want each and every bar to last even longer than they already do! No problem! Here's a few tips on how to make them last!
- Don't leave your handmade soap in the tub while you're soaking in the tub.
- Make sure your handmade soap isn't in the water stream - keep it in a corner of the shower or tub where it wont be constantly hit by water.
- Use a soap dish that provides appropriate drainage so your soap bar can completely dry out between uses.
- Rub your soap bar onto a wash cloth & use that to get clean rather than rubbing the soap bar right onto your body.
- Keep your soap bars in their packaging, in a cool dry place until you're ready to use them.
- Consider cutting your soap bars in half and only putting one half in the shower at a time.
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