What is the difference between all the soaps on the market? The truth is, most of the products you see on grocery and cosmetics shelves are not actually soap at all—but rather detergents. And the products which are, in fact, true soaps, are generally very hard, shiny, molded bars laden with plasticizers, preservatives, perfumes and dyes.
And here’s a secret: About 90% of these soaps you see on the shelves were probably made by the same three soap companies, and all share roughly the same base, with merely different additives.
What has become known as “glycerine soaps” are some of the most misrepresented products of all, usually consisting of neither glycerine nor soap. These products are a far cry from the simple sudsy substance our grandmothers made. And there’s really nothing natural about most of them. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. So, how did something so basic as soap become so utterly complicated? Well, as usual, the answer begins with the bottom line.
Soap, in its simplest form, is the result of a chemical reaction known as saponification , or, where an acid and a base together form a salt. All anyone needs to make soap is a fat (which may be animal or botanically derived) and an alkali, most commonly referred to as “lye”, in the form of potassium or sodium hydroxide.
Ever wonder why it is that commercial soaps tend to feel drying to the skin? Well, it all comes down to magical glycerin again. Glycerin is so valuable in other cosmetic and even food applications that soap companies realized that they could make more money off the byproduct of soap than the soap itself.
When mixed together in a solution of water, the lye molecules collide with the fat molecules, splitting them apart, then neutralizing into two new molecules: soap and glycerin. Glycerin is a sticky, sweet substance that actually draws moisture from the air and conveys that moisture to the skin. This natural byproduct is the secret behind the finest handmade soaps today, making them ultra rich and superbly mild and moisturizing. It wasn’t until the industrial age when soap making corporations realized that the glycerin byproduct was more valuable than the actual soap—the old bottom line—and commercial soap, if it’s soap at all, has become what it is today.
Without the glycerin, commercial soap is very drying. In order to make up for it, and to make a longer lasting product, freshly cooked soap is extruded between chilled steel rollers, then shredded and chipped, amended with plasticizers to make it shiny and hard, then mixed with perfumes and dyes to make it look and smell pretty, along with preservatives so it has an infinite shelf life, then pressed back together under tremendous pressure, compacted into moulds, packaged and sold. This is what is known as “milled soap”.
What’s important to remember is this: Detergents and soaps have not evolved to benefit us. They have evolved to improve the bottom line of the companies who make them, at every turn. The large companies increase their profits, and our skin and our planet pays for it.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Soap doesn’t have to be drying. It doesn’t have to be made from animals. It doesn’t even have to be made with heat. In contrast, soap can be luxurious, gentle, vegetable-derived and natural. Without the glycerin, commercial soap is very drying. In order to make up for it, and to make a longer lasting product, freshly cooked soap is extruded between chilled steel rollers, then shredded and chipped, amended with plasticizers to make it shiny and hard, then mixed with perfumes and dyes to make it look and smell pretty, along with preservatives so it has an infinite shelf life, then pressed back together under tremendous pressure, compacted into moulds, packaged and sold. This is what is known as “milled soap”.
What’s important to remember is this: Detergents and soaps have not evolved to benefit us. They have evolved to improve the bottom line of the companies who make them, at every turn. The large companies increase their profits, and our skin and our planet pays for it.
There are alot of great soap makers out there, including myself..For your benefit seek them out !!!
