The Reasons I Make My Own Soap with pros and cons
Recently I’ve spent a lot of time learning a new skill, soap making. I never realized how much of an art and science soap making was until researching this topic. There are some very wonderful soap makers out there in the world! And those of us just starting to learn the facets of the cure…pun intended.
First let me explain why I even considered doing this when anyone can go to the store and pick up a bar of soap (is it though???) for 99 cents. When this whole pandemic thing started the toilet paper crisis was a big deal to some people, but the biggest takeaway from ALL of the recommended guidelines is “WASH YOUR HANDS”, and yes, there is research on the effectiveness of washing hands. Nothing beats it including sanitizer. My fear that we would somehow have a soap shortage lit my fire. Ok, Internet, show me what you got. 20 hours later…and countless more hours of learning how real soap is made, the history of soap, the effectiveness, the comedogenic values, reading and gathering recipes, I was almost ready to try it. Except I didn’t have the equipment or ingredients to do it, yet. I warned my husband of this new venture and he was skeptically intrigued I think. I figured we would try and at least know how if we had to and have some soap to get through the pandemic anyway. There is way too much information, any soap maker will tell you there are a lot of factors in making good soap (can anyone say humidity?).
Reasons I make my my own soap: The Pros
I have complete control of the ingredients - the chemicals and spermicides in store soap are ridiculous, and titanium dioxide (why!?)
being clean and killing germs is necessary - I already mentioned nothing is better at killing germs than good old soap it has been scientifically proven
much less plastic waste - I buy glass container ingredients when possible, or one plastic bottle instead of shower gel or shampoo bottle after another after another saving 9- 10 plastic bottles from going to the trash dump in one batch
my soap is almost zero waste - no chemicals into the ground or wastewater, and no plastic trash
my homemade soap bars take up much less storage space - and last twice as long
less skin breakouts and better general health - no toxins on skin = no toxins in my body, I’ve noticed less joint pains
The Cons of of soap making:
extremely time consuming - making real soap is a process that involves excess amounts of time
cost of equipment - I made due with cardboard boxes and a drill but eventually decided to purchase an immersion blender, and soap molds, and a large mixing bowl (you should have separate supplies not your good kitchen stuff)
cost of supplies - my soaps actually cost me more to make because I use real ingredients as organic as I can find for example olive oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, the list goes on but these are expensive, I also add essential oils to customize for the season or remedy
soap can be really finicky - some recipes do not turn out, and there are a lot of learned tricks to keep it happy while it solidifies and cures (warning: there are internet recipes that are wrong)
working with lye - it could explode on you (literally onto you) people have gone blind, I did get a lye burn by accidentally brushing my arm against the bowl
if I had small children I would not make soap with them around at all
These are my favorite basic body soap bars. I call it #5 because it took me five batches to get it exactly right!
I have said I will never buy soap from a store again, and I have had people tell me after using my soaps they look forward to showering now (as we should!).
Here are some things to consider if you purchase hand made soap:
does the seller list the ingredients?
do they use essential oils or fragrance (unnatural) oils to scent with?
is it a cold process soap, hot process or a melt and pour?
are they charging enough to ensure quality ingredients? Unless it’s a gift of course, lucky you!
If you would like me to help you identify ways you may be unknowingly damaging your health contact me below. I can help you navigate through the chemical jungle to find better options.