What is the big deal about handmade soap?

The next time you walk down the soap aisle at your favourite store enjoying the fresh, clean scents and the bright colourful packaging, pay attention. Look at the labels. Most are really detergents which have been created from petroleum based products. The manufacturers have then removed most of the 'good' stuff that occurs in the soap making process, and replaced it with more synthetic lathering agents and harsh chemicals.

Commercial bar soap manufacturers make it their practise to remove the glycerin that is produced during the saponification (soap-making) process. The glycerin is a highly profitable substance, then sold to other companies who use it to make lotions and moisturisers, which your skin, now dried out from the harsh detergent 'soap,' desperately needs. Conspiracy or genius marketing ploy? Either way, it happens, and going by the amount of moisturisers sold and the large movement from bar soap to body wash, it works. Body wash is mostly water with some cheap chemicals added, so there is alot more profit to be made, and of course you will need to buy a matching flavoured moisturiser from the same company too.

Skin is our largest organ, it is porous and absorbent. It absorbs whatever it comes in contact with, much the same as sticking something in your mouth. Chronic use of chemical laden products will cause the body to store the chemicals in the body fat or even in the brain. With enough accumulations of toxins in the body, illness can occur. It can be subtle - being tired all the time, lack of motivation, developing allergies to new things, a poor metabolism.
The list of offenders included phthalates, which are linked to reproductive disorders in both humans and animals, and parabens, a preservative, which has links to cancer.
What is the alternative?

All natural, handmade soap. There are several small businesses selling extremely high quality, all natural, organic soap - yes real soap. Sure, these soap bars generally cost more than the detergent bars you'll find at the supermarket. But the difference is these soap bars are actually good for your skin, and are good for the planet. Real soap retains the glycerin that is a natural by-product and, as such, the relationship between the soap molecule and the glycerin means you have a cleanser with abundant, luxurious lather that cleans like nothing else. Glycerin is a humectant. It attracts moisture and gives it back to your skin. As a bonus, it does not strip your skin of its natural, protective oils, in fact when a soap has been "super-fatted" like Iti Baby's it has extra oils available to moisturise while you wash.

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 soap making 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 glycerin 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 utilises heat after the saponification process has taken place, while the cold process method does not. The cold process method takes the most time, but is undoubtedly the best method for producing the highest quality soaps. This is the method Iti Baby uses for our soap.

Now, we need to discuss the ingredients. Cold process soap bars are made using a combination of oils or fats and lye (sodium hydroxide). 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 the wonderful glycerin. 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. We use NO colourants or unnatural dyes in our soaps. What you see is what you get! Our scents are all natural essential oils, and our goats milk and calendula soap contains no scents and is wonderful for sensitive skin.

To sum it up, the best soap for your skin and our planet is a handmade, all natural cold process soap bar. Once you've tried one of these lathery treasures, you'll never again be satisfied with 'store-bought' bars. So do yourself, your kids and your world a big favour and start using REAL soap.