Soap History 3

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Soap History 3

Return of Natural Soap

In recent years, there has been a grassroots return to making "natural" soap in the home. These cottage industries make soap from ingredients found in nature for its skin care qualities rather than a synthetic soap which relies upon laboratory-made chemicals to make the soap look and feel and act in a certain way. It is tempting for soap manufacturers to lean toward synthetics and away from natural materials. Synthetics are more stable in more situations and less expensive in the long run unlike the fats and oils which differ slightly from tree to tree and region to region.

As Susan Miller Cavitch states in her book The Natural Soap Book: Making Herbal and Vegetable Based Soaps,

"As we become more and more comfortable with synthetics in all areas of our lives, we run the risk of losing natural defenses and continually needed greater synthetic intervention. Skin care is but one facet of this phenomenon. Our skin is remarkably capable of functioning on its own to protect us, but, as we use more and more harsh, foreign substances, we alter the body's chemical makeup and leave our skin without its natural defenses. We risk becoming dependent on stronger and stronger synthetics to take the place of the body's natural systems. We must each, as individuals, decide which route to go - the way of nature or the way of the lab."

Some individuals have chosen not to use the commercial "soaps" and continue to make soap in the home. The traditional name "soaper", for a soapmaker, is still used by those who make soap as a hobby. Those who make their own soaps are also known as soapcrafters. Many of these soapcrafters have expanded their soap making from a hobby basis to a business basis to make natural soap more available to the public at large. Many come up with their own recipes using different butters and essential oils to help those with sensitive skin or who just want to pamper their skin so that it retains its elasticity, moisture, and smoothness.

The most popular soap making processes today is the cold process method, where fats such as olive oil react with lye. Soapmakers sometimes use the melt and pour process, where a premade soap base is melted and poured in individual molds. Some soapers also practice other processes, such as the historical hot process, and make special soaps such as clear soap (aka glycerin soap).

Handmade soap differs from industrial soap in that, usually, an excess of fat is used to consume the alkali (superfatting), and in that the glycerin is not removed. Superfatted soap, soap which contains excess fat, is more skin-friendly than industrial soap; though, if not properly formulated, it can leave users with a "greasy" feel to their skin. Often, emollients such as jojoba oil or shea butter are added 'at trace' (the point at which the saponification process is sufficiently advanced that the soap has begun to thicken), after most of the oils have saponified, so that they remain unreacted in the finished soap.

Natural soapcrafters today have many different ingredients to select from to produce wonderful and varied soap bars. These ingredients consist of:

base oils available in today's market such as coconut oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, castor oil, cottonseed oil, olive oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, peanut oil and soybean oil
various butters like shea butter, mango butter, and cocoa butter for extra moisturizing capabilities
other nutrients such as sweet almond oil, avocado oil, aloe vera, calendula oil, carrot root oil, various clays, and seaweed
essential oils including peppermint, eucalyptus, spearmint, chamomile, geranium, rosemary, lavender, etc for scenting and therapeutic effects
and various herbs and spices for color

Soapmakers today can produce artistic therapeutic soap bars high in moisturizers for the discerning soap shopper.

Sources:
Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com , 2006.

Wikipedia Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page, 2006

Cavitch, Susan Miller, The Natural Soap Book, Storey Publishing, North Adams, MA, 1995.

Cavitch, Susan Miller, The Soapmaker's Companion, Storey Publish, North Adams, MA, 1997.

Seymour, John, The Forgotten Arts & Crafts: Skills from Bygone Days, Dorling Kindersley, New York, NY, 2001.