Natural Soap. Melinda Coss
to teach hands-on soap making to the many hundreds of people who have attended my courses.
An even greater privilege has come from the opportunity to start social soapmaking enterprises in Africa and to discover and add value to local plants and oils that can be used in soaps and toiletries. This work has been humbling and hugely satisfying.
If you have my two earlier books The Handmade Soap Book and Gourmet Soaps Made Easy you will note many differences in method in my bar soap section. These changes come from years of experimentation and practical experience. My previous methods still work but the processes suggested in this book will make your life a lot easier.
I am also including sections on liquid soap making and on creams and lotions. Liquid soap outsells bar soap eight to one so if you want to run a business it’s a good skill to master. Creams and Lotions give you the opportunity of experimenting with all the wonderful luxury oils without worrying about caustic substances – the products you can produce at home in your kitchen are just wonderful but don’t take my word for it, make them and see for yourself!
Finally, for those soap entrepreneurs of the future I have included a section on setting up a business.
Enjoy !
Ingredients
SOAP IS THE RESULT OF COMBINING AN alkali with an acid. The alkali used to make bar soap is sodium hydroxide (also known as caustic soda, NaOH and lye) and the alkali used to make liquid and soft soaps is potassium hydroxide. The acid can be any kind of oil or fat, be it animal or vegetable. If you think of all the wonderful plant derived oils and fats that are available you will realise what a huge palette this gives you to play with. In the following section I will explain the virtues of various oils and additives and hopefully help you to make your ideal product.
Creams and lotions are a combination of oils/fats/butters, water additives and an emulsifier to hold them together. They contain no harsh chemicals and making them is a similar experience to that of making mayonnaise. Reserve the use of your finest grade base and essential oils for making creams and lotions – here the benefits will really come through.
Once you have your basic product formula there are many ingredients you can use to add colour, texture and fragrance and this section should give you plenty of ideas.
If you think sensibly about the fact that oils are mixed with a caustic solution to create soap, you must also realise that the caustic element will, certainly to some degree, destroy the natural benefits of any chosen oil. For this reason, and for reasons of economy (oils are becoming very costly), it is wise not to invest in top grade refined oils when making soap. Many companies boast the use of ‘virgin olive oil’ in their products, but in reality ‘pomace’ (the roughest grade of olive oil produced from the third pressing of the fruit) creates far better soap. Some olive oils sold as ‘pomace’ are in fact blended so take care to read labels before you buy as you need a 100 per cent olive pomace oil. Essential oils need not be top grade but they should be 100 per cent pure and not blended with alcohol or enhancers. Always buy your ingredients from a reputable supplier (the stockist list on page 143 should help you to find one).
CHOOSE WHAT YOU USE
Sales of natural and pseudo-natural soaps and cosmetics are rising year on year. There are several sound reasons for this, the first being that we live in a world where our tolerance to chemical household products is diminishing and there is a sharp increase in the number of people suffering from skin allergies. The second reason is that any right thinking person wants to do their bit for the environment and to leave a sustainable world behind them for future generations to enjoy. The third reason is a growing awareness that fair trade sales of natural botanical products help to create and sustain agricultural industries so alleviating poverty in under developed countries. What a wonderful product we have here!
In order to meet the growing demand for natural products many manufacturers choose to express ‘naturalness’ in their brand names and include minute amounts of botanical oils. The way to beat this trend is to read the label on the package and to be aware of certain ingredients that are widely in use but are in fact proven to be skin irritants, or even worse are carcinogenic. That said, I do not support the argument that ‘natural’ is, without exception ‘good’ – we need to make informed decisions on what we buy. Remember that arsenic (as an extreme example) is 100 per cent natural!
If you suffer from eczema or very sensitive skin you should not use products that contain any colourings or fragrance – natural or unnatural – as these are the biggest contributors to skin irritation. Some essential oils (such as Roman camomile) will help mildly sensitive skin and are safe to use in baby products, but only in very tiny quantities. Some soapmakers, aware that ‘no smell means no sell’, bombard their products with large quantities of essential oils and whilst the soap may smell divine, doing so is downright dangerous. In the EU, cosmetic legislation dictates that a maximum of 2 per cent essential oils can legally be used in soap products but 1 to 1.5 per cent is in fact a much safer amount to aim for.
When reading the labels on your shop bought soaps and cosmetics, be aware of the following:
Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS)
This is a detergent derived from coconut oil and is widely used in shampoos. It contains endocrine disruptors and estrogen mimics and it can damage the skin barrier functions, which will increase the allergic response to other toxins and allergens.
Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES )
Found in shampoo, toothpaste, bubble bath, body wash and soap, this is another known endocrine disruptor and estrogen mimic and it is also carcinogenic. It allows other chemicals to penetrate skin more deeply and enter the bloodstream.
Mineral oil and petroleum jelly
These petroleum-based ingredients block pores, act as barriers and suppress normal skin functions.
Parabens (methylparaben, propylparaben, ethylparaben, butylparaben)
Used to preserve cosmetic products, there is a growing public awareness about the dangers of using parabens and they have been linked to breast cancer. The counter argument is that parabens aren’t dangerous at very low levels and they are stable preservatives, protecting products against far more dangerous viruses and villains. On the market are a number of safer preservatives that can be used in your natural products but to date, despite the regular industry proclamations of the discovery of a wholly natural preservative (such as gse, roe and citricidal), none of these products will pass a challenge test.
Borax (sodium borate)
Widely used in the US to stabilise and thicken liquid soap, the use of Borax is restricted under EU cosmetic legislation as it is a strong irritant. In particular it can cause severe rashes in babies and young children.
DEA (diethanolamine, cocamide DEA, oleamide DEA and lauramide DEA)
These ingredients are used to increase lather in industrially-produced soap and have been known to react with other ingredients to create a carcinogenic that can easily be absorbed by the skin.
Even when using entirely natural oils it is important that you establish where they were grown, and for ecological reasons avoid anything produced in an unsustainable environment. Palm oil is a particular case in question. Used in 1 out of every 10 products on the supermarket shelves and also widely used in bio-fuel, the rush to create palm