I’ve been working in manufacturing for a decade, specifically in food and pharmaceutical manufacturing. As many of you may already know, mass produced foods are cheaper because they are made with additives, flavor enhancers and fillers that lessen the quality of the product which is sold to the consumer. Some manufactures of mass-produced foods use these additives, enhancers and fillers realizing that the typical consumer is unaware of what they are purchasing and how these substances affect their health. These manufactures are only concerned with increasing profits while reducing cost by using a cheaper formula. If this is a practice of the food industry, what do you think is the practice of many large soap manufactures who realize that most of their consumer base is unaware of their manufacturing practices? With this in mind, let me give you a couple of reasons why you should consider using natural handmade soap instead of commercial mass-produced bars.

When you purchase a mass-produced bar of soap, take notice of all the scientific names in the ingredients that are used. Commercial manufactures use surfactants and detergents in concentrated amounts that are harsh to the skin. Some of these chemicals are used in carpet cleaners and other household cleaning products. These chemicals are too harsh for applying to the skin daily or on a regular basis. They strip the skin of its natural oils and moisture, leaving it more susceptible to infections and environmental hazards. These concentrated chemicals can also expedite the skins aging process. The good news, however, is that these chemicals are not used in concentrated amounts in natural handmade soaps, allowing them to be much more sensitive and beneficial to the skin. Because concentrated amounts of detergents and surfactants are not found in natural oils, they do not aggressively strip the skin of its own oils as most of the cheap mass-produced soaps do. In fact, handmade soaps contain a higher amount of natural oils and glycerin than most typical commercial brands.

Glycerin (also called Glycerol) is one of the most frequently used ingredients in skin care products. It is a natural compound that is found in plant and animal fat, and is a great ingredient when couple with other oils to help moisturize the skin. During the saponification process, the process of making soap, major commercial soap companies extract glycerin and use it as an ingredient in other moisturizing products such as lotions. No wonder when you use mass-produced commercial soap bars your skin is left feeling dry, requiring the use of a moisturizing lotion to give your skin a better feel and appearance. Because of the practice of extracting glycerin from soaps and adding it to a second product, a moisturizer, one could conclude that major soap companies are not interested in making a quality bar of soap for your skin, but instead are first concerned with profits. While these large soap manufacturers are causing you to buy a bar of soap plus a moisturizer to increase their profits, the producers of natural handmade soaps do not extract glycerin, so your skin can maintain more of its moist properties.

While the cost of commercial soap bars may be cheaper, they are made with low quality ingredients and extract a key component in glycerin in order to charge you for this component in other products. Contrarily, natural homemade soap bars are made with very fine quality oils. The phrase, “you get what you pay for”, fittingly applies to the soap industry. So, the next time you are purchasing soap consider this argument and give natural handmade soap bars a try.