Organic soaps

Issues for Consumers of Organic Soap to Consider

For us to make our soaps organic, and still make them the same way you've enjoyed them for eight years (same recipes, same percentages of olive oil, castor oil and butters) we would have to increase the price of our soap 2-3 times. Would you really buy our soap if it was $8.00- a bar? Would you buy anyone's soap if it was that price?

Handmade soap enthusiasts over the years have compared soaps purchased from various soapmakers and discovered vast differences in their recipes. Some soapmakers (like us) use olive oil as more than 50% of their recipe, while others choose a less expensive route by using more palm, coconut or soybean than olive. A Goat Milk Soap made by one soapmaker may use goat milk for 100% of its liquid, whereas another soapmaker might add a small fraction. One soapmaker might use fresh goat milk, another re-constituted powdered goat milk. Soaps made with shea butter might contain 5% Shea Butter as compared to 30% Shea Butter, but they're both called "Shea Butter Soap".

All these choices in creating handmade soap recipes make a difference in the quality of the handmade soap that is produced. These choices also affect how satisfied you are with that soap, how it feels on your skin, how it smells to your nose, how it lathers and how long a bar lasts in your shower.

Beware of any soap that is supposedly organic that is not also a significantly higher priced bar. And if you're going to the extent of purchasing an organic soap, then make sure you're buying one scented with an all-natural Essential Oil, and not a fragrance oil filled with petrochemicals. An 'Organic Soap' scented with an artificial fragrance will defeat your purpose, but in perusing soap sites, there's certainly a lot of soap businesses doing just that.

Conclusion

After reading all this, you probably already know the conclusion we've reached.

All bars of soap, even if organic, are not the same.

And we would suggest that an organic soap is not necessarily better than an all natural soap made with food grade oils and great recipes.