The Fear of Soap

For the average person cleaning yourself is as natural as eating or sleeping. It’s part of the basic routine we all go threw everyday. So why then does the idea of soap cause such anxiety? You may think I’m strange for saying this. By soap, however, I don’t mean the same as you might think. I don’t mean the petrochemical laden detergents called soap. I mean good old fashioned lye soap, real soap, actual soap.


Over the last couple of years I have been studying soap, lotions and various “personal care” products. Initially, I just wanted to make some Christmas gifts for friends and family. I thought I could save myself a few bucks and still make something enjoyable for people to have and use. The more I read and learned the more fascinated I became with the idea of better products for your body and the more upset I became with the toiletry and cosmetics industry in general.


That being said, it still doesn’t exactly explain what I mean by the fear of soap, So I’ll start with a little history.


What is soap?


The first soap was most likely discovered accidentally when some fats from an animal cooking fell into the ash of a fire. This on the most fundamental level makes “soap”. The refined version, the artisan interpretation, goes a little more like this: lye (either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide) and fats (either animal or plant based). Castile Soap, being an example of natural soap creation.


Castile Soap, named for the region of Spain where it was made most famous is traditionally a combination of lye and plant oils. Typically olive or a combination of olive and laurel, but the more modern variations include fats ranging from coconut oil to hemp oil and various combinations there of.


On the most basic level this sounds simple and good; natural. So why then the fear or soap?


You may think you don’t fear soap. What’s more you may believe you use soap everyday, but the reality is far different. What modern society has accepted as “soap” is not soap at all but detergent. The only most basic similarity between the two are that they are surfactants, but on many other levels they are far different.


If your wondering, Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, the interfacial tension between two liquids, or that between a liquid and a solid. For this case we are referring to a substance that, when dissolved in water, gives a product the ability to remove dirt or grease from surfaces.


Detergent, unlike soap, is a varied cocktail of chemicals which mimic soap. Some of the ingredients are created with similar byproducts but then mixed with other agents. In there own right, I think detergents where created with good intentions in mind. Being more acidic in nature they seemed to function more efficiently for cleaning surfaces. They appear to not leave residue and as such where considered more ideal for clothes washing as well. They are versatile much like soap, but they are not soap.


For an understanding of what led to the widespread usage of detergents we should take a glance back in time. During the 1800’s respectively, patents where being registered for various detergent chemicals. Although the history of detergents is not so veiled as the origin of soap making, there is still some considerable debate on the origins of the detergent industry, as we know it. It has been suggested that during the time of World War I detergents where being developed in answer to the interest of utilizing fat for productions other than soap. By World War II the availability of fat was in decline and as a result detergents rapidly gained strength in the market. From a manufacturing standpoint these chemical variations where more cost effective and as such continued to gain popularity.


Over the years, companies have grown enormously and threw the course of advertising have very much influenced an individuals understanding of the most basic of concepts. They’ve additionally capitalized on complacency. Basically we have been told for decades, “Soap is bad” and most believed it.
In modern times, information has become more widely available to the masses and some people have started questioning this. Ironically we now have companies attempting to pass off detergents as “soap”. I would assume, with the hopes that the average consumer would just take there word for it and in many cases they do.


You may ask yourself, what’s wrong with this?


Well aside from the obvious personal enslavement that comes from a place of complacency and ignorance, detergents are recognized to be toxic to the environment and organic life. We are organic life and we are a part of our environment.


Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not some preachy green freak. I eat meat and I’m ok with that. I don’t have a recycling bin, though I probably should. I’m your average person, just like you. I was for the longest time mindlessly consuming myself. However, I am on a personal mission to change that.


I had a fear of soap. When I first decided to start making natural products for myself I was simply looking for a cheaper, better, solution. I wasn’t looking to make soap or learn about soap. I was actually learning how to make lip balms and body butters. Natural soap, interestingly enough, goes hand and hand with these because they are similarly made with fats.


At first I was scared of the idea of lye. With good reasons because lye in its own right is caustic. However, it doesn’t take long to learn that when lye emulsifies with fats you no longer have lye. You have soap. Soap properly made is not only safe and natural but in the hands of a skilled soap maker can be beautiful and nourishing to your skin. Once I became aware of this simple process I was captivated but I was still afraid of soap.


We have been told soap is bad for your skin. Ask anyone about washing your face with “soap” and they balk at the idea. There are two reasons for this: brainwashing and misinformation. Brainwashing by businesses trying to sell you a million different products. Misinformation by those same companies trying to confuse you about what “soap” really is. Furthermore, confusing generations about what “clean”, “natural” and “healthy” is. The result? Trusting in the corporations instead of your own self education. I was afraid to try real soap because I was made fearful by misinformation.


If you want to get down to it, humans initially washed themselves with water and moisturized with oils. Around 2000BC give or take soap was mentioned for the use of cleaning the body but throughout history bathing varied as common practice. In 1300AD Castile soap was invented, so for the next 500 years give or take, if a person used soap to bathe then it was a natural lye and fat based soap. Detergents have only been in regular use for body cleaning since the 1940’s. The math is simple.


Do you have a fear of soap?












(soap picture from - T and J Soaps - http://www.etsy.com/shop/TandJsoaps )