Accepted Truths - The pH factor

　For the past few decades pH balanced has been a term widely used in order to sell skincare products. It is just one example of many “accepted truths” we run across everyday. The media using this term to interject scientific sounding mumbo jumbo into the conversation to make you as a consumer feel comfortable about your selections in products. The problem is that few people actually understand what the term pH balanced means. Furthermore, pH balanced for what? 

First lets have a little science lesson. In chemistry, pH is how someone measures the acidity or alkaline nature of an aqueous solution. An aqueous solution basically means something that is water soluble or can be diluted. De-ionized or “pure” water is said to be a neutral, with a pH of 7.0 at 25C or 77F. Solutions with a pH of less than 7 are said to be acidic. Solutions with a pH greater than 7 are alkaline, commonly referred to as basic or a base.

 Low or acidic pH indicated a high concentration of hydrogen ions or hydronium ions in water. Hydronium ions are the combination of hydrogen and water.

Here are some common examples of acids.

Hydrochloric- HCl Muriatic Acid - common name; Toilet bowl cleaners, masonry cleaners, gastric juice
Carbonic- H₂CO₃ Carbonated water; club soda - soft drinks, blood buffer
Sulfuric
Acetic- HC₂H₃O₂ Vinegar; cooking, salads
Nitric- HNO₃ Remove warts, causes yellow stains on skin
Phosphoric- H₃PO₄ Acidify soft drinks, in ATP and DNA
Citric- H₃C₆H₈O₆ Fruit juices
Lactic- HC₃H₅O₃ Builds up in muscles during exercise

A high or alkaline (base) pH indicated a low concentration of hydrogen ions. A base is any compound that gives up hydroxide ions when dissolved in water.

Here are some examples of things that are base or alkaline

Sodium Hydroxide NaOH Lye, Caustic); make soap and textiles, oven cleaner, Drano, Liquid Plumber
Potassium Hydroxide KOH Lye, Caustic); make soap and textiles
Magnesium Hydroxide Mg(OH)₂ Milk of magnesia; laxative and antacid
Calcium Hydroxide Ca(OH)₂ Lime Water; astringent -causes contraction of skin pores
Ammonium Hydroxide NH₄OH Ammonia in water; window cleaner, other cleaning solutions
Ammonia NH₃ Gas; inhalant to revive an unconscious person, anhydrous or liquid ammonia is injected into soil as a fertilizer
Sodium Carbonate Na₂CO₃ Soda Ash; Detergents
Sodium Phosphate Na₃PO₄ Sodium triphosphate;
Detergents

It is quite possible to write a pretty heavy book on the additional information related to the definition of acids and bases. I have spent much time agonizing over a simple way to explain but for the sake of this article we’re just going to leave the definitions there and move on.

When dealing with an acid, a base and a neutral there are a number of things that happen. Primarily you have dilution. If you take a base and mix water it gives up a part of itself to the water to cause it to become a weaker substance. If you take an acid the water either takes from the acid or binds to the acid also causing a dilution effect. Based on my understanding, the effects of acids to acids and bases to bases is that the dilution process relates similarly to water in that the stronger acid would become dilute by a weaker causing it to meet between the two. For example an acid with a ph of 4.5 mixed with an acid of 5.5 would find an equilibrium of 5 between the two. Same for a base. A base of 10 would be weakened by a base of 8 making 9.

As was stated earlier the pH factor relates only to a water soluble substance. We’ve all heard the saying, “oil and water don’t mix” so it should be made clear that non water soluble agents do not apply where the pH factor is concerned.

Ok, with that little chemistry lesson out of the way, lets begin. The cosmetic industry often tells us that soap is bad for your skin because it is too alkaline in nature. This is based on the concept that our bodies have something called the “acid mantel”. The acid mantel is a thin layer or film on the skin that is formed by sebum (oil) and sweat. This layer is said to protect against the elements, such as wind and pollution. It also said that it inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria and fungi on the skin. Or so I’m told. The cosmetic industry would have you believe that by using alkaline soap you are destroying this “acid mantel” thereby subjecting yourself to the above mentioned: wind, pollution, bacteria and fungi. It’s enough to make you scared to death, right?

I have actually read in certain articles that a pH of 7 is enough to seriously impede this most “precious“, natural barrier. Here’s the problem. Do you remember our science lesson? Water is a pH of 7. According to some of the information out there, water will damage your skin. Of course they don’t say water because anyone would know that’s garbage. They say, “a pH of 7” because who knows what that means? Well now, you do.

Additionally in regard to the acid mantel there is no consistent pH range given for this “most important barrier”. I have read 4 to 5.5, I have read 4.5 to 5.5, I have read 4.5 to 6. I have also read it is variable to person to person, men being more acidic than women and being variations to these levels from one part of the body to the next.

I say this with a touch of tongue and cheek but here is my theory why. The acid mantel is the sweat and oil on your body. It is not some precious substance on your skin that will be forever lost if you wash yourself with soap. It is what is secreted from your pores and the glands beneath your skin, sweat and sebum. It is the very thing most people are trying to wash off in the first place. Hello?!??!?

The cosmetic industry tells you in order for your skin to be healthy you must clean your skin with a product that has an acidic pH of about 5.5, give or take, because that most closely matches the acidity of the “acid mantel”. Then those same companies turn around and sell you deodorant to stop you from sweating in your armpits.

The acid mantel in a healthy individual replenishes itself on it’s own naturally; as soon as you step out of the shower. No matter what brand of soap you just used, water alone will strip this film on your skin. The idea that a cleanser “pH balanced” for skin is necessary is a way to scare you into buying, “a cleanser pH balanced for skin”

Oh but it gets better. Lets discuss “tear free” products. You’ve all heard the ad’s, “Gentle as pure water to your babies eyes”. Do you know why that is? Because it’s once again “pH balanced” - for your eyes. Your eyes have a pH of about 7.4 (sources vary) but for a product to call itself tear free is has to be “pH balanced” to approximately 7 to qualify. So this same industry that sells you on the idea that your cleanser needs to be 5.5 to be pH balanced for your skin, sells you a product with a pH of 7 to wash your baby in because it‘s “tear free“.

The acid mantel aside, your body as a whole typically stays at a pH of approximately 7 give or take. Your skin is an amazing organ designed to adapt to the conditions outside of you and can handle fairly well a pH ranging both from the acidic rang to the alkaline (or base) range. If you look back at some of the things listed in both the acidic and base examples above you will see that both sides of the equation have things we come in contact with everyday and never give a second though to if it might “damage” our skin. We also can clearly see that some of the items on either side of the list are caustic and would obviously be damaging to us. The difference has more to do with how far either side deviates from the neutral rather that which side of the neutral they’re on.

Now the argument against soap has been that it can have a pH range from 9 to 11. That very well may have some truth to it but there is never an explanation beyond this given. Once again expecting the consumer to simply trust that this is “bad” and “true”. Soap is made by taking lye and mixing it with fat. Fat in it’s own right is not an aqueous substance but when combined with lye a chemical reaction happens breaking the fat down into soap, glycerin and water. Lye generally speaking has a pH of 13. On it’s own it is extremely caustic. The reaction it has with fats however neutralizes it reducing the pH. This does not happen immediately. Home made soap typically must age for several weeks so that the lye can completely absorb into the fat. The age of soap alone can work as a factor in regards to how alkaline it may be. Also the water and glycerin content play a role in how alkaline it is as well. The amount of fat and the quality the fat used in soap making can significantly change the pH.

People who make all natural soap typically strive to maintain the glycerin content in there soaps because glycerin is very nourishing to the skin. Glycerin is a humectant and draws moisture from the atmosphere towards itself. If you’ve ever used a lotion with a high glycerin content you can almost feel this happening from the moment you put it on. In a large majority of cases the cosmetic industry removes the glycerin content from soap. They do this so that they can use the glycerin in lotions. At this moment I am only making an assumption but I don’t think it takes rocket science to put this idea together. It would seem, the cosmetic industry makes an inferior product intentionally by removing the most nourishing element from soap and then takes that same wonderful substance and turns around to sell it back to you in another product designed to help repair the damage caused.

Instead of accepting the “accepted truths“, we as consumers need to start seeking real truth. I hope this article has been enjoyable and enlightening and will encourage you to keep learning. Don’t just be a complacent consumer, be a knowledgeable one.
　

　

Soap, Drugs and Rock and Roll

In the video, Soap, Drugs and Rock and Roll, we first meet Don Bolles, drummer from the punk rock band, “The Germs“. The irony is so thick; you can’t make this stuff up. On April 4, 20007, Don was arrested when, during a traffic stop, his Dr Bronners soap tested “positive” for the drug GHB. The video goes on to illustrate that the NarcoPouch 928 field drug tests used will not only give a false positive for GHB to Dr Bronners soap but any soap that is a natural soap. “Tom’s” (manufactured by Colgate-Palmolive) for example will have the exact same reaction. In an interesting twist this kit does not test positive when used with a detergent “soap”. So the video goes on to illustrate, in a fun way, the chemical difference between real soap vs. fake soap using this faulty feild drug test. By the way, Mr. Bolles was soon exonerated once an actual crime lab tested his soap and found no GHB what so ever.


Now if this isn’t interesting enough, David Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, takes this just one step further. Not only illustrating the chemical difference between soap and detergent but calling out manufactures of what he calls “pure, natural and organic synthetic detergent based product.” With tongue in cheek of course. Showing that many of the products we believe to be “organic” and “natural” are simply using meaningless hype words to sell us there detergent.

Kiss my face and Jason’s Naturals are just a couple of the examples he used. I was shocked to learn this because, although I don’t personally use these products, when I was in college for massage therapy, I had teachers, offhandedly, suggest these companies as, “good natural products”.

Now I am an avid label reader. I think it all began for me with food labels, but in general label reading is important. Money doesn’t come easy and I for one want to know what I’m buying. The best defense you have against labels and advertising that is misleading is to understand what you’re reading.

You can’t just blindly trust the words on the front of the bottle. You need to understand that words such as “natural” and “organic” mean nothing. My husband always jokes, “Uranium, is natural”, do you want to put that on your face?

Let me give you a definition:

or·gan·ic


1. noting or pertaining to a class of chemical compounds that formerly comprised only those existing in or derived from plants or animals, but that now includes all other compounds of carbon.
2. characteristic of, pertaining to, or derived from living organisms; organic remains found in rocks.

Based on this the word “organic” means nothing in regards to product health and safety. Many companies have recognized that the consumer is wanting more natural products. The result has been that they make something that looks “natural” and use the word, organic. They do this to imply a healthy natural product without actually saying it. It’s a loophole and a deceptive one at that.

So how can you protect yourself from misleading terms such as, “natural” and “organic”? Turn the bottle around! Simple right?

Some of you may think, “Not so” and in a way your right. Companies typically write there labels in such a way that you’d need a chemistry degree to even half understand it. I could suggest you bone up on your Chem courses but here is a simpler solution. Lets have a quick look at lables.

To start I’ll use Dove Deep Moisture Nourishing Body Wash as a base line example.

Dove, to my awareness, has not outright claimed to be soap or even implied it. They call there detergent things like, “beauty bar”, “moisturizing bar” and of course the common, “body wash”. I am in no way singling them out as “bad” but rather using there ingredients list to give and example of what a common detergent looks like in the form of “body wash”

Dove Deep Moisture Nourishing Body Wash
Ingredients
Water, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil or Helianthus Annus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Glycerin, Petrolatum, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Ammonium Laureth Sulfate, Lauric Acid, Cocamide Mea, Fragrance, Polybutene or Polyisobutylene, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Isostearic Acid, Peg-5 Cocamide, Acrylates/Beheneth-25 Methacrylate Copolymer, Peg-30 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Dmdm Hydantoin, Tetrasodium Edta, Etidronic Acid, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891).

There first ingredients are pretty straight forward and not necessarily bad. However as the list descends you see the chemical cocktail thicken. You don’t have to know exactly what these latter things are to know they aren’t natural. In defense of Dove I have never found them to be misleading and there products are not terrible for detergent but they are still detergent.

Now on to the next product. For this I randomly searched Amazon.com using the phrase, “Organic soap”. I’ll give Amazon credit in that the first items that came up where pretty much in line with my search but about 11 items down on the first page we have:

Nature’s Gate Organics Liquid Hand Soap, Lavender & Aloe
Ingredients
Certified organic lavender hydroflorate aqua blend with certified organic extracts of juniper, sage, echinacea and licorice, olefin sulfonate, cocoamidopropyl betaine, certified organic aloe vera, vegetable glycerin, cocamide MEA, PEG-150 distearate, certified organic lavender oil, isoceteth-20, citric acid, grapefruit extract and pure essential oil of ylang ylang.


Wow, look at that. See the similarity? This is also, not soap.


Now here is -
Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap ,18-in-1 hemp peppermint, pure castile soap
Ingredients:

Water, Organic Coconut Oil*, Potassium Hydroxide**, Organic Olive Oil*, Mentha Arvensis*, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Peppermint Oil*, Citric Acid, Tocopherol

Here’s what all the little stars mean -

* CERTIFIED FAIR TRADE INGREDIENTS

** None remains after saponifying oils into soap and glycerin

Can you see the difference? This is soap.

You may say, well there are still some words I don’t recognize there. That’s ok. The main thing to bare in mind is that the majority of the label is clearly understandable and minimal in ingredients.

Just for information’s sake, Tocopherol is commonly known as vitamin E, Metha Arvensis is the Latin name for a plant called “water mint” and potassium hydroxide is, of course, a type of lye. Lye and fat make soap.

Understanding what your reading and making educated choices, is the most empowering thing you can do .
Some of you reading this may be thinking, “I’m outraged! What about regulations? Who’s taking care of this? I want to sue!”


Ok, ok, hold it right there buddy. That’s all well and good and noble sounding but here’s my two cents on that. There are already people suing companies over this. Litigation is long and taxing both financially and emotionally. A well meaning person would say, “Well we shouldn’t just ignore it!” Well of course not, but there are two issues I want to address here.

First, you have the negative effect on small business, threw over regulation. In a society of free trade, regulations don’t necessarily benefit the little guy. The small business person cant afford it. It’s one thing to have basic consumer protection, but anything beyond that is counter productive and damaging to smaller companies. Excessive regulations ironically benefit the large powerful corporations because they make enough money to offset these issues and over the long term this benefits them because it weeds out competition. In other words buries the competition threw enormously exhausting expectation. Meanwhile the larger companies who do “bad things” simply pay there fine or tie you up in court for a decade. Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t have rules. Basic no nonsense things like labeling is perfect and should be expected. It doesn’t hurt anyone as long as it’s within reason. If there’s nothing to hide in a product then there’s no issue to putting a label on it. We already have regulation for labels and enforceable rules for those who mislabel.

The second part is this: I’m a believer in the adage, “Work smarter, not harder”. Going up against large companies in the above mentioned way is counterproductive and hurts the chances for competition. It’s the “hard way.” Competitive small businesses give you options and options are your “smarter” way. If you want to accomplish a better marketplace with the kind of products you value then you should stop buying the products that you don’t want in the market. Additionally small businesses should be given support for growth not the other way around.


If you still want to sue? Buy Dr Bronners soap. David Bronner is constantly in court on behalf of regulations and being a company with fantastic ethical standards they’re in it for the right reasons, I think. Not just that but if your going to purchase, buy ethically, period.

In my utopian world regulations would be minimal and limited. Consumers would make educated decisions and support the better guy, not the bigger guy. People would be held high for high standards and admired for kind and ethical practice.

I know I said this before but it defiantly stands repeating, “Understanding what your reading and making educated choices, is the most empowering thing you can do.” You are not a victim of circumstance you are a victim of choice.

(I would like to add I am in no way affiliated with Dr Bronners. They haven't paid me and they don't know me. I just feel they're an all around ethically strong company and I like there soap.)

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 )