Pages

Friday 26 December 2014

Beware Of ‘Fake- Natural’ and Chemically Derived Soaps

For manufacturers of handcrafted natural soaps and their ingenuity, the range of available soap bars is not restricted to floral or herbal resources. If you believe in the efficacies of rice oil-based soap bar, then your next bet could be goat milk soap or bamboo charcoal milky soap.

All natural soaps have a scientific and ancient background in the choice of its ingredients and manufacturing process. Current processes are more adapted to cold-pressed technology based on European standards. However, the ones related to Thai tradition of vegetable and fruit carvings, dates back 700 years and has found an offshoot in handmade carving of soap bars with natural ingredients.

Typecasting Soaps

The benefits you derive out of your soap determine your choice and the consistency of the products. You can choose from:

• Hard Soap: Generally, a white or grey coloured bar soap that is dry. Its components can vary with adding olive oil or other essential oils in natural bars. But, manufacturers of chemical soap bars add animal fat and sodium hydroxide.

• Soft Soap: The consistency is sometimes like jelly or honey and can be made from either natural ingredients like essential oils and incorporated with olive oil. A majority of commercial products are soda-based.

• Liquid Soap: Commercial products are made up of potassiumhydroxide, while hog plum oil, cotton seed oil or bean oil is added for handmade natural soap products.

Additionally, some adjuncts are also added to render anti-bacterial action to soap products such as triclosanor triclocarban. Adding lanolin to soaps enhances its moisturizing property.

It is however safer to go in for natural soaps as opposed to those obtained from the chemical process of saponification. Chemically derived soaps:

* Can irritate skin, making it dry and parched out
* Can also fracture skin in worst case scenarios
* Is a safe option for normal skin;but using excessive hydroxide-based soaps can deprive the skin of protective natural oils
* Glycerine used in chemically derived soaps is also extracted chemically that can dry the skin instead of lubricating it.
Pure soap made of natural ingredients therefore is a safer and healthier option for skin and hair treatments.
* These use lesser chemicals in the overall process of manufacturing soap in comparison to the chemical process of saponification
* These use natural compounds and glycerine as a common ingredient that is derived from the soap making process itself.

With the soaring popularity of naturally derived handcrafted soaps, it is important to be wary of ‘fake’ natural soaps that have flooded the market too. These mislead consumers by way of its look and texture, but contain synthetic elements.

With natural health and holistic healing gaining grounds, naturally derived essential oils and handmade soap segments are seen as eco-friendly options to mass produced synthetic derivatives.

No comments:

Post a Comment