The Dirt on Today's Bar Soaps

 I started off this week planning to write an article all about the benefits of switching to liquid soap and ditching the bars. As a house cleaner, I've found that most of the time bar soap causes mushy, yucky problems that I have to clean up every two weeks. Personally I can't see myself trying to use a bar of soap that's been left out all wet in the shower, getting smaller and mushier by the day.

Over the course of my research, I learned a couple of things that surprised me: first, there are ways to keep that soap from becoming a mushy mess on a shelf in your shower. And second, today's bar soaps are actually preferable to body washes and liquid soaps in a number of ways.

Imagine my surprise, learning that what I'd believed about liquid soap being superior all these years being wrong! To be completely fair, in the 1990s when I moved out on my own and switched to liquid soaps, they really were the better product choice. How the times change.

Bear in mind that when it comes to the regular old standards available at your local grocery store - the big name bar soap products, you know which ones they are - these soaps are still drying to skin and contain the same chemicals they always have. When I'm talking about bar soaps, I mean the ones with natural ingredients that are good for your skin. So let's get into it - what's so great about this new generation of bar soaps?

They're friendly to the ecosystem.
YES, there are eco-friendly liquid soap products out there. YES, their containers are reusable and recyclable. But bar soap is even MORE eco-friendly:

  • There are no plastic bottles at all, and they use minimal packaging.
  • All packaging used for bar soaps is recyclable.
  • You'll use 30% less water when washing your hands with bar soap than liquid.
  • Bar soaps contain no water, whereas liquid soaps contain quite a lot.
  • Bar soaps weigh less, and therefore require less energy when being shipped and transported to be sold.
  • Bar soaps last longer, so they have to be replaced less frequently, which is friendly to both the ecosystem AND your wallet.
They're travel friendly.
Not only are they lightweight, they are easy to transport when traveling. Switching to bar soap means the end of any possibility of a soap explosion in your travel bag.

The new and improved formulas surpass all the old bar soaps as well as liquid soaps.
So just a little science here, which I just learned... Soap requires a higher pH than our skin in order to be cleansing. With the old bar soaps, they were too alkaline, which is damaging for people with dry or sensitive skin. The old bar soaps had a pH around 12, where liquid soaps are usually around a pH of 8. For reference, your skin's pH should be around 4.7 - 5.75. As it gets higher, it becomes more dry and irritated.


The reason for all this is that the old soaps contained synthetic surfactants that cleaned the body, but diminished the skin's natural lipid barrier over time. Bar soaps now come in many different formulas, with all natural ingredients that cleanse gently while they hydrate your skin and replenish lost moisture.

Bar soaps can double as an exfoliator.
Many of the new formulas now include ingredients that will naturally exfoliate the skin, like glycolic acid and oatmeal.

But what about germs?
Ok, so I'm never going to suggest we start using bar soap in public restrooms (so gross), or even the communal bathroom in your home that your guests use (less gross, but definitely still questionable).

YES, germs and bacteria CAN live on bar soap from shower to shower and person to person - that's why proper storage is important and why I don't recommend using them in places where they will be used by more than just yourself, or yourself and your partner/spouse/other person.

When it comes to your own personal bathroom and personal use, however, if bar soaps are stored properly after being used, they won't be mushy and germs won't be a concern.

Think about it - they only germs on your soap are YOURS. And since soap is clean, you're washing all those germs away down the drain. The REAL place you need to worry about bacteria, germs, and mold breeding is in that loofah spongy thing you're using as an exfoliator and then hanging (still wet) in the shower.

So that's what I learned when I set out to tell you all how great liquid soaps are, and now? I'm switching and becoming a bar soap woman. I'll leave you with the following regarding ingredients, and next week we'll talk all about how to properly use and store bar soaps to avoid things like mushy messes in the shower.

AVOID THE FOLLOWING:
  • Parabens (methyl-, isobutyl-, propyl-, etc.)
  • Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)
  • Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)
  • Polyethylene glycol (PEG compounds)
  • Artificial fragrances and dyes
LOOK FOR:
  • Glycerin
  • Coconut Oil
  • Shea Butter
Thanks for following and for reading! See everyone next week! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cleaning & Caring for Your Hardwood Floors

Image
 Learning to properly clean and care for your hardwood floors is one of the best ways to protect your investment. When cared for properly, your hardwood floors will last a lifetime. As a housekeeper, I can tell you that it is obvious immediately to someone coming into your home to clean it or to buy it whether your hardwood floors have been shown love or neglected. STEP ONE: SWEEP OR VACUUM HARDWOOD FLOORS Note: Don't forget to check with your manufacturer for any instructions specific to your flooring. The best way to clean hardwood floors is to adopt a regular routine. The first step is to remove dust and debris that can scratch or dull your floor's surface. Sweeping and vacuuming work well no matter what kind of wood floor you have. Use a broom or hardwood floor mop for daily cleaning. A microfiber dust mop pre-treated with a dusting agent will pick up dust and dirt, preventing scratches. Vacuum your hardwood floor once a week. Your first option is to use your vacuum's ...
Read more

Getting Started With Homemade Cleaners

Image
 Looking to start using natural cleaning products but you aren't sure where to begin? Here are a few tips to get you going: There are a few must-have essentials to get you started. Throughout the coming year I'll share with you some of my favorite homemade cleaner recipes and scents, but this list here is where I started, and where you can start too. Baking Soda works best on proteins, greases, & animal messes; and because it's only slightly abrasive, it can scour surfaces without fear of scratching. It's also a natural deodorizer and less expensive than commercial scrubbing powders. I used to use a cleaner specifically marketed for glass cooktops when I started my business, because that's what we used before I bought my share of the business. The product is great and does the job, but it comes in a small container and is kind of pricy. So I decided to switch to an Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Kitchen Cleaner and see what happened, and I was thrilled with the re...
Read more

Rant: Beware of Viral Cleaning Videos!!

Image
Wow, it feels like I haven't done anything useful online in forever! Because I haven't. One of the perks of owning my own business is being able to adjust my schedule for my own needs, and over the past several months I've needed to make a lot of time to help out with my grandchildren while their father was on deployment.  As a result, the part of my business easiest to put on the shelf until later is the online portion, since it doesn't really provide a financial contribution for me yet.  My goal this year is to double my business from last year at a minimum, and that means refocusing on my online presence and maintaining it for the foreseeable future.  And just to get my creative self going again, I'm dropping a little rant about something I've found online that absolutely drives me crazy: these viral cleaning videos. Let me start by saying there are loads of great videos out there and if you find someone who provides great content, I encourage you to follow t...
Read more