Why Homemade Soap Is Better
Feb 04, 2010 in Business
There is no reason to buy soap at the store when you could be making your own soap of better quality at home. When you make your own soap, you are the one choosing what goes into the soap, and preventing beneficial ingredients from being removed.
One of the benefits of home soap making is that in the process, the humectants, such as glycerine, remain within the soap, attracting moisture to the skin. Beauty companies like to extract glycerine because they can market it separately. It leaves the consumer with clean but dry skin. When you learn how to make soap at home, you control the process and you donat have to worry about corporate manipulations.
Soapmaking is economical – the ingredients are inexpensive and easy to find. Once you learn the basics, you will only want to use your own soap, because there is no end to the variations you can put on soap projects. You will save so much money since you are not buying department store soaps!
Handmade soaps also make welcome and thoughtful gifts at home or for friends. They will beg you to show them how to make their own soap, and you can! Just make sure to find a babysitter for your soapmaking parties, because the kids should be kept away from lye, which is an essential ingredient in soap, and which could harm a child.
The basics of soapmaking are very simple, requiring just a few ingredients. Lye, oil and animal fats bind together to make soap in a process called saponification. It’s very important to wear protective gloves during the process, though – lye can burn your skin!
At a craft store you may even purchase a soap making kit that will have everything youall need to start: recipes, oils, lye, and a mold to shape your soap. Once you get more comfortable with the process you can expand your thinking outside of the kit, maybe by using different oils and playing with shapes.
You may find that getting back to nature is exactly what your skin needs and you donat have to buy expensive organic products to do it if you know how to make your own. Making your own soap can be beneficial for the rest of your family as well, especially if someone is allergic or has sensitive skin. Many commercial soaps are perfumed and actually irritate the skin and provoke allergic reactions.
Making soap allows you to make something your whole family can use, while being creative and using your imagination. In fact, your ability to control the ingredients in the soap will ensure that everyone loves it much more than their old store-bought product. With all these variations, you can make new soaps for the rest of your life!
Jen Hopkins has worked in the best wrinkle cream industry for years. She maintains websites about how to make homemade soap, and making organic soap. If you want to contact her, you can use the contact form at one of her sites.