Thread: Organic shave soap

I was wondering if anybody out there that knows of any organic shaving soaps that create a nice lather if there is even such a product. I am trying to stay away from synthetics and their harmful ingredients as much as possible.
Thanks All,
Jordan.

i'm not sure about organic.. but the majority of shave soaps are all natural.. i highly doubt you have to worry about pesticides having touched the wool in mwf.

all soap, everywhere, is made with some sort of lye or potash (sodium or potassium hydroxide) which are inorganic chemicals (been that way since man started making soap thousands of years ago)

what exactly do you mean by inorganic?

are you drinking water from the tap?

Jockeys has it pretty close to right on there--there are simply some chemicals you can't get away from in a soap, particularly if you want something that lathers.

That said, I think Mama Bear Soaps has a line of "essential oil only" soaps. I haven't tried them myself, but I've heard good things about them.

There are many who believe that common soaps contain many harmful ingredients. If there were a good organic shaving soap available I would certainly give it a try.



Harmful Ingredients


Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
Harsh detergents and wetting agents used in garage floor cleaners, engine degreasers, and auto cleaning products. SLS is well-known in the scientific community as a common skin irritant. It is rapidly absorbed and retained in the eyes, brain, heart, and liver, which results in harmful long-term effects. SLS retards healing , cause cataracts in adults, and keep childrens' eyes from developing properly.




Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)
SLES is the alcohol form (ethoxylated) of SLS. It is slightly less irritating than SLS, but may cause more drying. Both SLS and SLES cause carcinogenic formations of nitrates and dioxins to form in shampoos and cleansers by reacting with other product ingredients. Large amounts of nitrates enter the blood system from just one shampooing.


Glycerin
A syrupy liquid that is chemically produced by combining water and fat. Glycerin is used as a solvent and plasticizer. Unless the humidity of the air is over 65%, glycerin draws out moisture from the lower layers of the skin and holds it on the surface, which dries the skin inside out.

Originally Posted by JWuttunee

I was wondering if anybody out there that knows of any organic shaving soaps that create a nice lather if there is even such a product. I am trying to stay away from synthetics and their harmful ingredients as much as possible.
Thanks All,
Jordan.

Petrol is organic as is any substance with a carbon chain. Don't be fooled by "organic" labels.
If you're worried about detergents & preservatives there are a few makers that don't use them. Mama Bear's EO line definitely comes to mind. There are others for sure. Even some SRP members make their own that may meet your needs.

Organic is an idea and a legal term for food production.
I cannot convince myself that it applies to soap.

Do read about Kirks
Kirk's Natural Products : Coco Castile Soaps and more

Soap is the result of the reaction of caustic soda (lye)
and a fat in exactly the right ratio. Different fats/ oils
result in soap with different properties. Key properties
include building a stable lather and additions to make
a good shave soap.

Glycerin soaps are made differently but are still "chemistry".

So I guess if one started with fat/ oil from documented organic
sources you could end up with "organic" soap but because of the
legal ramifications you would have to say that the soap is made from
a blend of organic oils _fill_in_the_blank and sodium hydroxide (or
potasium hydroxide) etc...

A common ingredient of a shave soap is clay. I do not think
that there is "organic" clay. Boutique soap might get away with
casual language but a brand name cannot.

A land mine for ingredients is the world of fragrance but it is getting better.

True soap is made from fat and either sodium hydroxid (lye) or potasium hydroxide (potash). The resulting chemicals are sodium salts of fatty acids (e.g. sodium laurate) and glycerine. Technically, soap is the mixture of sodium salts, and glycerine is a by product. Some commercial soap makers remove the glycerine from the mix and sell it separately, but traditional soap making retains the glycerine.

Sodium laurel sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate are emulsifiers that are frequently used in soaps (to improve their ability to remove fats and oils) and lotions (to keep the oil water emulsion stable). They are made from lauric acid, usually obtained from palm oil. Many fats used in making soap also contain lauric acid chains, so many soaps contain sodium laurate. Soap is also an emulsifier, that's why it cleans.

All soaps are basic, your skin and hair are acidic, thus all soaps are to a certain extent irritating and since soaps will remove your skins natural oils (fats and waxes) they will all tend to leave your skin fealing dry.

Glycerine, which as explained above is present in traditional soaps, is hydroscopic. When applied to the face along with sufficient water (as in lather or when washing your face) it will increase the moisture levels at or on the skins surface.

Chemically, all soaps are organic in that they are made up of molecules containing carbon chains (i.e. sodium salts of fatty acids and glycerine). The term organic as applied to agriculture is a legal and regulatory issue and could be applied to the sources of the fats involved, but not the caustic used in making the soap, thus no soap can be classified as organic under this definition. You can certainly buy soap that contains nothing but the sodium salts of fatty acids, residual lye, residual fats, and glycerine.

Originally Posted by JWuttunee

I am trying to stay away from synthetics and their harmful ingredients as much as possible.
Thanks All,
Jordan.

The simplest answer is this: All soap is synthetic. It is a salt that is created through the reaction of an acid and a base.

I can think of no circumstance where soap would be considered a naturally occurring substance, except in maybe the most extreme possibilities. Shaving soap formulations are specifically designed to produce characteristics desirable for shaving. A good shaving soap requires specific acids which are most commonly isolated through the hydrogenation of oils.