Soaps are made from fats and oils that react with lye (sodium hydroxide) in a chemical process known as saponification. Solid fats like coconut oil, palm oil, tallow (rendered beef fat), or lard (rendered pork fat), are used to form bars of soap that stay hard and resist dissolving in the water left in the soap dish.
The saponification process results in about 75% soap, and 25% glycerine. In homemade soaps, the glycerine is left in, as it acts as an emollient (skin softener) and adds a nice feel to the soap. In commercial soaps, the glycerine is often removed and sold separately, sometimes showing up in skin moisturizers that remedy the damage done by drying soaps.
Commercial bar soaps contain sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate, sodium palmate and similar ingredients, all of which are the results of reacting solid fats (tallow, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil respectively) with lye.
To these ingredients, they add fatty acids such as coconut acid and palm acid (the fats in coconut oil and palm kernel oil) as the extra fats needed to ensure the lye is completely reacted, and the soap has a good feel.
Last year I changed bar soap and really like Kiss My Face - Big Kiss Organic Palm Oil Soap, Sweet Orange & Lime. The bar is huge, lasts 3 months, is cruelty-free and isn’t drying. I’ve also tried their pure olive oil, fragrance free soap which is exceptional for dry skin. It doesn’t smell quite as nice as the Sweet Orange and Lime bar because it smells, well, a little like olive oil. Kiss My Face is listed as cruelty free on both LeapingBunny.org (The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics) and CaringConsumer.com (PETA). These two Kiss My Face bar soaps score in the “low hazard” range for their ingredients in the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database. Their bar soaps with fragrance fall in the “moderate hazard” range.
The list below includes companies who make bar soaps in the “low hazard” range in the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database, have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics and have “cruelty free” designation by Peta and/or CCIC (Leaping Bunny).
I researched the ingredients in my old soap and found there was more in it than I ever imagined.
Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Cocoate - Results of reacting solid fats with lye. Sodium Tallowate is derived from tallow (rendered beef fat). Sodium Cocoate is derived from coconut oil.
Water
Stearic Acid - Fatty acid used as an emollient; soothes, softens and is an emulsifier.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine - Derived from coconut; a mild detergent added to decrease irritation without decreasing suds or cleaning power.
Sodium Chloride - Derived from salt; astringent and anti-inflammatory.
Fragrance - One or a blend of volatile and/or fragrant plant oils (or synthetically derived oils) that impart aroma and odor to products. These are often skin irritants.
Sodium Methyl 2-Sulfolaurate - Derived from coconut; mild, non-drying cleanser.
Petrolatum - Petroleum product.
Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate) - Added for its anti-oxidant properties, protecting oils and fats from oxidation.
Mineral Oil - Clear, odorless oil derived from petroleum.
Helianthus Anuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil - Non-volatile plant oil used as an emollient in cosmetics.
Glycerin - Emollient and texture enhancer.
Coconut Acid - Derived from coconut; added as the extra fat to help ensure the lye is completely reacted and the soap has a good feel.
Sodium Stearate- Compound produced by reacting sodium hydroxide with stearic acid. Acts as a soap.
Disodium 2-Sulfolaurate - Mild cleanser that effectively removes surface oil and dirt, without stripping or drying.
Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate - Added as water softeners, and to protect the dyes and perfumes from the effects of metal ions in the mixtures. These compounds lock up calcium and magnesium in the water, preventing them from reacting with the soap to form insoluble soap scum.
BHT (Butylated hydroxytoluene) - Added as an anti-oxidant preservative to keep the oils from going rancid; also has carcinogenic properties.
Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891) - Added to make the soap opaque.
After watching videos of slaughter house practices (never mind the whole impact of factory farming), I avoid companies who make soaps that contain tallow (rendered beef fat):
Ach. Brito/Lafco NY: Claus Porto
Ambi Products: Ambi
Canus Goat’s Milk: Canus
Chattem: Phisoderm
Colgate-Palmolive Company: Irish Spring, Vel
CVS Corporation: CVS
Dermatologic Cosmetic Laboratories: DCL
E.T. Browne Drug Co: Palmer’s, Skin Success
Geritrex Corporation: Cetaklenz
Henkel KGaA: Dial, Tone
Johnson & Johnson: Johnson & Johnson, Neutrogena
L’Oréal: BioMedic, Cetaphil, La Roche-Posay
Pfizer: Lubriderm
M O Industries Inc: The Art of Shaving
Proctor & Gamble: Camay, Ivory, Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Tom’s of Maine, Yardley, Zest
Well Atleast we know this before the Ramzan starts to get ourself prepared on such things. Yet we also have to widen our views on the food items we use during fasting.
Coz Now-a-days many new brands are arriving in Market.
So it is better to see the ingredients and hit a google search to know more abt them....
so if we cant use em .. wat r we suppose to use .. n y ramadan isnt suppose to be all year around. i heard its okay if ur not living in a islamic country dont know.. salam wa 3lkom
so if we cant use em .. wat r we suppose to use .. n y ramadan isnt suppose to be all year around. i heard its okay if ur not living in a islamic country dont know.. salam wa 3lkom
peace
Well May be I gave a wrong idea or my thought was taking on a different view.
I was trying to say that since we knew it before Ramadhan our fasts won't get tainted due to such things.
and I am sure atleast a minimum of 10 brand of soaps should be available on a very minimal country and in them atleast 4 would be different company.
so if we want to live without them then we would alternately get ready to seek the next possibility...
That's how life and humanity has evolved to this far..........
I'm glad you posted this little bit about soap. I've been looking into making my own soap (for personal use and for gifts) and many traditional recipes use lard (eeek!!). Thankfully, there are many websites out there that do give recipes with no animal products in them (simply vegetable-product based soaps). Now, I'm not saying people should start making soap: it's a long process that isn't really cheap and it can be a bit complicated. But at least you know exactly what is in it.
The more eco-friendly/natural soaps and products are more expensive than the "regular" stuff you get (sometimes a few cents, sometimes you pay twice the price) but I guess that's what you pay for quality and peace of mind.
You should also look into what they use in other products (toothpaste, shaving cream/gel, shampoos, etc). You'd be surprised! I had someone change shaving gels because the one he had been using for years sometimes used pork products (but not always). Imagine his disgust when he found that out!
We made soap in chemistry class once, it actually worked! Looked like it came out of some animals behind though, since we didn't have a proper mold, but it was still soap!
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whats-in-your-soap
Soaps are made from fats and oils that react with lye (sodium hydroxide) in a chemical process known as saponification. Solid fats like coconut oil, palm oil, tallow (rendered beef fat), or lard (rendered pork fat), are used to form bars of soap that stay hard and resist dissolving in the water left in the soap dish.
n y ramadan isnt suppose to be all year around. i heard its okay if ur not living in a islamic country dont know.. salam wa 3lkom
so if we cant use em .. wat r we suppose to use ..
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