Why Make Soap?

There’s a ton of soaps on the market, why make soap?

You know what’s in it.

Have you ever taken a good look at the label of a commercial soap? Go ahead and grab a bar. Take a look at the ingredient list. Now, try to pronounce the first three words.  If you’re not a doctor, chemist, physicist, etc. it’s probably a scary alphabet soup.

 Actually some of the words are not scary, just superfluous, like sodium tallowate. That is basically  just tallow or the fat from a cow.  And yes, that is a great soap making ingredient.

But the other stuff…

Is a soup I do not wish to bathe in.  Just like in the swimming pool, I want to know whether the bubbles are coming from a good place (like water jets) or a bad place (you know…).

It is strangely comforting to know that what you are soaking in contains products you wouldn’t mind eating, like olive and avocado oil.

Granted, you wouldn’t want to eat lye, but the process of making soap effectively neutralizes the lye.

On the other hand, what  is tetrasodium EDTA, an ingredient in the “sensitive” soap I used?

Well, I didn’t care until little red bumps appeared on my arms and torso. So, I decided to research each ingredient. Unfortunately, what I learned didn’t bring me comfort. In fact, it made me worry more. So, I had to get rid of it.

I know it’s impossible to rid our lives of every “bad chemical” without moving to a deserted island and eating the slime inside uncooked crabs, but if I can make a reasonable change, one that will benefit my family and me, I will.

(screen shot from Cast Away at movies2s.com)

Next time, Reason #2.