How do natural soaps differ from commercially-produced soaps?
The answer can drag on, depending on what aspect of production or marketing you want to address. We’ll stick to the basics. Many natural soap makers (including us) “superfat” their soap, meaning that they reduce the amount of hydroxide salt used in the reaction. This results in excess oil (fat) that is left unreacted. These oils have conditioning qualities. Also, commercial producers extract glycerin, a product of the soap making reaction, leaving the soap without this conditioning agent (glyceryn can then be resold as a major component of lotions and “transparent soaps”). Our soaps retain all their natural glycerin content. Most commercial manufacturers also use chemicals for scenting and preserving. We only use natural essential oils for scenting.
