BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Body Care Do you have any tips or tricks with natural soaps?

There's no question that natural and handmade soaps are better for your skin than commercial bars. But, they can also be a bit more temperamental to use.

Do you have any tips or tricks for natural soaps?

Always try to store natural soaps somewhere relatively dry, soap dishes don't work well. If they sit in water, they can disintegrate.

Some people complain that natural soaps don't lather well enough. That's because they don't contain chemical surfactants and other ingredients like Sodium Laureth Sulfate or DEA. This is, overall, a good thing. The lather isn't what cleans your skin; it's the soap, so I don't normally worry about it.

I don't usually shave my legs or underarms with soap (actually I don't usually shave them at all, it's easier just to wear pants LOL). Instead, I like to use natural conditioner, it seems to work pretty well and moisturizes while it protects.

Yeah, the 'soap dish' thing is going to be quite covered in the article this post is linked from (which should be going live in a couple of hours, hehe).

My sister and I have been making our own soap for a bit now. I don't think I've bought soap for two years now. We are both firm in the idea of only using essential oils and not fragrance oils. And depending on what oils go in the soap can effect the lathering (you want some coconut oil in it for lather).

Here are a few tips:

If you're looking for a really gentle soap, find one where the main ingredient is olive oil! It won't lather as well as other soaps, but will be gentle enough to use on a baby.

If you want big fat bubbles, look for soaps which have a mixture of the following:

->Sugar. Yep! It's a natural way to increase the bubbles.
"Hard" Oils-A nice 'hard' oil will give good bubble action too.
->Coconut Oil
->Palm Kernel Oil
->Palm Oil
and for those who don't prefer Vegan soaps
->Lard!

Of course, there are many other things that can give good lather, so be sure to check that ingredients list to find out what is in it--and why! Typically, if you contact the soapmaker you buy from, they'll be able to give you the full information on what each oil brings and why they use it.

Soaps with deep color concentrations (like brilliant red) can bleed, especially if natural ingredients are used as the colorant. When using a brightly colored soap, stick to dark washcloths and save yourself some bleach!

A friend made me soap out of bacon fat once, and I swear it was some of the best soap I ever used.

But then I saw "Fight Club" and couldn't stomach it anymore. Now I stick with the veggie-based soaps.

The best soaps I make are the lard based soaps, but a lot of people have a hard time resolving themselves to using them. The lard gives a really solid white bar with loads of lather. It's a shame it has to come from where it comes from <img src="/images/graemlins/wall.gif" alt="" />

The 'icky' is broken down during saponification. But it is a rather 'yuck' idea, so I can see why some people would have a hard time with it.

I have no problem with bacon, I eat it.... but if you've seen the movie "Fight Club" you might understand why I get grossed out over soaps made from animal fats.... I don't really want to explain it, because it's a bit of a spoiler for the movie (which I really liked) but.... yuck.

lol... no, I haven't seen it, nor do I have any particular desire to, even though many people have said I should.