Hi there!
Lye soap is always harsher to the skin than the rest of the store bought bars, and recipes are different and can vary in their effect on us. Maybe the skin on your fingers is sensitive to particular ingredients? At least one of the bars you got works well, so you can keep using it - but I can't say if you will get the same result from self-made soap or not, you will have to try and see for yourself if you're up to it. Usually, hand made cold process soap with basic ingredients is much better than commercial syndet bars, but yet again - every skin is different and what's good for me may not be the best choice for you. Personally, once I've started making soap I completely forgot about commercial stuff and use only my own soap bars. I wish to say that you should try making your own and that it will be much better, but I can't - plus I don't know anything about the brands you mentioned so I can't say if there's anything wrong with them or they're actually pretty good. Maybe someone else knows more about them. Try and see for yourself, ymmv. Sorry for not being able to help much with my 2 cents
Yeah, I think it's probably worth making a small batch of my own stuff to see if it happens with that, too.
Would you mind sharing the ingredients lists of the bars you used ? Maybe by comparing the one that didn't cause any issue to the two that don't work for you we could find one culprit ingredient ? And if so, you could find an other bar without the said ingredient, try it, and confirm or infirm the said ingredient culpability
For the Dr. Bronner's, I used their unscented bar soap. The ingredients are: Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Palm Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Water, Organic Olive Oil, Organic Hemp Seed Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Tocopherol.
As far as I know, this listing means that coconut oil was used in larger quantities than everything else. Interesting.
For the Dr. Squatch's soap, the one that didn't seem to irritate me was their Birchwood Breeze bar: Saponified Oils of (Olive, Sustainable Palm, Coconut), Shea Butter, Natural Fragrance, Birch Bark Powder, Pumice Powder, Niaouli Essential Oil, Titanium Dioxide, Kaolin Clay, Sea Salt.
The other bar that irritated me was their Wood Barrel Bourbon bar: Saponified Oils of (Olive, Sustainable Palm, Coconut), Shea Butter, Natural Fragrance, Jimmy Red Cornmeal, Brewer's Yeast, Sand, Annatto Powder, Kaolin Clay, Sea Salt, Iron Oxide (Colorant).
They latter two both seem to have basically the same oil bases.
A lotion or body butter applied daily should help speed up the recovery of your hand. When I used commercial lotions, Aveeno was my go to.
Right, I've done that but my hands have never needed any lotion before.
My understanding was that one bar was the Dr. Bronner's brand, and one was Dr. Squatch; is that right?
For me, both of those formulas have way too much coconut oil (which is very drying in soap), and way too much scent (which can also irritate my skin). I recommend formulating a very gentle bar of handcrafted soap that is less likely to cause that kind of dryness. If you are open to using animal fats, try this:
60% lard
20% coconut oil
15% liquid oil of choice (olive, avocado, sweet almond, rice bran, high oleic sunflower)
5% castor oil
Set the lye concentration to 33% (be sure to change it from water as percent of oils!).
Set the superfat to 5%
For a vegan bar, you could try
@KiwiMoose's
vegan recipe that she has so kindly shared here. Scroll down to post #16 to see the recipe.
Whatever you make, you can start testing it around 72 hours after making. But it won't be as mild or bubbly until it has cured for about four weeks. I recommend making a 1-2lb batch to start - that's enough for four to five bars. If you aren't sure you want to invest in this hobby, use what you have around, or buy inexpensive things at a thrift store, dollar store, etc. Plastic food storage containers work wonderfully as beginner soap molds, for instance, as long as they have the #5 recycle symbol on the bottom. Cardboard boxes work equally well if you line them with a heavy plastic trash bag or some freezer paper.
Good luck, and don't hesitate to ask if we can help you along the way!
Thank you very much for the recipe! I am not opposed to using animal fats in my soaps. However, I was hoping to do a recipe with a few less ingredients. Maybe I should remove coconut oil altogether if it is drying? I'm not sure. Do you have any recommendations for gentle and moisturizing soap that uses only 2 or 3 (at the max) oils?
Since you didn't ask for help formulating your own recipes, I'm going to assume you're looking for advice on buying soap.
I will suggest that it is the formulation. As
@AliOop mentioned, coconut oil makes a drying soap. If you are trying to avoid "detergents," look around for handmade bar soaps. You can often find them easily at a whole foods, FB marketplace, specialty shops, and this time of year at Farmers markets. Read the labels and ask (when at a market) questions. For some people, syndets or detergent based bars (like Dove, for example) are actually gentler for their skin. You do not have to get a liquid, there are plenty of bar options on the shelf at the store.
First, though, as
@justsomeguy mentions, you should take care of healing your skin.
If you do decide to start making your own soap, we'll be here to help you along
Thanks for the advice. I will check my local farmers markets. I have tried Dove soap before, but it's just not the same. I like the squeaky-clean feeling I get from "real" soaps!
You should TOTALLY make your own cold process soap!! It's night and day compared to store bought. Listen, I got into this as a creativity outlet. I was completely caught off guard by the dramatic improvement in the health of my and my family's skin. Previously I had spent a fortune on dermatologists and lotions and potions. It has been fantastic. And then I discovered lotion bars....
Please jump in, all the cool kids are doin' it!
What are lotion bars? Do you use them in or out of the shower?
That's it, you scared him away lol
Just been busy with work!
Since both soaps are now causing a problem,
@QuietWorker I see two possibilities:
- Your skin was sensitized by the soap.
- You have handled something that caused drying or an allergy.
Do your hands itch? Or are they simply peeling? Have you used cleaning products recently without wearing gloves? With sensitization, you can use a soap or lotion or cleaning product for ages, then out of the blue it causes a reaction.
Right now I am at the walk in clinic with my daughter, who first got a second degree sunburn and now, 12 days later, has an allergic/sensitization reaction to lotions applied for the sunburn. (Group home staff neglected sunscreen.)
My hands do not itch and I've thought about what else I've touched. I know that some household chemicals or hand sanitizers can cause dryness like that, but I haven't been in contact with anything like that. It's also not really peeling, but more like flaking.
I hope your daughter gets better soon!!!
@QuietWorker those two soaps are not representative of what we make as cold processed soap makers. Please don't let them put you off.
We are all here to help when you dive in.
Thanks!
