What's the Big Deal About Hand-Crafted Soap?

Before I started making soap, I remember going into local boutiques, shopping on Etsy, or going to local farmer's markets and seeing these gorgeous bars of handmade soap that smelled divine but had a less than divine price, in my opinion. I thought to myself, "I would never in a million years pay that much for a bar of soap!" Well, fast forward many years and many handcrafted batches later, and I could tell you for sure that I would never again use another store-bought, factory-made, big-name brand bar of soap again. Here are a few things that I have learned about hand-crafted soap and why it's a big deal. Hand-crafted soaps are actually soap and not bars of detergent. Big-time soap companies soap contain detergents to clean your skin and synthetic foaming agents to make the lather that everyone loves in soap. While you lather up your hands, these chemicals strip your skin of moisture and cause dry, cracked skin that is irritating and easy access for germs. Handcrafted soaps are made with various natural oils and butters to produce specific blends for specific skin types. These oils are rich in vitamins and antioxidants. All contain different properties that will give you different things you desire in your bar of soap like; big bubbly lather, or small bubbly lather, creaminess, cleansing, etc. That bar of soap at that farmer's market, craft fair, website, etc., has been blended to perfection to give you a bar that not only cleans your skin but does not strip it of its natural moisture while adding moisturizing and healing properties. These handcrafted soaps also contain glycerin which occurs naturally in the soap-making process and is a humectant that attracts moisture to the skin. Commercially produced soaps are stripped of glycerin during manufacturing; this is used in lotions and other products. Through using handmade soap, my family and I have found that our skin is less dry. During these Covid times where handwashing is at an all-time high in our home and yours as well, hands tend to be chapped, cracked, and itchy. Salem Soap Mill soaps have oil blends that contain oils that are easily absorbed by the skin like sunflower, avocado, sweet almond, jojoba, to name a few, and butters like the skin-loving cocoa and shea and mango. Salem Soap Mill also adds extra vitamin E into each soap loaf for added healing. We also offer a goat milk soap; check out my blog "What's Got Your Goat" and The Loaded Goat Soap. We also provide the Farmhouse collection that contains oatmeal, oat oil, and oat extract to help heal and soothe that dry winter skin. The Farmhouse collection includes soap, bath soak, and a creamy lotion. What you may find through using these products is that while you may balk at spending that kind of money on a bar of soap, you may save money in the long run from not having to buy all of the hand creams and lotions to soothe your skin like you did when using harsh commercial soaps and that's a big deal! Let us know if you have questions about any products; we would love to help.