Since we've spent so much time making the soap and it was such a phenomenal hit (complete soldout on the first week), we feel that it deserves a little write-up.
And if you are the lucky person who's received our nourish soap as gift, it showed how much your friend loves you.
1. How is soap made?
It's quite easy, really. Soap is a mixture of oil, water & sodium hydroxide (or caustic soda). To make it looks more scientific:
oil + h20 + Noah = soap + glycerine
The difficult bit would be to create a formula that have the right texture, hardness and cleaning power. And the time.
2. Isn't Noah a chemical?
Yes Noah is a chemical extracted from salt (it was widely use since the 1700s for soap making). And the miracle part is it disappeared after the saponification process (that is if it's done right with the right amount)
3. What is cold process soap?
We have kept the temperature to around 45c during the saponification to ensure we can retain as much nutrients from the ingredients as possible. High heat can speed up the whole process but it would also damage the nutrients.
4. Why doesn't the soap manufacturer use cold process for soap making?
Because it's a slow and painful process. After the soap mixture is prepared, a further 30-60 days curing period is needed for the soaps to finish the whole saponify process.
5. How can you tell if it's safe to use?
Before we declare the batch of soap is mild enough to be used, we check the ph level of the batch to ensure it is not higher than 8.5. Some commercial soap claims to have a neutral ph level at 7. It's un-natural as soap is alkali by nature, and also it could mean they have to add more chemical to reduce the ph level.
6. Why do I have to store the soap in cool & dry places?
Because natural soap contains a lot of glycerine which helps drawing moisture to the skin. If the soap sits in a humid environment it will attract the moisture around it and the soap turns rancid much quicker, as we did not put any preservative in it.
7. How can I tell if the soap has gone rancid?
The easiest sign is it will smell like oil gone bad. Also yellow/white/black spots on the soap is also a sign telling you to throw it away unfortunately.
8. How come the soap does not have much of a fragrance?
We use natural essential oil which evaporates in open air (i.e. during the curing period). For long lasting fragrance man-made perfume will have to be added but we just don't want to spoil our soap with it.
9. Why do I have to use a proper soap dish?
That is to help keeping the soap dry after use. By doing so it will prolong the life and your enjoyment of the soap, as water will melt away this precious little soap.
10. It seems to be more difficult to lather up than commercial soap?
Yes because it's a natural soap and we don't put chemical just to make it lathers. Lathering is also a false impression of getting yourself cleaned. Soap with lots of lather could also be a tell tale sign that it would stripe your skin dry.
If you are bubble lover we recommend you to partner your natural soap with a sponge or mesh. It helps creating very soft and dense foam with little amount of the soap. See the actual foaming from our soap above.
11. What other benefit does the natural handcrafted soap have?
Beside being gentle to your skin (a lot of people who has skin allergy find natural soap a great remedy that soothes their skin problems), it is also gentle to the environment - it's biodegradable and it doesn't harm the ocean and the sea creatures.
If you have read everything up to this point we sincerely thank you for this. We hope you will enjoy ours and many other natural soaps in the market. Drop us a line if you have more questions or want to share your view.
Thank you!
