Soap vs Detergents

Most “soaps” on the market today are actually detergents.

Detergents are made from petroleum-based ingredients, many of which have an unpleasant odor, so they’re masked with the addition of cheap, artificial fragrances. Detergents also contain preservatives and antibacterial agents to keep them from spoiling. All of this adds up to a whole lot of chemicals that frequently cause allergic reactions and can penetrate far below the surface of the skin to reside in our body tissues.

On the other hand, true soaps (see where we get the name?) are made the old-fashioned way by combining fat or oil, water and lye. But of course not all soaps are created equal. Some use beef tallow, a generally unused by-product from meat processing preferred by mass-production soapmakers because it processes quickly, produces a hard bar of soap and is cheap and plentiful. Most natural soaps, including True Body Soap, use vegetable oils such as olive, coconut and palm.

How to Tell the Difference

Body cleansers that are synthetic detergent products come under the jurisdiction of the FDA. Depending on whether they make cosmetic (e.g. moisturizing, deodorizing) and/or drug (e.g. antibacterial, antiperspirant, anti acne) claims determines whether they have to list all ingredients or only the active ingredients. Ironically, true soaps are regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, not the FDA, and thus are not required to list ingredients at all. However, most natural product companies go the extra mile and list their ingredients because they know it’s the right thing to do.

Common variations of ingredient names: