Prolonging The Magic
If you have never used artisanal handmade soap, as you start to incorporate it into your daily routine you may find that it seems to "melt away" much quicker than the detergent bars that you buy at the grocery store. That's because detergent bars have nasty things in them. Things like Sodium Laurel Sulphate, Butylated Hydroxytoluene, Tetrasodium EDTA, Diethanolamine, and Sodium Gluconate. These and other synthetic chelating ingredients make the soap hard. Brick Box Natural Soap Company doesn't put any of that garbage in our products. Just good stuff like Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Sunflower Oil, and Beef Tallow.
Thus, a natural bar of soap is likely to break down more quickly, and that's not a bad thing if you know the steps to help slow down the process. Here are a few ways to keep your brick around a while longer.
1. Keep the soap away from water. Nothing will make your soap disintegrate faster than keeping it wet. Water breaks down the consistency of the soap and makes it necessary to replace your soap much more frequently. Avoid storing your soap in a place that is constantly in contact with water, like in the direct stream of the shower.
2. Let the soap air dry. Allowing the air to dry out its moisture will make a bar of soap harder (and therefore less likely to crumble), so that it lasts longer. The more time your soap spends completely dry, the longer it will last. Because of this, the more people who use a bar of soap, the faster it will need to be replaced. More users means less time between showers and more time that the soap will spend wet.
3. Aways keep your soap in an appropriate soap dish that allows for drainage. If you leave your soap out, store it in on a wire rack, bamboo soap dish, or a self-draining soap dish. Soap dishes without drainage keep the the soap in contact with moisture longer and will make it harder for your soap to dry out in between uses. Look for a soap saver wood block coming to the Brick Box webstore later next month. These are perfect to set your brick on to dry.
4. Use a washcloth instead of your hands. Skin is less able to produce and retain lather from soap than other materials. If you use a washcloth instead while your are showering, the whole process will use less soap overall because the washcloth will create more lather and the suds that are created will go further in cleaning your body than simply using your hands alone. Brick Box Natural Soap Company will have some very nice sisal scrubbing cloths arriving for sale in September.
5. Take cooler showers. We don't really like this one, but it does seem to work. Hot water will make your brick dissolve more quickly and will require more effort to make lather. A cooler shower will help your soap last longer by allowing it to maintain its shape and consistency for a longer period of time.
6. Cut your brick into smaller pieces. Small bars of soap will last longer because you are taking smaller pieces into the shower with you each time. This means that only the smaller piece gets wet during each shower, so the other pieces can remain dry the entire time until you are ready to use them. Cut your bricks into halves, or even thirds, if possible. Only use one small piece at a time until it is gone.
7. If you have hard water - invest in a water softener. Softer water will also help prolong the life of your soap.