What
does it all mean? Basically, homemade soap can be divided into two major categories:
Cold process, and Melt & Pour. Melt & pour soaps
are most often made by hobbyists. They purchase a pre-made block
of soap from a manufacture, melt it, and pour it into soap molds. You can
usually tell a melt and pour bar because they're clear in
appearance, and they're many times characterized as a "glycerin" bar. While
there is
nothing inherently wrong with melt and pour bars (as long as the
soap base isn't harmful), they are not usually very high grade. Because many
sites on the Internet are hobby sites, the person or persons
making the soaps really don't have any idea what's in the soap base they purchased,
so you won't either. Melt and pour soap, by it's very nature, is
often not very good soap.
By contrast, Cold Process soap is soap that is most often made
from natural ingredients beginning in their raw form. Plant oils such as olive
oil,
coconut oil, palm kernel oil, and soybean oil, (among others) are
often used. It should be noted that animal tallow can also be used in cold
process
soap, but we do NOT use any animal tallow in our soap
bars. All of our soap is made from high grade plant oils in exact proportions
to saponify
the ingredients fully for a great bar of soap.
The "natural" part is carefully monitored in an
eibo product. We know what's in every bar, because we put it there. We didn't
buy a "soap base" made
by someone else and melt it down into a mold. While some of
our soaps contain fine fragrance oils for scent, the fragrance oils we use are
made from
plant extracts. We also inform you of exactly what is in the bar
you're buying so that you can make the choice that's best for you. If you're
a purist,
many of our bars are made strictly with essential oils for scent,
which are derived wholly from their natural sources.
Before you decide to purchase a melt and pour soap bar, ask the
manufacturer to tell you exactly what's in the soap base they use. If they can't
or
won't tell you, consider not buying. There are some good companies
out there selling quality melt and pour soaps, but they should know what they're
selling, so that you'll know what you're buying. It's that simple.