Mild Soaps: Best Soaps for Skin & Body – Plus The Benefits of Using Mild Soap

Our company offers a range of all-natural bar soap products, and when we say mild – we really mean it.

As you’ll soon find out, many companies make the all-natural claim, but this can be far from the truth.

The Soap Industry’s Dirty Secret

There is little-to-no regulation for labeling a product as ‘all-natural’.

There is also very little regulation about what chemicals or additives that can be used in the making of a fragrance.

For this reason, almost any skin cleansing product that is scented is most definitely not going to be ‘all-natural’.

If a great scent is what you’re after, be sure you see an essential oil in the ingredient list. If you don’t care much, simply go for a fragrance-free soap. For anyone trying to improve any sort of face or skin issue, we recommend trying fragrance-free first, and if all goes well, progressing to a bar soap using the essential oils.

 

Mild Soaps – What Are They?

Mild soaps typically use all-natural ingredients and have a pH level between 4.5-6.5, defined as basic or alkaline. A non-mild bar typically has a pH between 8-10. The pH balance alone is a cause of skin irritation in some.

Sensitive skin may receive the most benefit by sticking to products with a formula that contains all-natural ingredients.

Synthetic ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate, methylisothiazolinone and fragrance are very common in most brands, which some skin does react to.

Skin Care Uses of Mild Soap – The Pros

There can be numerous pros and benefits for those with general irritation or sensitive skin. In fact, the reason the founder of MildSoaps.com got into soap making initially was to help with his son’s eczema. It was amazing how quickly his skin irritation improved after switching away from normal old soap brands.

However, you don’t need to be suffering from eczema for natural soap to make sense. Replacing a brand-name skin soap with a mild product can leave your face, body, and skin all feeling their best and refreshed.

1. Mild Soap for Eczema & Skin Ailments

Eczema is inflammation of the skin that is often itchy and typically developing in early childhood.

Anyone with eczema or other skin ailments tends to report the greatest benefit when switching to natural skincare products.

We’ve heard directly from our customers that our bar soap has greatly improved some with the following skin conditions:

• Acne
• Eczema
• Psoriasis
• Rosacea
• Sensitive Skin

These skin ailments seem to be provoked by a higher pH, synthetic fragrances and/or chemicals for many people.

With natural ingredients being easier on sensitive skin than chemicals, there’s less for the body to contend with when absorbed.

2. Skin Discomfort

Many with sensitive skin look to name brands for things like moisturizing soap.

It is important to know what soap should feel like when it’s made with quality ingredients.

The truth is that some people confuse the refreshing skin feeling for lack of moisture or dry skin.

In the middle of winter when humidity is taken out of the air, this can be true. However, for anyone with perpetually dry skin, a mild soap bar may deliver the ultimate skin feeling they’re after.

3. Natural Ingredients

When it comes to the skin and body, the healthiest soaps are all-natural.

Our rule is that whenever possible, chose the product with the most amount of edible ingredients listed.

After all, if it’s safe to eat, it’s usually safe to use on your body.

No matter which of the skin types you might possess, a soap free of chemicals is best whenever possible.

How Do You Choose a Mild Soap?

When you are looking for gentle beauty bars or natural skin cleansers, you will no doubt have a wealth of options on the market to choose from.

After being in business for over 10 years and helping hundreds of customers, here is what we believe to be the most important.

1. For Skin Care Products, Natural Is Best

Not to sound repetitive, but many of the mild soap brands and products on the market that are labeled as natural, a truly not.

With the exception of lye (sodium hydroxide), a required ingredient for soap to cure, every ingredient in a cleansing product should be edible [1].

Soaps are often labeled as natural soaps, even if they have synthetic detergents or fragrances added to them.

If the soap is fragranced and it does not contain natural oils, it will be listed in the ingredients as simply; fragrance.

For the healthiest skin, be sure to stick with an edible ingredient list and either soaps that are fragrance-free or have been scented with an essential oil.

2. Ensure the Product Uses Pressed Oils

So essential oils are used specifically for fragrance, but did you know you cannot make soap-free of fat as a main ingredient?

When it comes to face cleansers and overall sensitive skin care products, there are only a few fats and oils we ever recommend being used as a base:

• Coconut Oil
• Olive Oil
• Palm Oil
• Shea Butter

These oils and fats are the result of having been pressed, or simply squeezed while in their original whole plant form.

For example, shea butter comes from parts of a shea tree. Other options like canola or vegetable oil typically require the addition of hexane, an ingredient used in the processing of gasoline, to extract the oils from the seeds.

For the best quality or artisan soaps, make sure to stick with a bar that is made with only pressed oils or fats.

3. Oatmeal – Who’s Hungry?

I know that Oatmeal might not be everyone’s favorite breakfast food, but we can all agree it’s healthy right?

Did you know that it is also going to be exceedingly beneficial to have on your skin?

Oatmeal is frequently added to the best high-quality soaps (including ours), not only because it is mild, but it’s great at cleansing.

Oatmeal can unclog pores, pull excess oil from the skin and help to keep all of that nasty dirt at bay.

Of course, every soap is different including liquid soap & bar varieties. Some people may end up trying a few different products such as a hypoallergenic soap for their sensitive skin until they find that one is best for their body and skin.

All of the MildSoaps.com products meet these criteria and what we’ve found over the years changing to an all-natural skin cleansing product can be one of the easiest ways to rid of dry or irritated skin.

Conclusion

As you can see, almost anyone with sensitive skin or not, can benefit from a natural mild bar soap product.

If you’re tired of what the big soap brands have to offer, please do see what we have to offer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How Does The Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar or Dove Sensitive Skin Bar Rank?

These are common examples of big brand versions of soap that are mild, but not completely natural.

You will see in their ingredient lists plenty of synthetic ingredients, but Cetaphil’s bar specifically uses Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate [2].  This chemical is classified as hazardous by the EPA, albeit in larger quantities used in a simple face washing.

Who would knowingly want to use a product, especially soaps or a beauty bar on their body with sensitive skin, using a hazardous chemical?

Q: Does Water Quality and pH matter or Is It All About Using The Best Soaps?

Water quality and pH does matter! Depending on where you get your water from, city or well, it may contain irritants to your skin.

Highly chlorinated water is the most common irritation culprit for the majority of skin types.

The pH of the soap bar is just as important, and we’ve dedicated an entire article to it here.

If you believe that the quality of the water you’re using to bathe may be a factor, we highly recommend installing an inline charcoal filter (cheap) or a water softener/filter system (more expensive).

Q: Should a Mild Soap be Paraben-Free?

Parabens are preservatives commonly found in cleansing and cosmetic products.

In Europe, manufacturers are legally limited to only including 8g of these chemicals per kilogram of the final product.

As we try to stay as close to natural as possible, we definitely recommend paraben-free soap.

Q: Is Every Soap Really Handmade Here in the USA?

Yes! Since day 1, we have taken pride and extreme care in making each bar of soap by hand.

Our products are never mass-produced, for the added emphasis on care and quality.

Last but not least, we believe it’s important to buy soap made in the USA, and ours is no different.

Q: I’m Interested in Making My Own Soap, Do You Have Any Recipes You Recommend?

We believe in paying it forward. Listed below are some of our favorites;

• Almond Milk Soap Recipe

 

References

1. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Sodium-hydroxide
2. https://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/1698.pdf