Bar Soap for the Chemically Sensitive

My dad and I are both extremely chemically sensitive and the purpose of this post is to share the bar soaps that my dad and I can use.

I also wanted to share the idea of cutting bar soap into smaller pieces: If you are chemically sensitive to the touch, you know that chemicals from your hands can spread to the soap. If the chemicals are very strong, it is sometimes necessary to throw away the entire bar of soap. To avoid wasting so much soap, I cut bars of soap into smaller pieces with a knife and a plate that are straight out of the dishwasher. I then put the pieces of soap in a quart jar and put a lid on the jar. If the soap is left out in the open air, it will rapidly dry out. I leave a bowl of pieces of soap near the sink to use. A quart jar of cut up Kiss my Face soap:

To cut soap, I have found that the knife I use is important. I use a long knife with a sturdy but thin blade. If the blade is too thick then the soap will break. Also, of the soaps below, Ivory cuts quite easily because there is a lot of air in it. Dr. Bronner's just crumbles and does not cut into pieces well. Kiss My Face is difficult to cut because it is so dense but makes very nice little soaps that last quite a while. (see pic below)

Ivory (original): I use tons of this and it is quite inexpensive. I purchase it at Walmart. I think a package of eight to ten bars costs around $5.

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps Pure-Castile Soap, All-One Hemp Almond: My dad and I can use this soap but it is more expensive than Ivory. Ingredients: Organic coconut oil, Organic palm oil, sodium Hydroxide (none remains after saponifying oils into soap and glycerin), Water, Organic Olive oil, Organic Hemp oil, Organic Jojoba oil, Natural Almond fragrance, Salt, Citric Acid and tocepherol. This soap comes in many different varieties, and this is just one type:



Kiss my Face Pure Olive Oil bar soap:  This soap is also expensive but it is the best soap I have come across as far as my chemical sensitivities. My dad says he does not think that this soap removes chemicals from his skin as well as other soaps. This soap does sting if it gets in your eyes. This soap is dense and lasts a lot longer than Ivory. The soap I bought came in huge bars and they are solid and heavy. Careful not to drop it on your foot! The soap is a green bar and has the distinctive smell of olive oil. Ingredients: Saponified Olive Oil, Water, Sodium Chloride.




N.E.E.D.S. sells some kings of soap I can tolerate and they seem pretty reasonably priced. The two brands below can be purchased from their website.

Green Mountain Soap - Original, Unscented (they also make a liquid soap for soap dispensers)

Clearly Natural Essentials - Unscented - Glycerin Soap