Handmade Soap vs. Commercial Soap: What’s the Difference?

What is the difference between your handmade soap and a commercial soap bar we buy in stores? This is by far the most common question I get. Let me try to explain the difference.  

Handmade soap is real soap because it is made from natural ingredients (unless synthetic fragrance or dyes are added) and retains its naturally occurring glycerin. Commercial soap is not “soap” at all because the naturally occurring glycerin is removed and synthetic ingredients are added.

Understanding the difference between handmade and commercial soap ultimately comes down to the ingredients and the chemical process of actually making soap that does what soap is supposed to do.

FDA Definition of Soap

Let’s begin with the Food & Drug Administration’s definition of soap for context. True soap is composed mainly of alkali salts of fatty acids, and those alkali salts and fatty acids is the only material that results in the product’s cleaning action.

Commercial soaps start out with natural ingredients like tallow, coconut oil, and/or palm oil; however, synthetic ingredients are added to boost cleaning power.  Synthetics are also added to enhance other things like moisturize, prevent disease, kill germs, or heal health conditions. These products are defined as rather as detergents, cosmetics, and/or drugs than soap.

FDA’s regulatory definition of soap includes the following three conditions; all three conditions must be met to be a soap under FDA’s regulatory definition (source):

Not every product marketed as soap meets the FDA’s definition of the term. The FDA interprets the term “soap” to apply only when (source):

The bulk of the nonvolatile matter in the product consists of an alkali salt of fatty acids, and the product’s detergent properties are due to the alkali-fatty acid compounds. The product is labeled, sold, and represented solely as soap [21 CFR 701.20].

Soaps that fit this definition are regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), while soaps that contain synthetic detergents are considered cosmetics or drugs and regulated by the FDA.

Now that I’ve laid out the official definitions, let’s compare handmade and commercial soaps.

Handmade Soap

Handmade soap is crafted in small batches, often by hand, rather than mass-produced by machines. It is usually made from natural ingredients such as plant oils and animal fats, and may include other natural additives, such as herbs, essential oils, and natural colorants derived from clay or plant matter.

It retains the naturally produced glycerin formed during saponification and is typically much more moisturizing than commercial bars. 

Glycerin is a valuable byproduct of the soap-making process. Handmade soapmakers normally will stir this precious ingredient back into the soap for the customer’s benefit. Many commercial producers will remove the glycerin and sell it for use in other products.

Check out how I use clays in Castile soap bars in Solid vs. Speckled: How We Use Clays at Cadron Creek Soapworks llc.

The Basics of Real Soap

• Definition: Made by saponification—the process of reacting natural fats/oils with lye (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide).
• Ingredients: Natural oils/fats, lye, water, and sometimes essential oils, botanicals, or natural colorants.
• Glycerin Content: Retains glycerin, a moisturizing byproduct of saponification.
• Properties: Cleanses gently, moisturizes skin, and is typically biodegradable.
• Labeling: Often labeled as “soap”—legally, only products made via saponification and that do not contain synthetic detergents can be called “soap” in many countries.

Commercial Soap

Commercial soap is not technically considered “soap” by the FDA. It is a syndent bar (synthetic detergent bar) that starts with saponified palm oil, coconut oil, or tallow (labeled as: sodium palmate, sodium cocoate, sodium tallowate).

Initially, these ingredients sound great because many handmade soaps also contain them. However, commercial soap manufacturers also remove the naturally occurring glycerin (it is sold for other applications) and add an array of synthetic or derived ingredients such as:

• Surfactants: compounds that lower the surface tension between liquids, gases, or solids, acting as detergents, emulsifiers, and wetting agents.
• Artificial dyes and pigments: man-made chemical colorants, usually derived from petroleum or coal tar.
• Artificial fragrances: a scent created in a laboratory using artificial compounds, often derived from petrochemicals, often contain chemicals (like phthalates) and potential health/environmental impacts, often hidden under the ingredient list term “fragrance.”
• Preservatives: prevent bacterial, mold, and yeast growth, particularly in water-based liquid soaps, lotions, and scrubs
• Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS): surfactant and foaming agent to create a rich lather, break down grease, and remove oil.
• Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES): a common anionic surfactant and detergent derived from coconut or palm oil. Production raises concerns about deforestation and aquatic toxicity. 
• Sodium cocoyl isethionate: a very mild, coconut-derived anionic surfactant used as a foaming agent in “sulfate-free” shampoos, body washes, and cleansing bars. Although plant-derived, it is manufactured via ethoxylation, a process that uses ethylene oxide.
• Tetrasodium EDTA: a highly soluble, synthetic chelating agent used to bind metal ions, stabilize formulations, and improve shelf life in cosmetics, soaps, and cleaners. It enhances preservative efficacy and improves foaming in hard water.
• Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT): a synthetic antioxidant preservative used to prevent fats and oils from spoiling. It is considered an endocrine disruptor and has possible links to cancer. 

Commercial soap bars are formulated to be inexpensive, long-lasting, and highly cleansing, but they are usually much harsher on the skin due to the addition of synthetic detergents, fragrances, and preservatives.

The Basics of Commercial Bar Soap (Syndet Bars)

• Definition: Soap with detergents added, also referred to as “syndet bars” (synthetic detergent bars).
• Ingredients: Synthetic detergents, surfactants, fillers, preservatives, and sometimes harsh chemicals.
• Glycerin Content: Glycerin is often removed and sold separately, making the bar harsher.
• Properties: May clean more aggressively, can strip skin of oils, and sometimes contains additives that may irritate sensitive skin.
• Labeling: Labeled as “beauty bar,” “cleansing bar,” “deodorant bar,” etc.”
• Purpose: Designed for mass production, longer shelf life, and lower cost.

The Elephant In the Room: Lye

I need to point out a common misconception.  Over the years, I have heard time and time again that “only handmade soap uses lye, and commercial soap does not.” This is not true.  Both the handmade and commercial processes use lye to make soap. However, lye is not present in the end, actual soap product. 

The lye is used up during saponification (if the soap is formulated correctly). There are endless arguments about how this ingredient should be labeled. I think these arguments exist because the public is fearful of the terminology: sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, or lye. 

Nobody wants to scare off customers by using the wrong words on their labels.  

Some soapmakers list everything used in the process (olive oil, palm oil, coconut oil, water, and lye), while others list the saponified end result (sodium olivate, sodium palmate, sodium cocoate). The latter does not mention the lye because it technically does not exist in the final product.

So, if a soapmaker claims, “I don’t have lye in my soap,” that is probably someone who has decided to label their ingredients using the terminology of saponified soap compounds rather than individual ingredients. The rationale seems to be: “There will be no lye in the finished product, so why mention it?”

There are also soapmakers who state, “I don’t use lye to make my soap.” This is usually someone who has purchased a ready-made soap base (known as melt-and-pour), in which the lye was used at the factory to make the base. They technically are not wrong, as they themselves did not use the lye to make their soap.

Is There Such a Thing As Soap Made Without Lye?

Alternatively, the soapmaker claiming to make soap without lye could also be someone using a botanical soap plant that contains natural compounds called saponins, which create a lather in water. This is the ONLY true, chemical-free, detergent-free, purely natural soap-like substance out there.  

Yes, there are natural, botanical plants that lather in water and can be used as the ultimate natural soap. Soapwart, horse chestnuts, yucca, and ivy are some of the more common ones. We will delve into this interesting topic at a later time.

What Kind of Soap Does Cadron Creek Soapworks Make?

The soap I make here at Cadron Creek Soapworks is true handmade soap. It is made by saponifying olive oil with lye. The alkali salts of fatty acids meet the definition of true soap because they are the only cleansing agents within soap. I do not add any detergents. 

I add the castor and vitamin E oils after saponification, so they are not subjected to the harsh lye or the heat generated by the process. My soap is superfatted with olive oil, making it extra mild. Moreover, the naturally occurring glycerin produced during saponification remains in the soap. 

We never use tallow, coconut, palm, soybean, corn, peanut, jojoba, cocoa, or anything similar. We use olive oil to make the soap…and that is it. Our Unscented Plain Castile is the simplest soap we make right now. 

I do use both fragrance oils and essential oils. All of our fragrance oils are paraben and phthalate-free. They not only meet IFRA Standards (International Fragrance Association) requirements for body-safe fragrance, but also meet California Prop 65 and European Cosmetic Regulation Standards for body-safe fragrance.

Does your handmade soap get orange spots? Don’t throw it out! Learn about it in Why Does My Soap Have Orange Spots?

In a Nutshell

Real soap uses natural ingredients and keeps its naturally formed glycerin to benefit consumers–it is made with lye. Real soap is made by crazy people with very understanding spouses who enable the insanity by building soap molds and display racks, and driving them all over the countryside to sell their surplus of soap to unsuspecting strangers.

Most commercial bars are synthetic and harsh, lacking the benefits of natural ingredients. Most commercial bars are not labeled “soap”; companies cannot legally use that term on their labels. They typically use terms like “cleansing bar” or “beauty bar.”

Most commercial bars lack the crazy soapmaker aspect of their production, and those customers totally miss out on all the superfluous information derived from a crazy soap lady.

If you are still sure the cheaper synthetic bars are the way to go for you, to each his/her own. Those bars are cheap. They cleanse in veritable clouds of bubbles and leave behind long-lasting, pleasant, chemically-sourced fragrances. 

They get the job done without breaking any banks…for now, at least. Just be sure to pick up that bottle of lotion while you are at the store.