Teach Soap

I started making handmade soap for various reasons and one was that my husband and MIL have sensitive skin. Last night my husband told me that the soaps made his mother's skin itchy and that she resorted back to using ivory soap. Could handmade soap cause itchy skin? My husband states he hasn't had any issues with any of the soaps I've made and I've made a lot.

I've only used OO, CO, PO, Shea, and castor. I just recently started creating other formulas using soybean, rice bran and avocado oils.

Any insights?

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http://blissfulsoaps.wordpress.com/

I can't use shea any more. It makes me itch. How much did you superfat?

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

i sf at 7%.

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http://blissfulsoaps.wordpress.com/

Could be two things. Either she is sensitive to one of the ingredients ( I have a friend who is actually allergic to coconut oil) or the fragrance you used, or she simply has a aversion to not getting her soap from a store. You could try unscented soap and keep experimenting with your recipe but my suspicion would be that she just doesn't want to use your soap. Don't take offense to it, it's just the way some people are. (especially mother in laws) She has probably been using Ivory for as long as she can remember and doesn't really want to switch even though it might be better. Funny and true story:

I have chickens. They lay lovely and delicious eggs. Much fresher and so much better tasting eggs than you find from the grocery store. I have too many eggs most of the time so I share. I gave some eggs to a friend that I work with and she very kindly accepted them and put them in her fridge. Days later she confessed to me that she simply could not eat them. She could not get over the fact that the eggs had come from my chickens butt. When I explained to her that ALL eggs come from that area even the ones she pays lots of money for at the grocery store she explained that she preferred not to think about that and since she "knew" my chickens she was just "uncomfortable" with it. This is the same friend that just about stopped talking to me when I culled a rooster that was out of control. She actually yelled at me while she was eating a chicken sandwich from Carl's Jr. (Seriously). I don't get it, but hey everyone is different, it's what makes us so interesting. Maybe your MIL is just one of those people who likes it the way she likes it? I would give her one more bar that doesn't have fragrance and if she still has an itch, let it go.

Are you in a cold climate? I have noticed that soap that did not make me itch in the summer cleans too well for winter months when central heating drys out the air. Same soap, different season.

Also - coconut oil can cause itching due to it superior ability to clean aka strip oil off your skin. Have she tried a pure olive oil soap?

One of my friends I give soap to said she had gotten a bit itchy...she has a ton of plant allergies. I told her someone like her should probably use soap with sythetic ingredients, since her body would not recognize it as coming from any type of plant!

I have no help for you, but I just have to say that I laughed so hard at Wildchick's egg story.

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Genny

I agree with the chick about the mind set thing. It could be that for sure, but it is also possible that it could be the scent you used.You need to make sure that your scent use is within the guidelines. If it is and it still bothers her, it could be the FO itself, although, if she uses ivory she is probably fine with synthetics. As for the coconut, the vast majority of people are fine with coconut oil (it is extremely rare to be allergic to coconut oil), as long as the amount used isn't outrageous, and the sf is good. So, all things being equal, it is likely just another chicken and egg thing.

Such a funny story chick! I can't imagine accepting the eggs and then not eating them because she "knew" your chickens. I wish you lived by me, I'd be happy to take your eggs off her hands! Lol

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

When I was younger, I got a job at a commodities exchange. I was the 2nd choice. The 1st choice for the secretarial job lasted only a couple of days. While she bought meat at the grocery store, she just could not be part of the prooess in getting the cows, pigs, and poultry to market! (Like buying it in a package had NOTHING to do with it!). The egg story reminded me of this job story.

Totally hysterical!

If the soap has more than 25% coconut oil, MIL could be reacting to it. CO can be drying, which causes itchiness.

Jill

Cluck cluck

Sadly I'd have to agree with what everyone is saying. If it's not your recipe it's probably in her mind.
We're cattle ranchers and we hear people saying stuff like this all the time. They don't want to butcher a cow and put it in their freezer because it's "safer and more humane to buy it at the grocery store". Hmmmm....there are a lot of people in this world that need an education on where their food comes from.

I'm one of those people who can't use a high percentage of coconut oil, as it makes me terribly itchy. Instead I use babassu & palm kernel oils and have no problems!

I just posted something about my sister. Her whole family could use handmade soap for one reason or another , it would be very helpfull for there skin but her and her husband just dont think that hand made anything could be any good at all, so far nothing I have said has worked . Its possible that there is something in there but she probly just wants to use something she has always used. Some people resist change almost fanatically I have learned not matter how silly it is.

I am late to this party - but wanted to say:

It is frightening to think that these people: the lady who can't grasp all eggs come from a chicken butthole, or the "beef is kinder when bought from the store..." lady...

...probably have driver's licenses and are out there, driving large vehicles, with such a tenuous grasp on reality! I mean, if you can deny where eggs come from, you can probably deny seeing that stop sign up ahead, or that Mack Truck headed right for you because you are in the wrong lane....

Thanks everyone for your kind words. It made me feel better knowing it wasn't me. I did feel a bit insulted when she returned to her ivory soap. At first I thought it was me, and that I wasn't capable of making use useable soaps but this wasn't the case at all.

Wildchick, thank you for your egg story that is so funny!

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http://blissfulsoaps.wordpress.com/

Your welcome. I'm sure your soaps are NOT the problem. Don't let one silly person get you down. Your husband likes them and I'm sure your circle of people that keep begging you for more soaps will certainly grow.

One thing to consider... does your MIL have hard water? Hard water can make soaps seem harsh when they really aren't.

I have very hard well water where even a shower with NO soap makes me feel itchy and dry. This hard water makes even my richest soap seem overly harsh, as in lye-heavy! Yet everyone with soft water raves about soap from the very same batch, going on and on about a lotion-like feeling after washing.

I only realized the HUGE difference when I washed my hands using my soap at my mother's water-softened house.
One of these days I'm going to have break down and get a water softener.