Teach Soap

Hi,

I am wondering what is the porpose of lather? Does it help spreading soap on skin? It seems like general people prefer soaps with much lather though I don't think it is the way to judge a soap. However, if a soap has few lather, what happen when wash?

Erica

More bubbles = more cleansing.

I thought that all soap did was to lift dirt and oils up off the surface to help water to wash them away and that lather was more of a personal thing.
Petra

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Petra

There is a longer answer, but basically a soap molecule has a hydrophobic end and a hydrophillic end. The more molecules, the more bubbles. Say each molecule can grab one oil molecule (let's just pretend, k?) Dirt and oils are on the surface of your skin. The more molecules of soap you have, the more oil (and dirt) is removed, hence "more cleansing".

In relation to soap making, yes there's personal preference for what type of soap bubbles you have. More bubbles = more cleansing. SO, do you want to make bars that are less cleansing (a la castille) or more cleansing (like a coconut bar). Just like when you ride a 21 speed bike, some gears may feel similar in effort. A bar that you make with certain amount of creaminess may have the same cleansing as a bar that has lighter bubbles and more of them.

The bottom line? You don't know until you experiment. There is no magic formula.

Great explaination Vinca! Lather to me almost falls in the scent catagory. When I do a show, people smell every soap I have out there and choose the one they like. Sometimes I think it could look like mood food in the refrig but if it has a scent they like, they'll buy it! Lather critiques come later. I have many people tell me they've bought nice soap that doesn't lather and want to know if mine does. ( it does actually ). Lather is a plus for my customers.

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