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Natural,
Handmade
Soap is our Thing
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Soap is our passion, its what we do
best. Since 1998 Green Pergola has been producing thousands of
pounds of natural handmade soap. We offer retail, wholesale
soap for store and bulk private label soap on our sister site.
HANDMADE SOAP -
Every kind of natural soap from: six types of lavender to
mint soaps, spices, mild soaps, exfoliating soaps, face soap - all made
by hand in our Tennessee workshop. Only vegetable oils are
used to make our soaps, created with olive, coconut, soybean
and shea butter along with real essential
oils and fragrant herbs. The Green Guys
  
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HANDMADE SOAP - ah,
our specialty!
Every kind of natural soap from: six types of
lavender to mints, spices, mild soaps, daring soaps,
face soap - all made by hand in our Tennessee workshop.
Only vegetable oils are used with olive, coconut and
soybean along with real essential oils and fragrant
herbs. NOW WITH SHEA BUTTER
ADDED
SEE OUR LIST OF HANDMADE SOAPS. |
ESSENTIAL OILS -
at Green Pergola, we offer our own line of essential
oils. They are 100% pure and undiluted at a very
competitive price. Being aromatherapists, we want to
educate others about bringing essential oils into their
everyday lives for their health and happiness. Our list is long,
everything from the basic aromatherapy oils to our
more complicated essential oil blends.
SEE OUR LIST OF ESSENTIAL OILS |
AROMATHERAPY SOY CANDLES - True aromatherapy
candles are made with real essential oils. Essential
oils are extracted from plants, flowers, bushes, trees
and woods -- With paper wicks, natural soy wax,
pure essentials oils and a glass container, you can't
get any more natural than that.
SEE OUR AROMATHERAPY CANDLES. |
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Handmade versus “Over the
Counter” Soap. What is the Difference?
The technical definition of soap is "the result of a chemical
reaction between a fatty acid and an alkali solution." Fatty
acids are the actual fat content of animal or vegetable oils;
there are many different fatty acids which combine to make up
different oils. The alkali solution is commonly known as lye
and is usually sodium or potassium hydroxide. (sodium
hydroxide creates bar soap, potassium hydroxide creates liquid
soap) By this definition, soap must be made from animal or
vegetable fats/oils and lye. However, note that in the
finished product there is no free lye - it is all combined
into the resulting soap.
Green Pergola soaps are completely vegetable-based with no
animal fats added. Our own recipe consists of olive oil,
coconut oil and soybean with a little shea
butter added.
Coconuts This is the ingredient that gives our natural
soap such great lather and bubbles. (the source of coconut oil) are grown in
tropical regions where they grow wild, but they are also
cultivated in Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Mexico. The
coconut comes from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera), which is
grown primarily in Malaysia as well as Hawaii, the Pacific
Islands, and parts of India and South America.
Olives Olive oil is the ingredient that makes our
soap feel so soothing and rich.(the source of olive oil) is primarily a crop
that comes from Mediterranean countries. While some olives are
grown in California, 95% of olives and the manufacturing of
olive oil is still a business centered around Italy, Greece
and Spain.
Soybeans An often overlooked oil in soap making.
We have found that it creates a wonderful stable lather and
feels great on the skin. (the source of soybean oil) have been a
crucial crop in Asian countries since before written records
were kept. However, today, 45% of the soybean growing area and
55% of soybean production is done in the United States. The
addition of soybean to our main soap recipe creates a stable,
consistent lather and helps to support American Farmers.
BENEFITS OF PURCHASING HANDMADE SOAP – OVERVIEW
• artisan soaps made by hand, not machine manufactured
• soap includes American-grown soybean product
• all vegetable oils, soap contains no animal fats
• most soap selections are vegan friendly
• less likely to trigger allergies
• soaps scented with real essential oils derived from plants
• colored with mineral oxides (same substance as mineral
makeup)
Frequently Asked Questions about handmade soap:
Q: Does your soap contain lye?
A: soaps, both handmade and store-bought are initially made by
using lye (sodium hydroxide) or a similar caustic agent. The
process of soapmaking is a chemical reaction. When made
properly, no lye remains in the finished product; it is simply
the catalyst needed for turning oils into soap.
Q: Will your soap help my eczema?
A: Soaps are not allowed to be promoted as having curative or
medicinal properties unless they are treated as, and get
tested and certified as, medicines. So, we are not allowed to
answer with a “yes” or a “no”. But we have had several regular
customers who have stated that the soap has helped with
problem skin. This may possibly be attributed to the
relatively natural ingredients in our soaps. It may be
preservatives, colorants or fragrances in commercial soaps
that cause unpleasant reactions. Our suggestion is for an
eczema sufferer to try our mildest bar,
Oatmeal-Milk-and-Honey, and see how it
works for their skin.
Q: Why do your soaps cost more than store-bought soap?
A: Simply, our soaps are created from expensive, luxury
ingredients.
Q: How long does a bar of soap last?
A: Most couples tell us that a bar of soap lasts four to six
weeks. This is based on using the soap according to
directions, by not letting it stand in water; always use a
vented or ribbed soap dish or shower caddy to allow the soap
to dry between uses and last longer.
THE HISTORY OF HANDMADE SOAP - article
You’ll be surprised to learn that many of the ingredients that go into making
handmade soap are already in your kitchen. Soap is the end-result of mixing oils, lye
and water. Whether you pull it off the supermarket shelf, buy the
melt-and-pour soap from your local craft store or make it yourself from
scratch, all soap begins with this process which is know as saponification.
During the excavation process of ancient Babylon, clay cylinders were
found with a soap-like substance inside. This shows evidence that the
process of soap making was around as early as 2800 B.C. The cylinders
had inscriptions describing the process of boiling fats with ashes (a
primitive form of soap making).
Records reveal that the ancient Egyptians bathed on a regular basis. The
Ebers Papyrus, a medical document dated around 1500 B.C., describes
combining alkaline salts with animal and vegetable oils to form a
soap-like substance used for washing.
The story that sticks out in my mind most is the Roman legend of Mount
Sapo (which, by the way, gave soap its name). Women noticed that washing
their clothing was easier when done in the Tiber River which was
directly below Mount Sapo, where ritual animal sacrifices took place.
After a rainfall, a mixture of animal fats and ashes made its way down
the mountain, turning into a crude form of soap along the way.
Later, early soap makers used potash, which was leached from wood
ashes as their alkali base for soap making. Its results were often-times
unpredictable, sometimes unpleasant in smell, and created soap that was
more utilitarian than luxurious.
In the 1700’s, A French chemist named Nicholas Leblanc, invented a
process for making an alkali using common salt.
During the 1800’s, a Belgian chemist named Ernest Solvay, discovered a
process in which ammonia helped to extract the soda ash from salt
efficiently. It soon became more readily available and its superiority,
in turn, increased the quality of soap making.
In the 1940's chemists discovered how to change the molecular structure
of some naturally occurring substances. What they discovered was called
"detergent" (to differentiate it from soap). The big advantage to
detergents is that they work well in hard or cold water and can be
formulated to clean specific types of dirt and stains. Modern detergents
(known as syn-dets, or synthetic detergents) have become quite
sophisticated and are seen in many, many forms. In fact, the majority of
the cleaning products on the market are actually detergents of some type
or another. Even commercial bar soaps commonly contain all or part
detergents. As a result, there is a new, common definition of soap. The
common definition of soap now refers to any product that bubbles and
cleans, particularly if it is in a bar form.
This seems to have created the confusion regarding what real soap
actually is. Hardeners, whiteners, lather boosters, chemical fragrances
(sometimes with as many as 500 separate chemical components to create
their unique scent) are often found in “over the counter” store-bought,
“soap” or detergent bars.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the phrase, “oh, but I can’t
use lye soap on my sensitive skin.” Let me reiterate something one more
time: ALL soap begins with lye (or something just like it) and don’t let
anyone try to tell you differently. The chemical name for lye is sodium
hydroxide. When you read the label on a bar of soap, this is appears to
be a bit disguised. Sodium Tallowate is the main ingredient found in
most commercial soaps. What they are actually saying is that sodium
hydroxide (lye) has been mixed with tallow (rendered from beef fat) and,
in mixing these ingredients together, they have created a brand new word
for you, the consumer --- sodium tallowate. How clever.
So, what is the difference between making your own handmade soap and the
lye soap that our great-grandmothers made? There is a big difference.
Most people I have encountered usually mention this is conversation,
saying, “My grandmother used to make lye soap and it would rip your hide
off.” That may be true but granny didn’t have a digital scale, back
then, did she? Today’s modern soap maker has greater access to a wide
range of quality ingredients. Granny did not have help from modern
technology to let her know exactly, down to the gram, how much lye she
was supposed to use in her combination of oils. Furthermore, dear
Granny’s oils may have consisted of anything from beef fat to a whole
season’s worth of saved-up bacon grease drippings.
Soap making has come a long way since the days of using old bacon
grease. It took several months to formulate our
Green Pergola handmade
soap recipe. We use a combination of olive oil, coconut oil,
soybean oil and shea butter. Most soap makers today use similar luxury
oils as well as cocoa butter, mango butter, etc. On the other hand,
there are still soaps made from lard, but, it is almost always made from
fresh, clean lard -- not used. Handmade soap has become a luxury item in
today's market where it originally was only used for utilitarian reasons
and was discovered, quite by accident. The rest is soap history.
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