FAQ

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions we thought we'd post, 
just in case you were wondering:

Q. What is in your soap?
A. In all of our soaps we use Coconut, Palm & Olive oil, Spring Water, and Sodium Hydroxide.   Essential and/or nature identical oils (fragrance oils), herbs and food additives (like oatmeal) and cocoa butter are added to particular soaps which you will find listed under that soap's description.  Some of our soaps do contain color.  We use Ultramarines (natural), FD&C colors (colors approved for Food, Drugs & Cosmetics) & D&C colors, (colors approved for Drug & Cosmetics).

Q. Is Earthly Delight Soap a lye soap?
A. Yes it is made with lye.  But not to worry, made properly, there is no lye left in our soap.  You CAN NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE MAKE "SOAP" WITHOUT ADDING LYE!!!  Here's the deal; when you add acid (sounds scary but it's actually the OILS) and a base (LYE) and combine the two, you get a new product called "SOAP".  It's not like Grandma's lye soap because Grandma used to add the fats from bacon, raccoon (yes, I know someone who's grandmother did!), chicken fat, beef fat etc.  Then she would dump in the lye.  The problem with that method is each individual fat requires a different quantity of lye, so Grandma never really knew how much to add.  Today we have the benefit of science which tells us how much lye to add to a certain amount of  coconut, palm and olive oil (or whatever) so as to make perfect soap.

Q. I've been told that there is no Lye in Glycerin soap?
A. See, now we get pretty technical.  When you buy a Glycerin soap, someone probably just bought what is called a Melt and Pour product.  They melted down this stuff, added scent, maybe some herbs, and wha-la, they call it soap and they didn't have to use lye.  Glycerin is actually a by-product of soap.  When we make our soap it makes it's own glycerin, accounting for about 8% of the bar.  Large manufacturers extract the glycerin because they can sell it for big bucks.  Melt and Pour manufacturers buy it, add a bunch of chemicals to make it lather and hard, then sell it as Glycerin Melt and Pour.  The problem is, it's not really soap - just a by-product of soap and chemicals to make it lather and take the dirt away.  Conclusion: Glycerin soap is really  a "Cleaning Bar", not "Soap".

Q. Can I use Earthly Delight Soap on my face?
A. Yes you can!  

Q. What makes your handmade soap different from what I buy at the store?
A.  Most people do not realize that the almost all of the mass produced soaps contain petroleum oil and animal fats as well as a variety of chemicals. Whenever petroleum is used, you really have a detergent and not soap at all. For our premium soaps, we use only the finest coconut, palm and olive oil and pure essential oils or nature identical oil for scent.  We choose from the finest fragrance and essential oils to scent our soaps. We will not use inferior or cheaper essential or fragrance oils. All scents we use must pass rigorous testing for their quality and lasting endurance. On an average, only 1 in 15 scents we test meet our high standards.

Q. How do you cut your soaps?
A. No machines are used to cut our soaps, so they are not perfect (pretty close, but not quite). They are all cut by hand with a knife and/or guitar strings.  They usually weigh more than what we say, but you are always guaranteed to get the weight specified.

Q. What's the big deal with scents?
A. There is nothing more precious than the gift of aroma.  All of our products (except unscented soaps) are created to tap into those senses for ultimate joy.  Did you know that your sense of smell can ignite emotions?  For example, if your Grandmother had a lilac bush you always smelled in the Spring, and you adored your Grandmother, that every time your brain smelled lilac you will be filled with the same sense of happiness, even if you're not consciously aware of it.   Now, the opposite emotion would be true if you didn't much care for Granny.  That's why you'll hear some people say "I hate this smell, or that" - they probably had a very unpleasant experience around that smell.  Case in point: would you like your house to smell like a dentist's office?  Probably not, because the Dentist office smell is not one we associate with pleasure.

Q. Can natural soaps go bad or lose their scent?
A. Of course they can.  Remember, we do not use chemicals to make our soaps last for years and years.  It is a natural product.  That means, USE YOUR SOAP when you buy from us.  Don't set it aside because it's pretty and smells good.  In each bar of soap we leave it 5% supperfatted so that you get the moisturizing benefits of the coconut, palm and olive oil.  That means, 5% of your soap has NOT been turned into soap and so the oils are what we call "Free Floating" and those can go rancid.  But not to worry, we guarantee our soaps not to go rancid or lose their scent for at least a full year (although, rancidity rarely occurs before 2 - 3 years).  And USE YOUR SOAP within a year to enjoy the wonderful scents we have put in them.  Remember, we add no chemicals to keep that scent locked into the bar forever!  Here's a question  Do you buy a fresh baked loaf of bread from your local baker and leave it sitting on the counter (waiting for green fuzz) because it smells and looks so wonderful?  or, do you devour it while it's fresh and delicious?  USE YOUR SOAP WHILE IT'S FRESH AND WONDERFUL.