Quit thinking about the PH value of soap! Take these steps to focus on your skin needs.

We have been asked several times about the pH value of handmade soaps. We tell them only one thing – the truth & fact that the PH of handmade soaps is mostly in the range of 8-10. But this doesn’t convince them, on the contrary, it alarms them! “Oh! Is PH close to 10? It must be harsh then!” They opine that a chemically loaded soap is safer & milder on the skin if it has a lower PH. A natural & traditionally made soap is harsher because it has higher PH! Funny, isn’t it?

Lets understand more about PH

PH is the measurement of how acidic or alkaline a solution is. On a scale of 0-14, 0 is most acidic (hydrochloric acid) & 14 is most alkaline (sodium hydroxide or lye). 7 is neutral (distil water). To give some examples lime juice or vinegar has pH in the range of 2-3, baking soda around 8 and honey is also acidic (around 4). Soapnut solution is also believed to be acidic.

The PH of our skin is determined by the secretions from our skin known as “acid mantle”. Due to the acid mantle, the skin is mildly acidic and this again varies on several factors like gender, part of the body, diet, time of the day, environment etc. The acid mantle cleans periodically oil & dirt. Mild cleansers do this work. After bathing, the skin starts replacing the mantle almost immediately, unless you are using a very harsh cleanser which can not only delay the replacement period, can damage your skin in the long run too.

The mildness or harshness of a cleanser is not based on its PH but on its ingredients & their properties. Remember that our forefathers or foremothers made soaps with natural ingredients only (which remember has PH in the range of 8-10!) & had no issue at all.

So from where did this PH war start? 

This is well, as usual, a marketing war, which began with the incorporation of chemicals for soap making. These chemicals are mostly acidic in nature. So to create an edge over the natural traditional soaps, a myth had been created that using the acidic cleanser for our naturally acidic skin is milder & safer compared to cleansers with higher PH! And this is even though people with sensitive skin very rarely agree to chemical soaps!

Does this mean that the PH of soaps is irrelevant & need not be tested? No. We do test the PH of every batch of soap we make only to check if it is within 10 or not. The PH of higher than 10 could indicate excess or free lye in the soap which can be harmful & harsh to the skin. 

Test by yourself 

As always, We urge you all to conduct some experiments to make a sensible & informed decision. Wash one hand with diluted lime juice /vinegar & the other with honey. Both are acidic, but results of both will be different – while diluted lime juice will leave your skin little dry, honey will hydrate your skin. To take this experiment further, wash one hand with a chemically pH balanced soap & the other with our all-natural soaps (with pH in the range of 8-10). We can guarantee you that the chemically PH balanced soaps will leave your skin dryer, while ours will leave your skin pampered!

The skin condition of thousands of people has improved once they switched from chemical soaps to natural soaps. So please, ditch the PH value of handmade soaps and ride on the natural living mantra!