QUESTIONS OUR CUSTOMERS ASK
WHY HANDCRAFTED SOAP?
Handcrafted soap is not a new concept. Since early time, humans have been crafting for themselves, for trade and commerce and for people they love. You can not beat the ingredients found in a handcrafted soap. So many commercially soaps are basically detergents, removing the good ingredients to sell for profit leaving a chemical bar. Typically, handmade soap is made of vegetable oils and butters that are rich in antioxidants, vitamins and nutrients that are essential to healthy skin. Very skin loving.
DOES LYE NEED TO BE USED TO MAKE SOAP?
Simple answer is yes. A true soap does not exist without lye being used in the creation process. Saponification (sapo is Latin for soap) is a process that involves conversion of fat, oil or lipid into soap and alcohol by the action of heat in the presence of aqueous alkali. Soaps are salts of fatty acids and fatty acids are monocarboxylic acids that have long carbon chains e.g. sodium palmitate (Wikipedia). The lye is then neutralized in the process. If lye was not used in soap making, you would only have puddles of fat and oil. It is important to note that because of saponification when the bar gets to your home it will no longer contain Lye because of the saponification process to create the amazing bar you get.
HOW IS THE SOAP SCENTED?
At Tsunami Suds we use Essential Oils and Fragrance Oils. The primary factor that marks the difference between essential oils and fragrance oils is how they are created. Essential oils are naturally occurring substances found in different parts of a plant which could be the fruit, flower, leaf, wood, stem, bark or resin. Using a process of steam distillation or solvent extraction. Fragrance oils are synthetic. They're created with a mix of natural ingredients like extracts, essential oils and resins and aroma chemicals. We pay attention to what you can find in a fragrance oil and do not use fragrances with phthalates. Not all of our soaps are scented some are just plain and simple.
WHY WE CREATE
We love what we do! As a family with very sensitive skin, we wanted to know what we were putting on our children's bodies as well as ourselves. Dennis actually first made soap for the first time in a chemistry class (too cool). I love making anything with my hands so I asked to give it a try. Dennis opened our shop in 2007 and I jumped in head first. I visited other creators and attended classes and over the last 13 years have had many trials and errors. Although we are mostly online you can find us in a few brick and mortar shops and when the seasons right we love doing in person shows up and down the west coast.