[eli5] Does every soap clean you to some extent in the shower? Can I buy soap at a craft festival and be confident I’ll be clean if I use it in the shower?
In: 6
Yes, soap is soap. Made up of oils and lye. Depending on the fragrance you prefer, it doesn’t really matter which soap you use.
Yes. Soap, at its base, is a type of salt that breaks down grease and binds to it, allowing it to be rinsed in water easily. If your substance doesn’t do that, you’re not holding a bottle of soap.
Soaps, lotions and other hygiene products are largely marketing fluff designed to separate you from your money. It’s not as simple as “soap is soap, use whatever you like” but for the most part there’s not a major difference between various brands/types of soaps for the same application. You need a simple mild soap that can cut grease and preferably form a lather to carry dirt away. That’s about it. You also benefit from a moisturizer to help keep your skin from excessive drying and cracking, which leads to pain/discomfort and potential for infection if cracks open deep enough.
Beyond that, you’re paying extra money for fancy bottles, justify corporate marketing expenses, fancy scents, and useless additives that make you feel good.
There are more aggressive detergents like the concentrates used on laundry, dishes, or industrial cleaning and degreasing. Those are too harsh for use on human skin. I’d be careful with craft festival soaps because they’re going to have a lot of dumb additives (“My soap has sand from the beaches of the Maldives to soothe the grime away!”) no dude…you’re literally scrubbing yourself with small glass and sea shells and it’s hurting your skin. Exfoliation is fine but this is half a step below a cheese grater.
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