Hi folks,
Just been wondering lately about these so called soap substitutes, with my eczema I have lots of these creams but I am curious about their effectiveness, does anyone know how good they are at doing the job of soap? And also how do they work?! Cheers
Since the OP is looking for advice, let’s move this to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
You are asking about the
soap - the old fashioned solid soap - eg glycerine + lye.
Vs detergents eg sodium laureth sulfate
These chemical detergents work better than solid soap, though soap does work to a suitable extent. Detergents can dissolve blackheads that soap doesn’t touch !
When you have eczema you should always use the liquid soaps that contain moisturizers. And if you do use a non-moisturizer version, wash quickly and ensure its well rinsed off.
Acid slows down bacteria and fungi so its better to avoid solid soap, and use the liquid detergent, like sodium laureth sulfate… these keep the skin acidic to slow down the bacteria…
An emollient is a moisturizer … this should prevent the skin being injured by the liquid soap… so that the reddness and flaking from dry and injured skin doesn’t occur. If you were measuring the liquids by how dry your skin became, you picked the wrong measure.
Of course the liquid soaps may not be a cure to your eczema, but they can stop the symptoms progressing to the worst levels.
Well I know /think I know how soap works, by binding to the fat and being washed away with it but presumably emollient isn’t the same otherwise that would dry your skin just the same? Tried looking online elsewhere but no answer
Thanks for the response but I don’t think that is quite what I mean, take for instance one example Epaderm, is a cream mostly of wax and types of paraffin -how does that clean? As far as I’m aware it doesn’t include soap and Sls is a skin irritant so probably not that either.
Netdoctor for example says just “Epaderm cream and ointment can also be used in place of soap when washing to prevent drying of the skin, and as a moisturising bath additive. After washing, the skin should be patted rather than rubbed dry to avoid rubbing the oil off the skin.” is it just that the oils all mix together and most of it gets washed off with some of the bugs in tow?
I will comment that my cousin Paul does the Roman thing and uses olive oil, and salt and olive oil scrub instead of soap when he has a flare and he seems to think that based on his experiences that it has better results than soap and detergent based cleansers. Since he claims that he can get over a flare in a matter of days instead of weeks [or months as I remember from when we were kids] I leave it to him. Other than the usual run of acne I never had much in the way of skin issues except for the 6 month case of poison ivy I had when I was 14. [and no, I don’t know how he washes his hair, I normally would assume with shampoo but I never asked him. I only know he uses olive oil in a flare because I was visiting during a flare and saw the bottle of olive oil in the shower and asked what it was for.]
I’d guess you’re correct in your thought that basically it mixes with the oils/dirt on your skin and makes it easier to remove. It sounds like it sort of dilutes the oils on your skin, making it possible to just wipe or pat off. I looked it up and does, however, contain sls so if that’s a concern or if it causes problems, you may need to experiment with other products. Buy Epaderm Cream 500g | Chemist Direct (see ingredients tab)
I was a soapmaker for years, and while I love the process and love a good handcrafted soap, I think we are conditioned to using more products on our skin than is necessary. I never use soap on my face and only use it on my body because I like certain scents.
My mom has terribly dry skin and her dermatologist told her to stay away from liquid soaps. They are harsher than a decent olive oil based soap. If you really want SOAP and have difficult skin, your best bet is a handcrafted 100% olive oil bar. Tom’s of Maine or Burt’s Bees are both good national brands.
ETA: In the US, anyway…I don’t know the availability of these brands elsewhere.
That’s interesting, I have two kinds of Epaderm and they are both Sls free, maybe these are newer or UK versions,
I guess my thinking is if creams /emollients/olive oil are actually pretty effective at cleaning skin why do people use soap? I have a mind thinking they aren’t as effective but I was hoping for a scientific explanation either way! Would be interested how he cleans his hair though!