The paradox of soap: Why the essential tool of cleanliness is also the skin's greatest threat

“ Any skin can bear without injury any amount of a good toilet soap, free from uncombined alkali and other impurities. The habit of washing the face with water only, without the use of soap, must be regarded as one altogether bad, since the deposits on the skin, mostly dust-particles and dead epithelial cells, mingling with the oily or greasy matter exuded from the fat glands of the skin—excellent nutrient media for colonies of bacteria—cannot be got rid of by water alone. Rubbing only forces the mass into the openings in the skin (the sweat glands, fat glands, etc.) ”

“ Why Soap Cleans. The natural oil of the skin catches and retains dust and dirt, and makes a greasy film over the body. This cannot be removed by water alone, but if soap is used and a generous lather is applied to the skin, the dirt is "cut" and passes from the body into the water. ”

“ It is this decay of organic matter on the surface of the skin which causes the odors plainly noticeable in a crowd, particularly in the winter time. This accumulation can be prevented only by frequent bathing and by wearing clean clothes, and there is no surer indication of a proper self-respect than the habit of cleanliness, both as to one's person and one's clothes. There is also the very practical feature that cleanliness is an effective method of discouraging infection and disease, partly by the removal of scurf and partly by the greater healthfulness of the skin thereby induced. ”

“ The efficiency of soap depends upon the fact that in the presence of an abundance of water the saponified fat is decomposed into acid and basic salts, in which the impurities of the skin are dissolved and are washed away by the further application of water. Good soap exerts its effects on the outer layer of the skin, the so-called horny (epithelial) layer, which in soapy water swells up and is, in fact, partially dissolved in the medium and washed away. This fact, however, is unimportant, since the superficial skin cells are reproduced with extraordinary rapidity and ease. ”

“ As to the detergent action of a soap, Berzelius held that it was due to the free alkali liberated with water; but it is difficult to see why a solution which has just thrown off most of its fatty acids should be disposed to take up even a glyceride, and, moreover, on this theory, weak cold solutions, in which the hydrolysis is considerable, should be the best cleansers, whilst experience points to the use of hot concentrated solutions. It is more likely that the cleansing power of soap is due to the inherent property of its solution to emulsionize fats. ”

“ It is through these tubes that the body rids itself of many waste substances which would prove very harmful if retained. When their outlets become choked up with dirt, nothing can pass through them. You see, therefore, how necessary it is to keep the skin clean if we wish to have good health. ”

“ The first purpose of baths is simply that of abstersion and cleanliness, to remove any foreign impurity from the surface, and to prevent the pores from being clogged by their own secretions or by desquamations of cuticle. It need scarcely be said that such objects are greatly promoted by the action of the alkali of soaps and by friction; that the use of warm water, owing to its immediate stimulation of the skin, promotes the separation of sordes, and that the vapour of water is still more efficient than water itself. ”

“ This is true both of personal cleanliness, and also of cleanliness in our houses, streets, &c. As to the first of these, we do not enough consider the great importance of keeping the skin in a healthy state. The skin is a natural drain to many of the bad humours of the body. Every one knows how useful it is to get a man into a perspiration or sweat when he is ill, to set the pores of his skin open. Now dirt chokes up these pores, and thus stops what may be called the proper drainage of the body. ”

“ Frequent washing not only improves the appearance, but promotes perspiration, by removing every impediment on the skin, while at the same time it braces the body, and enlivens the spirits. Washing the feet and legs in lukewarm water, after being exposed to cold and wet, would prevent the ill effects which proceed from these causes, and greatly contribute to health. Diseases of the skin, a very numerous class, are chiefly owing to the want of cleanliness, as well as the various kinds of vermin which infest the human body ”

“ Soaps are irritants. Tallow soaps and olive oil soaps are less irritating than other varieties. Whatever kind of soap is used, it should be rinsed off thoroughly, for if some of it is left in the pores of the skin roughness or even mild inflammation may ensue. Be especially careful about the soap used for babies, avoiding all highly colored and cheap perfumed soaps.
Whether to take a daily sponge bath or not is a matter of no great importance, and each individual can safely suit himself. If there is quick reaction and a feeling of warmth and well-being following a cold sponge, it is all right. ”

“ Unless a soap-ley be rendered caustic, or deprived of its fixed air, it can have no natural attraction for vegetable or animal subtsances, such as oil, tallow, or grease of any kind, so as to convert them into a soap. For the sole purpose, therefore, of extracting the fixed air from the leys, do soapmakers use quicklime. Depriving the mild alkali of its fixed air, renders it caustic, or of a burning, corroding quality, and of that peculiar nature that instantly attach themselves to all greasy substances, and converts them into soap. ”

“ Foremost in consideration must be the subject of cleanliness. Dirty and coarse hands are no less marks of slothfulness and lowbreeding than clean and delicate hands are of refinement and gentility. To promote softness and whiteness of the skin, mild emollient soaps, or those abounding in oil or fat, should alone be adopted for common use; by which means the tendency to contract chaps and chilblains, and roughness from drying winds, will also be lessened. The coarse, strong kinds of soap, those abounding in alkali, should be rejected, as they tend to render the skin rough, dry and brittle. ”

“ During the hot weather when one may bathe daily for cleanliness he should guard against an excessive use of soap, as a daily soap bath may have a tendency to remove the oils from the skin so completely as to make the skin rough. With the daily bath for cleanliness it is possible that warm water and soap need not be used more frequently than once or twice a week and that a laving of the whole surface with cold water followed by a vigorous rub down with a coarse towel may serve the double purpose of insuring absolute cleanliness, and at the same time serving as a skin tonic. ”

“ The use of soap is very much abused with young babies. I recall one mother who came into the office with her poor little baby which was constantly crying and fretting because of a greatly inflamed body—all a result of the too frequent use of soap. ”

“ Black volunteers the confession that Nature protests against the use of soap when the sensitiveness of the cutaneous tissue has been morbidly increased by the influence of a skin-disease. In other words, he admits that a morbid condition increases the danger of using even the mildest chemical depurative. Yet to the morbidly sensitive membrane of the diseased digestive organs he proposes to apply the virulent "intestinal soaps," as he calls his cathartic drugs. ”

“ And since there is, as we have seen, a good deal of oily matter excreted by the skin, it becomes necessary to use something in addition to water for cleansing purposes, for the latter is unable to displace the greasy collection by itself. The only thing which will render it easy of removal is soap, as by its action it softens the oily material and dislodges it from the skin. Soap has acquired an evil reputation which it certainly does not deserve, and if it disagrees it is either due to the fact of its being an inferior article, or else the skin itself must be at fault. ”

“ Another way in which it has been suggested that soap acts as a cleanser is that the soap itself or the alkali set free by hydrolysis serves as a lubricant, making the dirt less adherent, and thus promoting its removal. ”

“ That the cheaper soaps are barely worth a pin,
For they all contain a mixture, either free or as a fixture,
Which is very detrimental to the skin.
And every cake you buy is so charged with alkali,
To soda more than soap it is akin ”

“ At its best there is either a considerable excess of free fat which later exhibits itself in producing rancidity or uncombined caustic, which produces an unpleasant effect on the skin when the soap is consumed for washing. ”

“ When a soap contains or carries free alkali, the caustic effects of the latter are carried further and deeper, reaching below the epithelial cells and attacking the true skin, in which it causes minute rifts and splits and renders it sore and painful. Good soap, on the contrary, makes the skin smooth and soft. ”

“ That is very cleansing, but as it is also drying, a face cream must be smeared on immediately after the face is rinsed and wiped. For some days it may seem that the pores are large and coarse and open, but they are simply undergoing a cleansing process that in the end will bring a lovely white, perfect skin. Whenever I hear women say that they never wash their faces, but use a cream instead, I always wonder if they really feel clean. I am sure I would not. Fancy the state of our hands were we never to wash them! And the face, having more oil glands, is in still greater need of soap and water. ”

“ To use it on the tender skin of infants is but to experiment for the benefit of the dealer, at the expense of the babe. Again, soap is irritating to the more tender surfaces, as the lips and eyelids. If the suds is sucked by the child while the sponge is passed over the face, severe purging may occur. Then if soap gets in the eyes, it is liable to cause sore or inflamed eyes, perhaps for life. ”

“ Carbolic-acid solution must not be used on them. The folds and creases of their skin must be kept dry and powdered with borated talcum. A great point in the treatment of all eczema is to avoid the use of water, and to substitute oiling with olive oil and wiping off for the usual washing of the affected area. ”

“ Many soaps are positively injurious to the skin. In this, as in other matters, judgment and caution must be exercised. A free use of a good skin soap, with warm or hot water, may be recommended for [109] the weekly or semi-weekly bath when the primary object is cleanliness. The soapy lather should be vigorously rubbed over the body, by the hand or a small coarse towel, so as to remove all excretions from the pores, all greasy deposits of the sebaceous glands, and all dead scales from the cuticle. ”

“ It is quite possible a variety of other substances may be found associated with the two basic constituents, such as diatomaceous earth, Fuller’s earth, farina, traces of disinfectant, colouring matter, cereal grains, perfume, and even water. But beyond rendering the soap attractive to the eye, pleasant to the nose, or to a certain degree germicidal, these additional materials perform no useful purpose. They are described as fillers, but in more candid language may be set down, for the most part, as sheer adulterants. Few articles lend themselves so readily to adulteration as soap. ”

“ Especially harmful to the skin are soaps containing foreign substances, such, for instance, as the starches, gelatin, clay, chalk, gums, or rosins, potato flour, etc., which are generally added to increase the weight of soap. ”

“ Good mottled soap is hard, but not brittle, well mottled, and without any rancid, tallowy, or unpleasant acrid smell. If any of this smell should be present, there has been an undue portion of soda or potash used in the manufacture. A quantity of fuller’s earth is often used to conceal the imperfections and add to the weight of the article, by enabling it to imbibe a large quantity of water. Rancid tallow also is often used in112 soap and candle-making, which has had a portion of its substance quite destroyed by putrefaction. ”

“ Many people have a peculiar mania for economising in soap. If they can buy a piece of soap for a farthing, they consider themselves wonderfully clever, regardless of the fact that it may not only ruin their complexion, but produce a repulsive skin disease which it will cost much gold to cure. Do they ever realise that these soaps, which they thus smear over the most delicate parts of their body every day, are made of putrid carcasses of animals, rancid fat, and corrosive alkalies? ”

“ Among the necessities of life there is one to which few people pay the attention they ought, and that is Soap. Yet it is undoubtedly a most important matter, for the skin is a very delicate and sensitive organ, and the constant application of impure or inferior Soaps injures its texture, and gives rise to numerous cutaneous troubles. Most people are content, so long as it appeals to the eye and the sense of smell, without stopping to consider that perfumes may be employed to hide defects. ”

“ A prominent manufacturer recently made the statement, which is often the truth, that it makes no difference to the public what kind of soap you give them, as long as you put plenty of odor into it. The perfuming of soaps is an art in itself and a subject to be treated by one versed in this particular branch. We can only take into account the importance of [Pg 74] the perfume as related to toilet soap not only, but the necessity of adding a certain proportion of the cheaper products of odoriferous nature to laundry soap to cover and disguise the odor of even this type of soap. ”

“ Now all or most of this attempt to ‘medicate’ soap is a perfect farce, a delusion, and a snare to entrap the unwary and uneducated.... Carbolic soap is useless and may be dangerous, because the carbolic acid may possibly become the blind beneath which a cheap, poor soap is used; for in all these advertised and patented nostrums the temptation is great to employ inferior articles that the pecuniary gain may be greater. The small amount of carbolic acid incorporated in the soap cannot act as an efficient disinfectant. ”

“ A river is no more than human, after all. But what has soap been doing?"
"Nothing; and in the fact that it has been doing nothing lies one of my chief counts against it. Of old you judged a man by the club to which he belonged, the number of his quarterings, the tailor who made his clothes, the income he had, the wife he married, the horses he backed, or the wine he drank. Now we classify men according to the soap they use. There are more soaps now than patent medicines."
"Soaps are patent medicine for external use only," said Lady Forcar, touching her white plump wrist. ”

“ While soap is an ideal medium for the carrying of such materials, it is an unfortunate condition that when incorporated with the soap, all but a very few of the numerous substances thus employed lose their medicinal properties and effectiveness for curing skin disorders, as well as any antiseptic value the substance may have. Soap is of such a nature chemically that many of the substances used for skin troubles are either entirely decomposed or altered to such an extent so as to impair their therapeutic value. ”

“ Completely neutral soaps, however, are more difficult to manufacture—requiring more skill and care than those in which no attention is paid to excess of alkali—and consequently cost more than the general public are accustomed, or, in fact, care to pay for soaps. While this is true, one must not judge the quality of a soap by the price demanded for it. Some of the manufacturers of miserable soaps charge the public some of the most outrageous prices. Neither can a soap be judged by its odor or its style of package and putting on the market. ”

“ Never use any but the best soap for the face. If this is not obtainable or within reach of your purse, use only a little oatmeal in the water. Common soaps produce blotches and skin irritation, especially those that are highly coloured and scented. ”

“ Aside from all sanitary questions, in a matter so intimate as the bath, there is something repulsive in the thought of having your toilet articles used by any one else.
A pure Castile soap is one of the best that can be used. All cheap scented soaps should be avoided, as they are apt to contain impure materials that will actually injure the skin. If the skin is rough, rubbing it with a good sand-soap, and rubbing the same on the flesh-brush, will remove many of the scales and leave the skin much smoother and softer. Medicated soaps should never be used except by the direction of a physician. ”