Our Mission
Here at Suds & Rubs we just want to live free! Free from so many of the harsh chemicals added to products we use every day. We often think about what we put in our bodies and forget to consider what we put ON our bodies. Many commercial products are made with harmful ingredients and can affect your health as much as the food you eat. That is why our Handcrafted Soaps and Artisan Body Products are made with organic oils and butters, pure tallow, natural colorants and pure essential oils. We refuse to compromise on ingredients so you can lather, slather, smooth, and even clean knowing that you’re using a product that is natural and healthy.
Why use natural soap?
Cold process soap bars are made using a combination of oils or fats and lye. Lye sounds a little scary, but all the caustic qualities of the lye are removed during the saponification process. When the lye interacts with the oils, it creates glycerin. Glycerin is a humectant, meaning it attracts moisture to your skin. Commercial soap manufacturers make it a practice to remove the glycerin and sell it to other companies who use it to make lotions and moisturizers. Most commercially produced bars contain synthetic lathering agents, artificial colors, and chemicals. The next time you are the soap aisle, look at the labels. Most of the products do not say ‘soap’. That’s because these bars are not actually soap and therefore, cannot legally claim to be, they are detergents. Always remember that your skin is porous and absorbs whatever it comes in contact with. Consistent use of chemical laden products will cause the body to store the chemicals in the body fat. With enough accumulations of toxins in the body, illness can occur. That’s why I started making real, natural soap with high-quality ingredients that are good for your skin.
The Process
We use the cold process method to make our suds. We believe it gives us the best results and the ability to have quality control. Sustainably sourced organic oils, pure tallow and butters are carefully measured and melted and then combined with a lye water mixture (to learn more about what happens to the lye read Truth about Lye in Rhonda’s blog). Essential oils are added for scent, and although they are more subtle than fragrance oils, we prefer to keep it natural. Clays, herbs or plants are mixed in for color and texture. After everything is in the bowl and blended to trace, it is then poured into a mold. After 24-48 hours the solid soap is removed from the mold and hand cut into bars weighing 4-5 ounces. Viola…soap! To ensure we deliver the best product possible the soap is then cured for approximately 6 weeks. This gives the soap time to harden and become a long-lasting luxurious bar. If you use a soap dish or soap saver that will make your soap last even longer.
Our Life
I’ve been into health and wellness most of my life. We love to stay active by hiking and rock climbing. Over the years the definition of being healthy has evolved and changed for me. We have so much information available to us now. Sifting through all that information and making the best choices for you and your family takes time and effort. But for me it is well worth it. Having children made me want to try even harder to make sure I was doing all I could to help them have healthy, happy lives. Of course food choices have a lot to do with that and we do our best to eat healthy. But since what you put on your body is as important as what goes in it, we took the next step and tried to make sure we removed as many toxins out of our everyday living. And that’s when all the household product making began. It started with cleaning products, then soaps, lotions, sunscreen and even toothpaste! I love sharing what I’ve learned over the years with anyone who is interested. Now with Live Free Suds and Rubs I hope to share my products and help people live free from harmful chemicals and toxins and offer natural alternatives.