Clean Living: Top Vegan Friendly Soap Ingredients

It’s always reassuring to know exactly what goes into the products we use. This can help us to purchase with peace of mind, where transparency surrounding manufacturing processes and ingredients can allow us to make appropriate buying choices. Whether you’re looking for organic, vegan or cruelty free products, understanding how products are made is the first step towards being a conscious consumer in everyday life.

This also applies to handmade products, where sourcing sustainable and ethical ingredients can help you to create an item that you’re proud of. Fortunately, Soak Rochford offers a comprehensive selection of plant-based soap ingredients so you can make soap without worrying about your ethical impact. Read on to find out more about our vegan friendly soap ingredients and the benefits of choosing vegan for your creations.

Vegan & Plant-Based Ingredients

When ingredients are described as plant based, this means that they are completely free of animal products of all kinds. This includes meat, fish and dairy, as well as animal derived products like honey and gelatine. As such, plant based ingredients and products are suitable for vegans to utilise

Cruelty Free Ingredients

If a product is marked as cruelty free, then this means that it has not been tested on animals during the manufacturing process. For some vegans and animal conscious consumers, this is another important prerequisite for making a purchase, where recent years have seen an  increased focus on how animal testing is utilised in the cosmetic industry.

Organic Ingredients

Another way to determine if a product is ethically sourced is if it is marked as organic. According to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), organic food and ingredients are manufactured without the use of man-made fertilisers, pesticides or additives. The label also describes products made without the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Sustainable Packaging

If you’re looking to sell your soap products, you may also wish to invest in sustainable packaging. This means that your packaging can be reused both for other products and by the customer, after which it can be fully recycled in order to be made into something new.

Vegan Soap Ingredients From Soak Rochford

At Soak Rochford we understand that having ethically sourced ingredients is a top priority for many soap makers, particularly when it comes to choosing a soap oil or butter base. In cold process soap making, butters help to create a solid and silky end product that is capable of producing a lather when used. These can be produced without the use of animal products for a vegan friendly soap.

Natural butter and oil products are typically refined or unrefined. Refining is a manufacturing process that creates a longer lasting product, where this can involve the removal of natural colours and scents. As such unrefined ingredients may have a shorter shelf life, but they tend to retain their natural beneficial properties better than a refined product.

Other products such as soap jellies may rely on animal derived products such as gelatine to create an appealing texture. Various vegan alternatives to gelatine are available for the making of confectionery, where you can experiment with these to see which is best for your jelly soaps. Some options include agar agar, pectin and xanthan gum.

Some of the top plant based soap ingredients available at Soak Rochford include:

Apricot Kernel Oil – Apricot oil is extracted from the nutrient rich kernels of the fruit, where this produces a light, versatile product similar to almond oil. Apricot oil helps to produce enriching soaps that can help with skin dryness and inflammation.

Refined Coconut Oil – Coconut oil is made from pressing the meat of a coconut to produce either a solid or a liquid product. As a skincare product, coconut oil contains plentiful moisturising and antibacterial properties, where the refined version can be used as a scent-free base ingredient for soaps.

Shea Butter – Shea butter is another popular plant-based ingredient for soaps and skincare products, where it is sourced from the nuts of a shea tree. The refined version is scentless and colourless, making it a good base for a range of soap recipes.

Almond Oil – This kind of natural oil is extracted by pressing almonds, usually at room temperature. The delicate nutty aroma of this oil can make a great addition to soap recipes, where it also has many beneficial properties to support skin health.

Cocoa Butter – Cocoa butter is another versatile fatty substance, where it is derived from cocoa beans for use in skincare products and confectionery. Its cocoa scent can make for a desirable soap recipe, where the unrefined version preserves this key quality.

Fragrances – When choosing a fragrance to add to your soaps, you may wish to opt for a natural or essential oil to ensure that all your ingredients are completely vegan. Synthetic and lab created fragrances may use numerous artificial ingredients, some of which may be animal derived.

Why Choose Vegan Alternatives

When it comes to making homemade soaps and sourcing ingredients, there are numerous different reasons why you might choose a vegan or plant based option. Your reasons may include:

Ethical Concerns

Lots of people choose to avoid animal products due to a variety of ethical concerns. Butters derived from dairy products have been linked to the unethical handling of cattle, where some vegans will opt out of purchasing animal derived cosmetic products as well as non vegan foods.

Environmental Benefits

In addition to this, plant based alternatives can be the more environmentally friendly choice, where the meat and dairy industry has been linked to a large percentage of global carbon emissions. Avoiding alternatives that contain palm oil can also help to reduce your environmental impact.

Skin Sensitivities

Some people may find that their skin is particularly sensitive to certain ingredients and chemicals, meaning plant based alternatives may be preferred. Vegan products may also be additive free and derived from natural sources, where these qualities can be helpful for those with sensitive skin or a specific skin condition. Some customers may also have a clean living approach to their cosmetic products, meaning a plant based and natural ingredients list can be a big draw.

Customer Consciousness

If you are making a soap product to sell, then utilising plant based and natural ingredients may be a good way to broaden your appeal. Lots of customers are becoming more aware about what goes into their cosmetic products, where being able to use a vegan label could help you to boost profits and sell to a growing ethical consumer market.

Soak Rochford: Soap Piping Accessories, Glitter For Soaps & Much More

At Soak Rochford, we offer a wide selection of soap making products, for both individual enthusiasts and small manufacturers. Choose from our wholesale soap supplies or one off kits to fulfil all your crafting needs, where we supply a variety of plant based oil and butter options. For the professional soap maker, we also can provide you with pre-made bases and official safety assessments to help you to get your products on the market quickly.

Soap Making Essentials

Our range includes both complete kits and all the individual ingredients you need to make soaps, bath bombs and hair conditioners. We sell a selection of dry ingredients such as dead sea salt and coffee exfoliant, as well as a variety of liquid soap ingredients. In addition to this we also supply a selection of versatile fragrance oils, where our range includes citrus, mint and seasonal options to suit any project. We also supply a variety of glitters, dyes, micas and pigments.

Tools, Moulds & Containers

Alongside our selection of soap making ingredients we also sell a range of useful soap making tools and equipment, including a variety of moulds. You can also browse our selection of brushes, measuring tools, piping accessories and storage containers, where all of these are made especially for soap and bath bomb crafts.

Get in touch with our expert team today to find out more about our full range of soap making products, or if you’d like to enquire about our plant based and cruelty free ingredients.