Think about how many times you washed your hands yesterday. Before cooking, after cooking, after the dog, after the garden, after the grocery store, before bed. For most people it's somewhere between eight and fifteen times a day.
That makes hand soap the product you use more often than anything else you own. More than your toothbrush, more than your shampoo, more than your phone case. And it's usually the one you think about least. Whatever was on sale, whatever was in the pump the last house guest left behind.
This guide is the version we wish more people had. What you're actually buying, what to look for, what to skip, why antibacterial isn't what it sounds like, and how to read a label in about a minute. We make both bar soap and liquid hand soap here in Lake Placid, so we'll be honest about where each one fits.
Soap and cleanser do different jobs
Here is the distinction almost nobody explains: most of what's sold as "hand soap" isn't technically soap at all. And that isn't a bad thing.
True soap is made by combining oils with lye. The reaction, called saponification, turns the oils into soap and glycerin. That's what a bar of soap is. Our bar soaps are made this way, from olive, coconut and palm oils, and the whole ingredient list fits on one line: saponified olive, coconut and palm oils, water, and fragrance. We explain the chemistry in how does soap work.
A cleanser washes your hands using a gentle cleansing base instead of saponified oils. Nearly every liquid hand soap on the market is a cleanser, including ours. We start with a natural, coconut-derived base and add to it ourselves: goat's milk, aloe, panthenol, and seven organic botanical extracts, then our fragrance.
Why does this matter? Because the two behave differently, and knowing which is which answers most of the questions people ask about hand soap.
- pH. True soap is alkaline, around 9 to 10. Healthy skin sits on the acidic side; one widely cited study measured natural skin surface pH at an average below 5 (Lambers et al., International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2006). A liquid cleanser can be formulated much closer to skin's own pH. That's why our hand soap includes a little citric acid.
- Hard water. True soap reacts with the minerals in hard water and leaves soap scum on the sink. A cleanser doesn't.
- Simplicity. A true bar soap can have a very short ingredient list. A cleanser needs a few more ingredients to stay stable and safe in a bottle.
Neither one is the "good" one. They're good at different things, which is why we make both.
| Bar soap for the shower. A gentle cleanser for the sink. You probably want both. |
What to look for
Whatever format you choose, a few things are worth seeing on the label:
- A full ingredient list. Not a marketing summary, not "natural botanicals." The actual list, in order.
- For bar soap: saponified oils. They'll be listed as "saponified oils" or by their chemical names, such as sodium olivate (olive) or sodium cocoate (coconut). Glycerin stays in a handmade bar; in large-scale production it is often separated out and sold on its own.
- For liquid: a gentle base plus ingredients that make it more than just cleaning. In ours, that's goat's milk, aloe, panthenol, and organic sage, horsetail, calendula, chamomile, ginseng, oat and lemon peel extracts.
- A scent you actually like. You'll smell it a dozen times a day. That's twelve small moments to feel a little better, or a little worse.
What to avoid
This is the part most people come looking for. These are the ingredients worth reading the label for.
| Ingredient | Why people skip it |
| Triclosan and triclocarban | Banned from consumer antibacterial washes by the FDA in 2016. Still worth checking on older stock or imported products. |
| Parabens | Preservatives (methylparaben, propylparaben and others) that many people prefer to avoid. There are other ways to preserve a formula. |
| SLS and SLES | Sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate. Strong, cheap foaming agents that can feel stripping when you wash many times a day. |
| Synthetic dyes | Listed as FD&C or D&C colors with a number. They're there for looks. Your hands don't need a bright blue soap. |
| A brand that won't tell you | "Fragrance" is allowed to appear as one word on a label. That's normal. What matters is whether the brand will answer when you ask what's behind it. |
Our liquid hand soap has none of the first four. On the sulfate question, you'll see "sodium C14-16 olefin sulfonate" on our label. That's a sulfonate, not a sulfate. The names look alike; they're different ingredients.
The antibacterial myth
For years, antibacterial hand soap was sold as the safer, more thorough choice. It wasn't.
On September 6, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule on consumer antiseptic washes. Nineteen active ingredients, including triclosan and triclocarban, could no longer be sold in over-the-counter consumer antibacterial soaps. The reason was simple: manufacturers had not shown that these products were any better than plain soap and water at preventing illness, or that they were safe for daily long-term use.
The FDA's own advice to consumers is to wash with plain soap and water. The rule doesn't cover hand sanitizers or products used in hospitals and health care, which are regulated separately.
So what actually gets your hands clean? The washing. Soap and cleansers work by loosening dirt, oil and germs so water can rinse them away. The CDC recommends scrubbing for at least 20 seconds, including the backs of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails. Technique matters far more than any ingredient on the label.
| Twenty seconds of good scrubbing does more than any ingredient on the label. |
Bar, liquid, or foaming?
Since we make both bar and liquid, here's our honest take.
Bar soap is the simplest product you can buy. A short ingredient list, very little packaging, and it lasts a long time if it's kept dry between uses. It's wonderful in the shower. Its downsides are real: it can get soft and messy sitting in a wet dish, and in hard water it leaves scum on the sink. Many people also worry that a shared bar spreads germs. The research is reassuring there. A 1988 study deliberately contaminated soap bars with bacteria and found that washing with them did not transfer detectable bacteria to people's hands (Heinze and Yackovich, Epidemiology and Infection). Let the bar dry out on a draining dish and it's fine.
Liquid hand soap is the easy choice for a busy sink. It's quick, tidy, easy to share, doesn't care about hard water, and can be made closer to skin's pH. If you're washing a dozen times a day, that's where we'd put it.
Foaming soap is liquid soap that has been thinned with water and pushed through a special pump that whips in air. You use less product per wash, and kids tend to like it. It's the same basic idea as liquid, just more diluted.
Our answer for most homes: a bar in the shower, a liquid by the kitchen and bathroom sinks.
How to read a hand soap label in sixty seconds
Ingredients are listed from most to least. The first few make up most of the bottle. Here's our own liquid hand soap label, read top to bottom:
| On the label | What it's there for |
| Deionized Water | Purified water. The biggest ingredient in every liquid soap. |
| Sodium Methyl 2-Sulfolaurate, Disodium 2-Sulfolaurate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Lauramide MEA, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate | The coconut-derived cleansing base. These do the actual washing and make the lather. |
| Cetrimonium Chloride, PEG-150 Distearate, Glycol Distearate, Laureth-4, Polyquaternium-7 | Texture helpers. They thicken the soap, give it a soft feel, and keep it from separating. |
| Caprae Lac (Goat Milk) | Goat's milk. The ingredient our hand soap is built around. |
| Fragrance | Our scent, from pure fragrance oils. Each hand soap is scented to match one of our candles. |
| Organic Sage, Horsetail, Calendula, Chamomile, Ginseng, Oat and Lemon Peel extracts; Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract; Panthenol | Botanical extracts, aloe, and panthenol (a form of vitamin B5). The ingredients we add to the base. |
| Citric Acid | Adjusts the pH down toward skin's. |
| Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin | The preservative system. Anything containing water needs one to stay safe in the bottle. No parabens. |
Three quick checks will cover most labels: is there a full list at all, are any of the "avoid" ingredients above on it, and is the brand willing to explain what's there. If the answer to the last one is no, that tells you something.
One honest note, since you're reading labels: cocamidopropyl betaine appears on some sensitive-skin avoid lists because a small number of people react to it. It's in a huge share of body care products, and most people never notice. If you know you react to it, check every label, including ours.
Hand soap for dry, cracked or sensitive hands
If your hands are dry or cracked, especially in an Adirondack winter, the soap is only part of the picture. A few habits make a bigger difference:
- Use lukewarm water, not hot. Hot water feels good in January, and it's harder on your hands.
- Pat dry, don't rub. And dry fully, including between your fingers.
- Follow with lotion. Right after washing is the best time. Keep a bottle next to the sink so you actually use it. Our hand and body lotion comes in the same scents as our hand soap.
- Choose a gentle formula for the sink. For frequent washing, a gentle liquid cleanser is usually easier on hands than a bar, because of the pH difference above.
If your hands are cracked, bleeding, or not getting better, that's a question for a doctor or dermatologist, not a soap aisle.
Packaging and waste
Bar soap wins here, and it's not close. A paper wrapper and nothing else. If cutting plastic matters to you, a bar in the shower is the single easiest swap in the bathroom.
For liquid soap, a pump bottle that lasts is better than a stack of empty ones. When a bottle is empty, rinse it and reuse it, or recycle it where your local program accepts it.
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For the Sink Goat's milk hand soap, made by hand in small batches in Lake Placid, in the scents you already love. → Shop hand soap |
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a natural hand soap?Start with the full ingredient list. Skip triclosan, parabens, SLS and SLES, and synthetic dyes. For bar soap, look for saponified oils. For liquid, look for a gentle base with ingredients like aloe and botanicals. Then choose a brand that will tell you what's in it. What hand soap ingredients should I avoid?The usual list is triclosan and triclocarban, parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), and synthetic dyes listed as FD&C or D&C colors. Also be wary of any brand that won't answer questions about its fragrance or ingredients. Is antibacterial soap better than regular soap?No. In 2016 the FDA ruled that manufacturers had not shown consumer antibacterial soaps work better than plain soap and water, and removed 19 active ingredients, including triclosan, from them. The FDA recommends plain soap and water. Good technique matters more than the soap. What is triclosan?Triclosan is an antibacterial chemical that was widely used in hand soaps and body washes. The FDA's 2016 rule removed it from consumer antiseptic washes because there was no evidence it prevented illness better than plain soap, and its long-term safety for daily use had not been shown. Is bar soap or liquid hand soap better?Each is better at different things. Bar soap has the shortest ingredient list and the least packaging, and it shines in the shower. Liquid hand soap is tidier at a busy sink, works in hard water, and can be made closer to skin's pH. Most homes do well with both. Is liquid hand soap actually soap?Usually not in the technical sense. True soap is made by saponifying oils with lye. Most liquid hand soaps, ours included, are cleansers made from a gentle cleansing base. That isn't a downside. It's what lets a liquid be closer to skin's pH and rinse clean in hard water. What does sulfate-free hand soap mean?It means the formula doesn't use sulfates like SLS or SLES. Watch for similar-looking names: sodium C14-16 olefin sulfonate, which is in our hand soap, is a sulfonate rather than a sulfate. The names are close, but they're different ingredients. What is the best hand soap for dry hands?A gentle liquid cleanser without SLS or SLES is a good start, but habits matter more. Wash in lukewarm water, pat your hands dry, and apply lotion right after washing. If your hands stay cracked or sore, see a doctor or dermatologist. What hand soap is good for sensitive skin?Look for a short, fully listed formula with no dyes. If you know what you react to, check for it on every label. For example, cocamidopropyl betaine bothers a small number of people and is in many products, including ours. When in doubt, patch test first. What is in Pure Placid hand soap?A coconut-derived cleansing base that we add to ourselves: goat's milk, our fragrance, aloe, panthenol, and organic sage, horsetail, calendula, chamomile, ginseng, oat and lemon peel extracts. No parabens, no SLS or SLES, no triclosan, and no synthetic dyes. The full list is on every product page. |
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For the Shower Olive oil bar soap with an ingredient list that fits on one line, made by hand in small batches in Lake Placid. → Shop bar soap |