Ethical Soap

Which is the most ethical type and brand of soap to buy?

Should you buy a bar of soap, liquid soap or hand sanitiser?

This guide covers soaps in both bar and liquid form, including handwashes and hand sanitisers. As the score table above shows, there are many companies offering alternatives which are organic, made without the use of animal ingredients, or palm oil free.

There are hundreds of other small companies making soap which we could not cover here. Look out for your local supplier.

The soap market

The UK’s soap, bath and shower gel market is dominated by just three major brands – Carex, Dove, and Radox. Radox and Dove are owned by multinational Unilever whilst Carex is owned by PZ Cussons, which also owns other top selling brands.

With everyone buying more soap at the moment, these companies are doing particularly well during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Soap bars or liquids?

People generally tend to buy more liquid soap products for hand washing than solid soap bars, often driven by a fear of other people’s bacteria lurking on bar soap. Companies have encouraged the notion that using liquid soap was more hygienic with clever marketing as there is a higher profit margin from the more expensive product.

In terms of COVID-19, both liquid soap and bar soap have been shown to be equally as efficient in washing our hands. Although bacteria may stay on a bar of soap between washing, studies have consistently shown that this does not contaminate the next user. But most studies on bar soap are based on bacteria not viruses.

The NHS, World Health Organisation, and Centres for Disease Control do not stipulate whether to use a bar or liquid soap. A precaution with bar soap is to keep it dry and not let it lie in a puddle of germ-loving sludge.
 

The environmental impact of solid bars vs. liquid soap

From an environmental point of view, the bar of soap is the overall winner. It also tends to have a smaller list of simple ingredients.

The environmental impact of liquid soap is thought to be higher due to the fact it:

• Is heavier: Containing lots of water, liquid soaps are likely to be heavier than bar soap, resulting in a higher carbon footprint for transportation.
• Involves more packaging: Packaging for body washes and liquid soaps tend to be plastic bottles, that if not recycled can end up landfilled, littered, or incinerated.. Even if the bottle is made from recycled plastic, a thin paper wrapper or no wrapper for soap bars is better.
• Contains petroleum: Many shower gels and body washes are made of petroleum-derived synthetic detergents and need emulsifying agents and stabilisers to maintain their consistency.
• Damages aquatic life: What you use on your body ends up in the water system. Liquid detergents may contain harmful substances that can bioaccumulate in living organisms.

The score table indicates whether a brand is just a liquid or just a bar or both.

The following brands of bar soap are in either plastic-free packaging or no packaging: Caurnie, Friendly Soap, Faith in Nature, ALTER/NATIVE by Suma, Honesty, LUSH, Little Soap Company and Eco Warrior, Odylique, Pure Nuff Stuff, and Weleda.

If you would prefer a liquid hand soap, then go for these ethical companies that offer refills: ALTER/ NATIVE by Suma, Bio-D, and Faith in Nature.

Vegan Soaps

A common ingredient in bars of soap is sodium tallowate, made from rendered animal fat. Stearic acid and glycerin in soap may also be animal derived, whilst honey, lanolin and milk can be added.

Brands which are suitable for vegans have been marked on the score table with [Vg].

Vegan soaps and shower gels are now offered by ALTER/NATIVE and Ecoleaf by Suma, Astonish, Avalon Organics, Baylis and Harding, Bentley Organics, Bio-D, Bulldog, Caurnie Soap, Conscious Skincare, Cuticura bar soap, ECOS, Faith in Nature, Friendly Soap, Honesty, Jason, Little Soap Company, Lucy Bee, Lush, Pure Nuff Stuff, Lavera, Organii, Green People, Weleda, Urtekram, Neal’s Yard.

If you are vegan you may also wish to buy soap from a totally vegan company: Bio-D, Caurnie, Friendly Soap, Honesty, Little Soap Company, Lucy Bee and Faith in Nature.

Cruelty Free Soaps

Although the testing of cosmetics on animals has been banned in the EU, this is not the case everywhere else in the world. But the REACH legislation has complicated the issue. See our feature on animal testing in cosmetics for more on this.

Ethical Consumer rates all companies selling cosmetics on their animal testing policy. Companies will score a best rating if they have a policy not to test on animals, have a fixed cut-off date (a date after which none of their products or ingredients will have been tested on animals), and are not selling to markets where animal testing of products is required by law. A clear rating in the Animal Testing column indicates this.

The following companies were certified by the Leaping Bunny standard, the gold standard for being a cruelty-free company: Astonish, Avalon Organics, Bio-D, Conscious Skincare, Lucy Bee, Faith in Nature, Friendly Soap, Jason, Neal’s Yard, Honesty, Little Soap, Natura (Body Shop).

Toxic chemicals in soap

We have rated all the brands for their toxic chemicals policies on three key chemicals. Those companies which received a best rating had a policy which has banned the use of parabens, phthalates and triclosan. We talk more about these chemicals in our feature 'Toxic Beauty'.

Parabens are often an ingredient of liquid soaps and are used as a preservative. You might see methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben on an ingredients list. Triclosan may be used in liquid soaps whilst you might see triclocarban as an ingredient in soap bars. For example, Dettol soap bars contain triclocarban. Phthalates may be used in synthetic fragrances.

However, as you can see from the table below, the majority of the brands are owned by companies that have either committed to not using any of the three toxics or have at least committed to banning one or two of them (a middle rating).

Palm oil and soap

Palm oil and palm oil derivatives have become an important component in many soap products. In particular, it is used because it is a fat that is hard at room temperature. Substitutes include cocoa butter and coconut oil.

Our Palm Oil column on the score table shows which companies receive our best, middle and worst ratings for their palm oil policies and practices. Palm-oil free brands: Caurnie Soap, Conscious Skincare, Friendly Soap, Lucy Bee, Pure Nuff Stuff.

Companies that source their palm oil more sustainably and get a best Ethical Consumer rating for their palm oil sourcing include: Triangle Wholefoods Collective Ltd. (ALTER/NATIVE and Ecoleaf), Little Soap Company, Lush, Nivea, Weleda, Odylique. Traidcraft used Fairtrade palm oil in its products.

See more about palm oil free soap, and palm oil in the cosmetics industry.

Organic soap brands

Brands which are organic have been marked on the ethical scoretable with [O].

The following brands made organic products only:

• Avalon Organics
• Bentley Organics
• Lucy Bee
• Odylique

The following brands also had some organic products: Lavera, Conscious Skincare, Green People, Little Soap Company, Neal’s Yard, Organii, Sante, and Urtekram.

See our feature for more about organic certifications and natural beauty.