Natural bar soap: a guide to Canadian small-batch soaps

A good natural bar soap is one of the simplest swaps in the bathroom: a few plant oils or butters, sometimes goat milk or tallow, and nothing to throw away but a paper wrapper. Many of the bars on our shelves are made in small batches by Canadian makers, several of them right here in Nova Scotia, and once you know how they're made, choosing one gets easy.

What makes a natural bar soap natural

True soap is made from fats and oils mixed with lye. The lye reacts with the oils and turns them into soap and glycerin, so none of it is left in a finished, cured bar. A natural bar soap keeps that old recipe and builds it on plant oils like olive, coconut and avocado, butters like shea and cocoa, and sometimes goat milk, honey or tallow. Colour comes from clays, charcoal, herbs and spices, and scent comes from essential oils, or from nothing at all.

Many bars sold as "soap" at the drugstore are actually synthetic detergent bars. They clean well, but they're made from a different set of ingredients. Handmade soap also keeps its natural glycerin, which draws moisture to your skin, so many people find a good bar leaves their skin feeling softer and less tight than they expected.

Cold process soap, step by step

Almost every small-batch bar we stock is cold process soap. It's the traditional way to make soap by hand, and it uses very little energy because the oils are never cooked.

1. Mix the oils. The maker melts butters and blends them with liquid oils at a gentle temperature.
2. Add the lye. Lye dissolved in water, goat milk or even tea is stirred in until the mix thickens to a pudding-like "trace."
3. Add the extras. Essential oils, oats, clay, honey, herbs or salt go in now, then the batter is poured into moulds.
4. Cut and cure. After a day or two the block is cut into bars, which then cure on open racks for several weeks. Curing lets the water evaporate, so you get a harder, milder bar that lasts longer in your shower.

That long cure is why handmade bars feel dense and heavy for their size, and why each batch can look a little different from the last.

Bar soap or body wash?

Both get you clean. The best choice comes down to how you like to wash, who shares your shower and how much packaging you want to deal with.

Plenty of households keep both: a natural bar soap by the sink and in the shower, and a pump of body wash for the kids or for shaving. If you love body wash but not the plastic, our bulk station lets you refill your own bottle (more on that below).

Canadian small-batch soap makers we love

We're a family-owned Atlantic Canadian store, and some of our favourite soaps come from other small, family-run Canadian makers. Each natural bar soap below is made by hand in small batches.

Bridlewood Soaps

Bridlewood Soaps hand-makes its bars in small batches by the cold process method in Orangeville, Ontario. It began when its founder, expecting her first child, went looking for simple, natural products for her growing family. Several of the bars are made with goat milk and a generous amount of butter, which gives them a lovely lotion-like lather. Bridlewood bars come and go with each batch, so ask in store which scents are on the shelf right now. If you love that creamy goat milk lather, these two goat milk bars from The Holmstead are made with shea and cocoa butters too.

Crate 61 Organics

Crate 61 Organics has made plant-based cold process soap by hand in Canada since 2013. Every bar is built on olive, coconut, avocado and castor oils with shea butter, scented with essential oils and coloured with clays and botanicals rather than artificial dyes. The bars come in paperboard boxes. There are more than a dozen scents, from the plain Castile to deep, woodsy Cedarwood & Pine.

Made in the Maritimes

Some of our favourite bars are made just down the road. Tally's Goat Milk Soap comes from Ataraxy Farm in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, where every bar is handmade with unpasteurized milk from the farm's own goats, plus olive, coconut and avocado oils. Wild Witch Potager is a small botanical studio in Fall River, Nova Scotia, making soaps by hand with many locally grown ingredients. Its Rosy Maple bar is named for the little pink-and-yellow rosy maple moth native to Nova Scotia, and it's made with rose hips and local honey.

Flock & Tallow Co. makes its soap blocks from beef tallow raised on Nova Scotia pastures, a dream that grew out of its founder's wish for a small farm of their own. Tallow is one of the oldest soap-making fats and makes a hard, long-lasting bar. Anointment is a woman-owned Atlantic Canadian company that started as a soap stall at the Halifax Farmers' Market, founded by engineer April MacKinnon. Its castile-style bars are 50% olive oil, made in small batches.

The Holmstead

The Holmstead is a family-run farm in Ontario's Georgian Bay area with its own herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats. Every soap is made by hand on the farm with fresh milk from those goats, so the lather is rich and creamy. The Honey & Oat bar is a gentle, unscented favourite with colloidal oatmeal and honey.

The HolmsteadHoney & Oat Bar Soap, 4.2 ozUnscented goat milk soap with colloidal oatmeal, honey, shea and cocoa butters.Shop →

Dr. Bronner's castile bars

Dr. Bronner's is a family business that has been making soap since 1858, and its Pure-Castile Bar Soap is a classic for good reason. Each bar is made from certified organic coconut, palm and olive oils with fair trade ingredients, plus organic hemp and jojoba oils for a soft, smooth lather. One bar does body, face and hair, it's vegan and biodegradable, and it comes in a 100% post-consumer recycled paper wrapper. Peppermint is the best-known scent, with a cool tingle that wakes you up in a morning shower. If you use the liquid version too, our castile soap uses and dilutions guide covers everything from hand soap to floor cleaner.

Jason body wash and other natural body washes

If you'd rather have a bottle in the shower, Jason body wash is a long-time favourite. It's made without parabens, sulfates or petrolatum, it's certified cruelty-free, and the big 887 mL bottles last a family a good while. The Calming Lavender pairs lavender and calendula extracts with vitamin E and pro-vitamin B5, the Glowing Apricot is warm and fruity with organic aloe, calendula and chamomile, and the Revitalizing Citrus gets its zesty scent from orange peel oil.

For no scent at all, The Unscented Company Body Soap is made in Canada, fragrance- and dye-free, and 99.15% naturally derived. Carina Organics, a Canadian maker, blends certified organic plant extracts with five plant oils in its Moisturizing Body Wash.

Unscented natural bar soap for sensitive skin

If scents bother you, or you share a bathroom with someone who'd rather skip them, an unscented natural bar soap is the easy answer. These are made without essential oils or fragrance, so all you smell is clean soap. Goat milk bars and high-olive-oil castile bars are known for a particularly mild, creamy lather, and they're popular for the whole family. As with any new soap, try it on a small patch of skin first if your skin is easily bothered.

How to make a bar of soap last longer

The number one reason a bar of soap turns to mush is sitting in water. Handmade soap is full of glycerin, which pulls in moisture, so a little care goes a long way.

1. Use a draining soap dish. Slats or ridges let water run off and air reach the bottom of the bar. A flat saucer leaves it in a puddle.
2. Keep it out of the spray. Set the dish on a ledge where the shower doesn't hit it directly.
3. Let it dry between uses. If you have two bars, rotate them so each one gets a full day to dry out.
4. Cut big bars in half. A smaller piece dries faster, and the other half stays fresh in the cupboard.
5. Save the slivers. Drop the last little pieces into a soap bag and keep using them, or press them onto a new bar.

The No Tox Life bamboo dish works just as well for shampoo bars and solid dish soap. If you're curious about washing your hair with a bar too, our natural shampoo guide walks through bars and bottles.

A bar that dries between showers can last for weeks; a bar left in a puddle is gone in days.

Zero-waste packaging and refills

Switching to a natural bar soap is one of the easiest zero-waste habits to start. Crate 61 bars come in FSC-certified paperboard boxes, Dr. Bronner's bars are wrapped in recycled paper, and many local bars come in a simple paper band or no wrapping at all. Choose unwrapped or paper-wrapped soap, compost or recycle the paper, and you're left with nothing to throw out.

If your household prefers body wash, Luminate Co is home to Atlantic Canada's largest all-organic bulk station. Bring a clean bottle and refill it with body wash from Oneka or Carina Organics, and pay only for what you pour. Tallow fans will also like our tallow balm guide for after the shower.

Questions we get a lot

What are the best natural soaps to use?

The best natural bar soap is the one your skin likes. Look for a short list of plant oils and butters, goat milk or tallow, and essential oils or no scent at all. Unscented goat milk and castile bars are a gentle place to start.

What is the number one best soap?

There isn't one best soap for everyone. A well-made, cured natural bar soap with oils and butters your skin likes, in a scent you enjoy (or none at all), is the best soap for you. Try a few small-batch bars and see which lather you reach for first.

Are Crate 61 soaps good?

We think so. Crate 61 makes plant-based cold process bars by hand in Canada, scented with essential oils and coloured with clays and botanicals, in paperboard boxes.

Where is Crate 61 soap made?

Crate 61 natural bar soap is handmade in Canada, where the company has made cold process soap since 2013.

Where can I buy Crate 61 soap and Jason body wash?

We carry Crate 61 bars and Jason body wash at both of our stores, in Bedford and Dartmouth, and online for delivery or pickup.

Is Jason a good brand?

Jason body washes are made without parabens, sulfates or petrolatum, they're certified cruelty-free, and they come in big bottles with plant extracts like aloe, calendula and chamomile.

What is the best smelling body wash?

That's personal, but Jason's Glowing Apricot and Calming Lavender are crowd-pleasers, and Dr. Bronner's Peppermint is the favourite if you like a cool, minty shower.

What ingredients should I avoid in bar soap?

For most people, nothing in particular. If your skin is sensitive, start with an unscented bar and skip added fragrance and strong essential oils. Read the first few ingredients to see which oils and butters make up the bar.

Which soap brands are Canadian?

Among the bars we stock: Tally's Goat Milk Soap, Wild Witch Potager and Flock & Tallow Co. from Nova Scotia, Anointment from Atlantic Canada, Bridlewood Soaps and The Holmstead from Ontario, and Crate 61 Organics, handmade in Canada.

Is bar soap better than body wash?

Neither is better for getting clean. Bar soap uses less packaging, travels easily and lasts a long time on a good dish; body wash is easy to share and lathers up quickly on a cloth.

Natural bar soaps and body washes are in the personal care aisle at both stores: 486 Starboard Drive in Bedford and 590 Portland Street in Dartmouth, open seven days. Refills are at the bulk station, and our zero-waste personal care shelf has more plastic-free picks. In HRM, order by 11 am with Luminate Express for same-day delivery, or choose pickup. Anywhere else in Canada, orders over $80 ship free.

Sources: Bridlewood Soaps, Our Story; Crate 61 Organics, Our Mission; Ataraxy Farm, home of Tally's Goat Milk Products; Wild Witch Potager; Flock & Tallow Co.; Anointment, Our Story; The Holmstead; Dr. Bronner's, About; Jason, Discover Jason; product labels.