Ask the Soapman

Hello there, Saw your videos very educational and interesting, especially the liquids soap. Does your liquid soap making go through the paste and dilution process like majority of the world. What types of alkali do you use Potassium Carbonate or Potassium Hydroxide for your liquid soap and Sodium Carbonate or Sodium Hydroxide for your bar soap? Is hydroxide better or carbonate for soap making? Also, are there any goat milk soap from your company and what is your opinion of using goat milk in the soaping process, please. Thank you. Respectfully, Danny Hi Danny, Glad our videos inspired you to…

Hi Larry, Evelyn here. I bought a bottle of your pet soap to use on my American Bulldog, Delilah Pearl. I like the way it smells, and am generally very happy with how it lathers and cleans my furry friend. However, I’m concerned about the TeaTree Oil in the product. I know Tea Tree oil is fine for humans, but I’ve seen some really nasty horror stories abt TTO used on dogs. While Miss Pearl has not shown any problems, I worry about the long term side effects or liver damage that could occur. Do you guys offer a tea…

Do you recommend washing or rinsing out the foaming hand soap containers before refilling or not? Thank you for your awesome products. Thank YOU Nancy. Always rinse out your bottle a couple of times with hot water before refilling. Otherwise the soap on the bottle is only as fresh as the oldest soap in it! The older soap will decrease the shelf life of the new soap and the foam won’t smell as fresh and clean with each new fill. Best! Soapman

I am interested in purchasing some of your soap, specifically the lemongrass zen and I wondered if there are locations other than your store in Middlebury, Vermont that sell your soaps. Hi John, Thanks for asking. Vermont Soap is sold in 1500 health food stores, co-ops and neighborhood markets across the US. You can find us at the Whole Foods Co-op in Erie and at Honest Weight and Deans’ in Albany. All the Best! Soapman

For the castile liquid soaps do you need to put water in it? And are they concentrated? Hi Monica, Our Castile Liquid Soaps are quite concentrated. You can use them straight from the bottle or use different dilutions for different solutions. We are reprinting our castile liquid soap labels with solution dilutions on them. In the meantime check this out: Floors: Add 3oz of Liquid Sunshine to mop water. Clean as usual, and allow to dry. Laundry: Use about 1/3 cup per load – a little more for hard water. Liquid Sunshine may be neutralized by detergent residues in the…

I am allergic to latex. Does Shea butter contain latex? Thanks for asking! Shea butter and cocoa butter both contain a latex/protein that people with TYPE B Latex allergies might react to. I am told that specific tree nut allergies must all be present for a reaction to occur. Because of these two factors, reactions to shea butter are quite rare. Additional good news is that Vermont Soap invented a way to remove MOST of the latex/protein before we use it in our products, further reducing the likelihood of a reaction. We will be using this technique, called “polishing,” on…

Wanting to know when you will make Vanilla Calendula again. We loved it and want to stock up on it. Sounds like a flavor you found in our Retail Store. We sell off seconds from soap runs we make for other companies there. You never know what you will find there and inventory changes monthly. Glad you liked it but there is no telling when it will be made again. All the Best, Soapman

do you have a catalog if you do can you send me one Hi Eugene, We have a paper order form we can send, but our website is our catalog. We invent and change things so often a paper catalog would not be realistic! Thanks for asking, Larry Plesent

Are your products or their ingredients tested on animals? No way! We test on ourselves. Vermont Soap is a member of Leaping Bunny. We are reprinting our labels soon and the new ones will say, “Vermont Soap never tests on animals. Thanks for asking! Larry Plesent

I am inquiring of your hand soap? Since your hand soap has castile soap in it. Is it sticky after use? I tried bronners and felt their product had a sticky film on it. Does all castile soap require vinegar wash? Monica Hi Monica, I have not tried any of the Bronners products in 15 years so I cannot honestly comment on the state of their current formulations. I have sensitive skin and stopped being able to use their stuff back when I was a hippy kid of 17. However I am very sorry to hear that their products are…