About Natural Way Organics

 

 

    A brief history of Natural Way Organics bar soaps

 

Western Soap had its origins in ancient Greece on the Island of Lesbos. There, animal sacrifices were made to the Goddesses. Because the sacrifices were often cremated, hardwood ashes would accumulate (an early source of alkali). These ashes mixed with the tallow of the sacrificed animals. It is said that after a heavy rain a yellow runoff from the fire pit made its way downhill from the temple. The local women washing their clothes in the river noticed that their clothes were cleaner when the river ran yellow. History remembered their poet, Sappho, who wrote of these times and honored her with the definition Saponification - the chemical name for soap making. These are the same women who invented banks.

Over time it was learned that adding salt water to the mixture would precipitate the removal of glycerin and excess water, thus making the soap harder, and not subject to the month long curing process required of true handmade soap. This old-fashioned "yellow soap" was used for laundry, dishes, and the occasional bath.

In France during the reign of Louis the 14th, bathing was considered an oddity not the norm. It is said that King Louis guillotined 3 soap makers for making soap that irritated his very sensitive royal skin. In desperation the 4 remaining soap makers in Paris got together and invented a method of pouring and curing the soap - taking a month to make a single bar. They saved their own necks, and the world got handmade soap (a.k.a. poured soap, cold process soap, farm soap, cured soap).

Natural Way Organics is made using a modern version of this three hundred year-old method. Organic oils of Palm, Coconut, Olive and Palm Kernel are blended and mixed at precise temperatures with an alkali solution. (Modern Alkali is made by running electricity through salt water.) The batch is mixed for hours, allowing it to thicken slowly. When it is ready, botanical concentrates and organic herbs, spices and grains are added. The batch is then poured into wooden molds and kept warm for about three days. As the soap solidifies, alkali salts begin to rise to the top like cream. Around the fourth day the soap, now solid in block form, is removed from the molds, skimmed of all alkali salts, and cut into individual bars. The bars are then placed on custom made oak and stainless steel screened drying racks and cured for about three more weeks. This process produces the mildest soap that can be made. Often lasting about twice as long as conventional bars, this soap is extremely moisturizing and soothing to your skin.

Various herbal extracts called essential oils are used to enhance and individualize the soaps, as well as to accommodate various skin types. Peppermint ,  Citrus  contain natural astringents making them suitable for skin that is not dry. Lavender relaxes pores making it the perfect soap for normal to dry skin. Add organic oatmeal and you have Oatmeal Lavender, excellent for dry sensitive skin. Our Honey soap is great for combination skin combining the ex foliating benefits of cornmeal with the moisturizing properties of honey and the natural astringent properties found in clove oil. Unscented is a mild and hypoallergenic bar, perfect for the most sensitive of skin types. This bar comes highly recommended from sufferers of dry skin, and Dermatitis.

When the crew at Natural Way Organics set out to make a soap that wouldn't dry the most sensitive of skins, little did they know the journey would take them to the cutting edge of cosmetics chemistry, and hundreds of years into the past!

Natural Way Organics bar soap is  the first organic bar soap in 200 years to be a true created miracle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buying organic soaps, body care, cleaning products and food promotes a less toxic environment for all living things. With only 0.5 percent of crop and pasture land in organic, according to USDA that leaves 99.5 percent of farm acres in the U.S. at risk of exposure to noxious agricultural chemicals.Our bodies are the environment so supporting organic agriculture doesn’t just benefit your family, it helps all families live less toxic ally.

 

Industrial agriculture doesn’t singularly pollute farmland and farm workers; it also wreaks havoc on the environment downstream. Pesticide drift affects non-farm communities with odorless and invisible poisons. Synthetic fertilizer drifting downstream is the main culprit for dead zones in delicate ocean environments, such as the Gulf of Mexico, where its dead zone is now larger than 22,000 square kilometers, an area larger than New Jersey, according to Science magazine, August, 2002.

 

Before a mother first nurses her newborn, the toxic risk from pesticides has already begun. Studies show that infants are exposed to hundreds of harmful chemicals in the uterus. In fact, our nation is now reaping the results of four generations of exposure to agricultural and industrial chemicals, whose safety was deemed on adult tolerance levels, not on children’s. According to the National Academy of Science, “neurologic and behavioral effects may result from low-level exposure to pesticides.” Numerous studies show that pesticides can adversely affect the nervous system, increase the risk of cancer, and decrease fertility.

 

Mono-cropping and chemical fertilizer dependency has taken a toll with a loss of top soil estimated at a cost of $40 billion per year in the U.S., according to David Pi mental of Cornell University. Add to this an equally disturbing loss of micro nutrients and minerals in fruits and vegetables. Feeding the soil with organic matter instead of ammonia and other synthetic fertilizers has proved to increase nutrients in produce, with higher levels of vitamins and minerals found in organic food, according to the 2005 study, “Elevating Antioxidant levels in food through organic farming and food processing,” Organic Center State of Science Review (1.05)

 

Scientists now know what we eaters have known all along: organic food often tastes better. It makes sense that strawberries taste yummier when raised in harmony with nature, but researchers at Washington State University just proved this as fact in lab taste trials where the organic berries were consistently judged as sweeter. Plus, new research verifies that some organic produce is often lower in nitrates and higher in antioxidants than conventional food. Let the organic feasting begin! As well as in organic soaps shampoo lotions oils it has a much stronger effect and works much better

 

According to Organic Farming Research Foundation, as of 2006 there are approximately 10,000 certified organic producers in the U.S. compared to 2500 to 3,000 tracked in 1994. Measured against the two million farms estimated in the U.S. today, organic is still tiny. Family farms that are certified organic farms have a double economic benefit: they are profitable and they farm in harmony with their surrounding environment. Whether the farm is a 4-acre orchard or a 4,000-acre wheat farm, organic is a beneficial practice that is genuinely family-friendly.

 

Cloned food. GM Os etc. Oh my! Interesting how swiftly these food technologies were rushed to market, when organic fought for 13 years to become federal law. Eleven years ago, genetically modified food was not part of our food supply; today an astounding 30 percent of our cropland is planted in GM Os. Organic is the only  seal of reassurance against these and other modern, lab-produced additions to our food supply.

 

Whether it is local fruit, soap, shampoo, oils, cleaning products, imported coffee or artisan cheese, organic can demonstrate a reverence for the land and its people. No matter the zip code, organic has proved to use less energy (on average, about 30 percent less), is beneficial to soil, water and local habitat, and is safer for the people who harvest our crops. Enjoy more seasonably by supporting your local farmers market while also supporting a global organic economy year round.

 

 

Visit an organic farm and you’ll notice something: a buzz of animal, bird and insect activity. These organic oases are thriving, diverse habitats. Native plants, birds and hawks return usually after the first season of organic practices; beneficial insects allow for a greater balance, and indigenous animals find these farms a safe haven. As best said by Aldo Leopold, “A good farm must be one where the native flora and fauna have lost acreage without losing their existence.” An organic farm is the equivalent of reforestation. Industrial farms are the equivalent of clear cutting of native habitat with a focus on high farm yields.

 

Food is a ‘language’ spoken in every culture. Making this language organic allows for an important cultural revolution whereby diversity and biodiversity are embraced and chemical toxins and environmental harm are radically reduced, if not eliminated. The simple act of saving one heirloom seed from extinction, for example, is an act of biological and cultural conservation. Organic is not necessarily the most efficient farming system in the short run. It is slower, harder, more complex and more labor-intensive. But for the sake of culture everywhere organic should be celebrated by every soul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tea tree oil's antibacterial qualities can help disinfect skin surfaces and help prevent infection. The evolution of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria has caused problems, especially in healthcare settings. According to the American Cancer Society tea tree oil may help kill bacteria on the skin that are resistant to antibiotics such as methicillin and vancomycin. Washing with Natural Way Organics tea tree soaps helps reduce acne-causing bacteria on your face and other areas it has demonstrated results comparable to benzoyl peroxides in fighting acne, with fewer side effects.

Tea tree oil soap may help treat fungal skin infections, though the evidence to support this use is conflicting. Tea tree oil has been used to treat fungal skin conditions such as athlete's foot, and the ACS notes that some evidence indicates it may be as effective as traditional pharmaceutical remedies, such as clotrimazole cream, in treating fungal toe nail infections

Washing your hands with tea tree oil soap may help stop the spread of viral infections. According to "Clinical Microbiology Reviews," tea tree oil has been used to kill viral infections in plants, and laboratory studies have shown that it can inhibit the activity of the herpes simplex virus.