Soap

formerobgyn · Post by **formerobgyn** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:32 pm

What soap might the readers recommend for getting the greasy oils off one's face at night to get a better seal with the silicone mask?

thimarine · Post by **thimarine** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:57 pm

I have learned that it is best to go as natural as possible with soap. Find one with the fewest additives, avoid lotion soaps, and soaps with added ingredients like deodorant soaps. If you wouldn't wash your mask with it, why use it on your face? A doctor friend of mine told me that soap is soap and that it is the action of scrubbing that removes, oil, bacteria and other flotsam from your skin. I use Ivory, or Kirk's Castile soap. These have things like sodium laural sulfate, but are close to plain soap as possible. The plainer the better. I really doubt that if you rinse well regular bar soaps are going to do anything to damage your mask, but why pay more when you don't have to?

bap40 · Post by **bap40** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:31 pm

I use Kirk's Castile soap. I love it and have used it for years. It's a pretty basic soap with no chemicals added as far as I know.

alnhwrd · Post by **alnhwrd** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:55 pm

I've read that soap with lotion, perfumes or antibacterial agents can degrade the silcone more quickly. I use Neutrogena every night and am at six months with the same cushion.

OldLincoln · Post by **OldLincoln** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:25 pm

I wash my mask AND my oily face with a diluted foamy shampoo mix. I've used soaps most of my life but shampoo is what really cuts the grease.

jsmythe · Post by **jsmythe** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:28 am

I use Neutrogena Clarifying Facial Cleanser for Normal to Oily skin. Great for the face and the mask. I also use Dawn dish liquid for the mask cushions and frames.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 12:07 pm

I use Dr Bronner's baby mild on my mask cushion. Don't really wash my face prior to bed, but I do shave. I found that a clean shave reduced leaks for me and generally made the mask easier to withstand.

socknitster · Post by **socknitster** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:15 pm

thimarine wrote:I have learned that it is best to go as natural as possible with soap. Find one with the fewest additives, avoid lotion soaps, and soaps with added ingredients like deodorant soaps. If you wouldn't wash your mask with it, why use it on your face? A doctor friend of mine told me that soap is soap and that it is the action of scrubbing that removes, oil, bacteria and other flotsam from your skin. I use Ivory, or Kirk's Castile soap. These have things like sodium laural sulfate, but are close to plain soap as possible. The plainer the better. I really doubt that if you rinse well regular bar soaps are going to do anything to damage your mask, but why pay more when you don't have to?

As a home soapmaker I have to jump in here--Kirk's Castile soap is a true soap made from combining fats and oils with lye and turning it into a bar. The glycerine is not removed.

Nearly all other "soaps" on the market are not true soaps because they remove the glycerine (a natural moisturizer) to sell it for profit and add back detergent and hardening agents to make more lather and make the bar last a little longer. Not to mention the dyes, perfumes, stabilizers and preservatives.

A lot of face cleansers are watered down dish soaps--basically detergents (that is what sodium lauryl sufate is--and that is in everything from laundry soap, to dish soap to shampoo too.).

All that said, a good basic gentle face cleanser is all that is really needed. The ingredients for most on the market are remarkably similar in composition. The detergents therin simply emulsify the oils on the skin and then are washed away with water. Soaps and detergents are both water and oil loving. So the part of the molecule that likes oil grabs it on your skin and the part that loves water, helps it to rinse away when you splash your face with water.

So, if you really don't care about soap chemistry, I'm sorry! I use my homemade soaps exclusively for body and face washing. The glycerine and oils that are there as part of the soapmaking process keep my skin from drying out and developing mild eczema. I struggled for years with dry skin until I discovered true soaps. It was only natural, considering my voracious appetite for learning new things, that I would eventually learn to make them myself.

But you can't go wrong with Kirk's--a good product. And there are probably venders at your local farmer's market with great homemade soaps at reasonable costs as well.

Jen