Everything you wanted to know about handmade soap (but were afraid to ask)

What is handmade soap? Why is it different from other soaps?

In the photo on the right, Russ, the co-founder of Outlaw, is mixing oil, lye (aka sodium hydroxide), and water in some buckets. This is how Outlaw handmade soap is made from scratch.

He's literally using his hands to make it. Yes, Russ is also holding an immersion blender, but there's no heavy machinery here. Each batch is mixed by hand, by definition.

The process of hand-making soap isn't new! It's centuries (probably millennia) old. In the extra old days, they used soda ash from fire instead of sodium hydroxide.