Degreasing soap for Dogs and cats

[KaylaMFTWeed]

I'm in need of a recipe that is degreasing and safe for animals. Cats in particular. I use Chubb's bars at the moment at my shop for Bathing cats. They work pretty well but I don't want to keep buying them for $5 a bar. I have seen some threads and recipes that suggest: 1.) 80% coconut oil 80% salt, and 5% superfat. 2.) 50% coconut oil, 45% lard, and 1TBS sugar. 3.) 90% coconut oil 50-70% salt, 10-12% superfat 1-2% d-limonene. Thought about adding in kaolin clay and one or two essential oils that aren't toxic to cats. Cats are super oily and I'm not concerned about drying their coats out. Dogs and cats have a higher skin pH of about 6.5-8pH. I have never made soap and want to start. Chubb's bars are a bar of soap for animals. They do not list the ingredients in their soaps or website. Please help.

 

[Primrose]

Why are you washing cats?

 

[ShannonAll]

Try blue dawn dish detergent. It works well. It is also effective for de-skunking dogs. For de-skunking mix with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. I've had the pleasure of using this many times.

 

[KaylaMFTWeed]

Why are you washing cats?

I am a pet groomer. I have cats that come in pelted, flaky, and greasy from so many years of skin and oil build up. I need a bar recipe that can degrease.

Try blue dawn dish detergent. It works well. It is also effective for de-skunking dogs. For de-skunking mix with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. I've had the pleasure of using this many times.

I'm looking for something natural. Chubb's bars are made of lye soap but I'm not sure what they put in them as far as oils and fats.

 

[DeeAnna]

I found a comment on the petgroomerforums.com that is telling for me --

"...I also use lye soap in my household for washing me and the laundry, ect. Chubbs is not the same...it does look like it but I tried my reg lye soap and NOPE not anything alike. I also wanted to add I have had the CB suds get in my eye with contacts on and it dosent sting or hurt at all..." Source: Cyn, post dated 12-01-13, 05:20 AM, https://www.petgroomerforums.com/chat/archive/index.php/t-58028.html

This person's comment strongly suggests to me that the Chubbs cleanser is not a lye-based soap. There is no way a person can make a true, lye-based soap that won't irritate the eyes and mucous membranes. A person familiar with handcrafted soap is fairly well qualified to tell the difference between true soap versus non-soap cleansers.

This cleanser might be a blend of true soap and synthetic detergents (sometimes called a "combar") or it might be a syndet only cleanser (more likely, based on the no-eye-irritation comment.)

Based on some of the users' comments in the petgroomerforums thread referenced above where some mention the Chubbs cleanser being slightly drying, leaving dogs' coats a little rough, or being a very good degreaser -- I'd be looking at a syndet bar with SLS and/or SLSa, and/or SCI. SLS is inexpensive and a very good degreaser, but it does irritate the eyes. The others are still good cleansers, but not as irritating. There are many other good syndets out there -- these just come to mind quickly that could be used to make a solid bar.

Without an ingredients list or a good chem lab, it's impossible to know what's in it for sure, however.

 

[KaylaMFTWeed]

The chubb's bars do irritate the eyes. I've gotten it in mine and on the bar packaging it says to keep away from eyes. It certainly feels like lye soap and they claim that it is all natural ingredients. I will look up the syndet bars and see if I can come up with a formula. The chubb's bars do leave a white powdery build up if you only use those to bathe the animals in. ‍

 

[DeeAnna]

Although I haven't read every word of their product information, I see they are very careful to not mention "soap" in what I did read. They say "shampoo bar" or "specialty bar." Maybe it is soap. Maybe it's not. Anybody's guess.

They don't say there's any verifying agency (OMRI, USDA, etc.) that supports their claim of "mostly organic." The word "mostly" could be used for a product that is just 51% organic. If so, I'd say many people might find the word "mostly" a little misleading.

Also, lye soap is made with sodium hydroxide, which is about as not-natural as anything I can think of. And the word "natural" means exactly what you want it to mean.

Further, their claim "...No sulphates, parabens, formaldehyde, d'limonene, or essential oils....." leaves the field wide open for a wide range of cleansers, including soap and many syndets.

I'm sure it gives some consumers a warm fuzzy feeling to read claims like this, but claims without supporting information don't mean diddly squat.

It might be a perfectly fine product -- I'm not saying it's not, because I've never seen it nor tried it. I just don't like the fuzzy claims. Either don't say anything at all or be straightforward and clear.