Eco Natural Soap is a family owned business located in the rolling hills of middle Tennessee.

About 7 years ago (2006), while we were living in Folsom, California,  Alicia shared with me, an article about these homemade wool balls used in your clothes dryer. The article stated that the wool dryer balls would reduce drying time by about 35% and eliminate static so the use of fabric softener would not be required. We realized this would eliminate the terribly harsh chemicals and artificial scents in the fabric softeners and dryer sheets and save quite a bit of money. Alicia gathered a few 100% wool sweaters, from a local Goodwill store, to make our test dryer balls. She felted (heat-shrink) the sweaters and cut them into strips. She then sewed the wool strips into different size balls, about half a dozen at first, and threw them into the dryer. It worked! I was very happy to stop “wearing” and absorbing the harsh carcinogenic chemicals. We had just eliminated the cost of fabric softener and Alicia told me a load of clothes would dry about 30-40% faster with the wool balls. Alicia uses nine to a dozen balls now, ranging in size from a tennis ball to a softball.

This was the beginning of Eco Natural Soap, but it would be another three years before the company actually came to fruition as a business (Nov ‘ 09). We launched Eco Natural Soap in April 2010 with an online presence and direct sales locally to build a dealer network. We now have more than 150 different products and growing, sold at more than 100 local dealers, that include almost every health food store in this market. We have sold over 30,000 items since April 2010. I share this, not to brag, but to give GOD all the Glory for our success and formulas. It is GOD, not man, that has Miraculously Blessed us and our customers with these formulas.

The wool dryer balls got me motivated to “clean-up” the chemicals around the house. I found a recipe for homemade laundry detergent using a Fel’s Naptha Soap bar and equal parts washing soda and borax. It also worked really well. It was not quite comparable to Tide with Bleach and very inexpensive to make, but the Fel’s bar contained Naptha (mineral spirits) and I wanted to reduce the chemicals even more. I searched for natural soaps and found all sorts of beautiful, swirled, unusual scented items, but most contained artificial colorants and fragrances…Not what I was looking for!
I decided to make our own soap…How hard could it be?

I started reading about homemade soap and soap ingredients. I read about how to make natural soap, melt & pour glycerin soap, liquid soap, cold process soap and hot process soap. I read hundreds of articles and recipes. I determined cold process was the soap I wanted. I wanted to formulate a bar with excellent lather and good skin conditioning properties that would last a very long time. I happened upon a soap calculator that would speed up the calculations necessary for saponification of different oils. It seemed very complicated at first. After all, I just wanted to make natural soap. It had input for Potassium Hydroxide or Sodium Hydroxide, it had over 100 different oils and butters in a list with their respective fatty acid contents and the SAP values. I wasn’t as ready as I thought. I began to learn each oil had different contributing properties to a bar of soap, some oils were conditioning, but made the bar too soft while other oils made the bar hard, but could be drying to your skin when used in too large a percentage. How hard could it be? By this time, I had determined…pretty hard to make homemade natural soap!

I personally test every batch of soap the day I cut bars, so I guess you could say I do test on animals? It is still just myself, Alicia and Heather, but I am able to produce 2-400 bars per day, as required. I give GOD all the Glory, it is by and through HIM, that we have been and continue to be so Blessed in this endeavor. I still get excited with every mold I open, like a child with a Christmas present.

The first balm I made was after reading the label ingredients of a well known hand lotion. I began to research these ingredients and I realized the “Healthy”, “All Natural” lotion was more dangerous than the clothes dryer sheets…So begins the research on cosmetic ingredients, colorants, preservatives, emulsifiers, chelating agents, foaming agents, fillers and additives in the products we had “Trusted” to be  Safe to use! I realized "preservative" is just a nice sounding word for: insecticide, bactericide, mildicide and/or germicide!!!

We, the American public have become the unwitting subjects of a massive toxicological experiment from personal care products. It’s ironic that in a day and age when so many have a heightened fear of terrorism and infectious diseases, few are aware of the harmful health risks coming from soaps, shampoos, shaving creams, deodorants, toothpaste, skin creams, cosmetics, hair sprays, laundry detergents, dish washing products and household cleaners. Billions of people every day are being exposed to ingredients that are proven carcinogens, toxins, neurotoxins, hormone disrupters, skin irritants, allergens, and respiratory disrupters. Some of the ingredients being used have even proven to be deadly to laboratory animals yet they have declared these same products safe for use with humans.

Do you think this is why so many people suffer from such things as dry skin, itchy skin, persistent skin irritations and rashes, sinus problems, allergies, asthma, respiratory ailments, reproductive problems, neurological disorders, and other health related ailments that doctors and medicine just don’t seem to have answers for?
Perhaps it’s time you examined your personal care products, like I did, to see if they are affecting your overall health. We have reached the point where diet and exercise alone are not enough to keep your health in check. You must monitor and regulate every aspect of your life – from what you put on your body to what you put into your body, and especially the products you use to clean your house.

I will, as time allows, develop some alternative products for the home. The Multi Purpose Cleaner Bar and The Laundry Bar are the first products for the home. I make a garden spray that controls insects, mites and fungus without any chemical ingredients. I also use diatomaceous earth as a garden dust like organic farms and around the house as well as ingest it.

We do not subscribe to the idea of fancy labels and packaging. We strive to use as much 100% recycled packing and packaging products as we can procure in our attempt of organic living and organic farming. If not, then we try to use packaging that can be reused or recycled. I re-use all the packaging that I receive in orders shipped to me, like; bubble wrap and peanuts. We know when the product works, you will buy more. You do not need to buy the product because the packaging was “real pretty”, but because the product performs. Word of mouth has always been our best promoter!

Our entire product line is formulated with only 100% pure, natural, organic ingredients, from organic recipes, but I encourage you to test every product you buy, whether ours or another to verify compatibility with your skin and to avoid any allergic reaction. Some people have allergies to various nuts, beeswax and rare cases of reactions to even aloe vera and jojoba, so I always encourage safety first. If pregnant or breastfeeding, consult with your physician before using any new product. Some essential oils are not recommended if pregnant or breastfeeding.
I make no claims of cures or healing of any of our products. They are formulated based on hours of research and testing, but because we are all different, results will vary from one individual to another. This is just the nature of the human body.

It brings Great Joy to me when someone tells me the cold sore lip balm stopped another eruption from forming or their hair is full of body and shinier than they can remember. I encourage you to try taking calcium bentonite internally. We have heard some astounding reports about this natural product. I like the products from the Big Horn Mountains area of Wyoming (Pascalite), but I’m sure there are many good sources out there. I prefer the Calcium bentonite over sodium or potassium, but that is just a personal preference because the calcium is in a form so easily absorbed by the body.

I hope you can sense a desire in me to help people, not just sell something and make all kinds of “nutty” claims. I believe that ‘ole saying: No one cares How much you know, Until they know – How much You Care.

I know all Healing is from GOD! I do believe Gen 1:29 and Ezekiel 47:12, that GOD gave us the herbs and plants to provide physical, nutritional health for our bodies. It is our “heart-felt” desire to eliminate the chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis, with natural products that out perform their chemical counterparts, while promoting a stronger, healthier, more attractive, better functioning body, soul and Spirit.

I want you to determine to become responsible and clean-up Your environment; for Your Children, Your Spouse, Parents and Friends, but most of all, for YOURSELF…You deserve it!

We hope all of our products bring satisfaction and perform beyond your highest expectations. If for any reason, you are not satisfied with any Eco Natural Soap product, simply return it for a Full Refund.

Sincerely,
Alan Hicks
Eco Natural Soap