How did the myth that soap is bad start?

mo

After hours of Googling, I am pretty confident that soap free cleanser with surfactants were introduced during world war II due to shortage of oils to make soap.
All surfactants (SLS, ALS,etc) are known to cause alergic reactions & dermatitis in studies. Of course, the irritation can be reduced by adding moisturizers, humectants and other surfactants & it is eventually the entire contents that decide the irritation level. However, compared to soap; all surfactants irritate the skin.

Soap dries the skin & disturbs the ph balance of the skin. That can easily be remedied by adding moisturizers & humectants to the soap. Pears soap was the first mass produced Glycerin soap & probably is still the mildest soap out there. Also, all soap free cleansers have preservatives like Parabens & DMDM Hydantoin that definitely irritate the skin. Japan & Sweden have banned the use of DMDM Hydantoin in cosmetic products.

So, the question remains despite the ph advantage, soap free claims of surfactant based cleansers; soap is still a better and SAFER bet. It is bio degradable & non toxic to humans & animals. Does not pollute the water sources either.

So why exactly are soap free cleansers such a big deal & recommended by most dermatoligists ?

Left Brain

I'm not certain that the reason surfactants were introduced during WWII. The reason as I understand it is that the chemistry of synthetic surfactants wasn't developed until then.
No matter. Synthetics have significant advantages over soap including, being less irritating (as used) and not reacting with hard water ions to create insoluble salts (the cause of soap scum).
Soap dries skin so much that it is used as the baseline control in dry skin studies. You wash skin 3 times with Ivory soap and you've got some of the driest skin possible.
As used, synthetic surfactants do not irritate skin as much as soap. That's why dermatologists recommend them.

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