Woadworks - F.A.Q's

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F.A.Q's

For all of our most frequently ask questions please read on. If we have not answered your question in this page then please don’t hesitate to contact us.

I thought Palm Oil was a no-no, why are you still using it?
We feel that to stop using Palm Oil altogether would deprive whole Communities of their only source of income but that we need to promote the sustainable growth and harvesting of this finite resource. Our supplier only uses companies who are signed up to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). This website answers a whole host of queries. www.querycat.com/faq/fb00e194a0f636bd37eaf4b782e8043e

The last time I bought Lavender soap from you it was a slightly different colour to this one (just as yummy though) - why is that?
We only use natural oxides and plants to colour our products - at different times of the year the plant composition of starches and sugars is different - so even though we use the same amount in every batch sometimes the end result is a slightly different hue. We’ve even had grey soap – not a good look!!!

Why do you not offer samples of your products - I like to try before I buy.
We are very proud of our products, believing them to be amongst the best of the natural skincare products available and we want everyone who is interested to be able to try them out. We offer testers of all our products at the various markets and events we attend throughout the year where we are also on hand to discuss individual needs and talk about our ingredients and processes. There is nothing like the personal touch to demonstrate just how evangelical we are about natural skincare and we love meeting you all and sharing our passion with you. Unfortunately many of our customers are not able to come and see us and we are very aware of that. We thought long and hard before deciding to limit our web based samples to our Cold Processed Soap sliver and the reasons for our decision are these:

We offer the sample as a touch test for you to try our natural, creamy honest-to-goodness bar alongside your regular commercial bar so that you can compare the texture and feel the difference on your skin. Its the nearest we can get to meeting you face to face (sort of like a virtual Daz Doorstep Challenge). We feel sure that you will feel the gentle quality of our soap for yourself and understand where we are coming from.

We are determined not to compromise on the quality of our raw ingredients and do not make a profit from our p&p charges, preferring you to pay for a product not the packaging. In order to keep our prices as they are, mindful of the high standards we have set ourselves, we need to minimise our other costs. If we sent out samples of our other products we would need to buy in a range of pots etc. which would be of no commercial use to us otherwise as well as buying in padded postal sacks which would be too small to hold our normal range- there is also postage and packaging to consider as well.

We hope that you will be inspired enough to try our products for yourselves safe in the knowledge that any chemical-free, pure and natural handmade skincare product will not be harmful to either your environment or to the most sensitive skin.

Other companies list their postage and packing rates separately - why are your prices inclusive?
We offer a quality, hand made, completely natural product to a loyal and ever-growing band of customers who we consider to be friends as well – we’d love to hear from you by the way – Often when we have been Internet shopping ourselves and chosen goods we particularly like we have been somewhat surprised when we reach the check-out to discover the cost of the items is nearly the same as the goods we’ve just bought!!! We do not make a profit from our p&p rates as we prefer our customers to buy our goods not our packaging.

We are working towards being a Carbon Neutral company (not difficult up here) and try to use minimal or recyclable packaging where possible. (see our Terms & Conditions)

My Mum likes your Tuberose and Wild Orchid Cream but has asked me if you could do her one fragrance free for her brother - can you?
Absolutely - we can do everything we make with no fragrance (or colour come to that) but to make it cost effective for us she would need to buy 250gr size and we need slightly longer to prepare this special order. We pride ourselves on being responsive to our customers needs (after all we wouldn’t be here without you, would we).

Where did I leave the car keys?
Probably, like me the other week, locked in the boot along with the shopping and the dog!!!

Who just called my husband with a with-held number!!!!!!????
Ooooooh – hehe – not us – don’t worry just a cold call number – why not have a good long soak and then a massage with one of our luxurious natural Body Butters – or better still get your hubby to massage you……….

What is Glycerine?
Vegetable glycerine is a sugar alcohol (glycerol), a natural by-product of saponification during the soap making process - where the fruit acids in the various oils used reacts with the alkali in the sodium to produce both salts and glycerine.

Glycerine is highly hygroscopic which means that it absorbs water from the air - if you leave a freshly made bar of our glycerine soap exposed to the air (until it has had time to dry) it will become moist and sticky - this will wash off but it just means that the soap has attracted moisture from the atmosphere.

This makes glycerine a brilliant and effective humectant - holding moisture against the skin - softening and hydrating as well as having antiseptic properties.

During commercial soap making processes salt is added to the mix which makes glycerine rise to the surface where it is skimmed off to be used in other ways as glycerine is a valuable commodity in its own right. Soap companies then add chemicals such as Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (which is an industrial degreaser and extremely harsh commercial detergent) to their mix :- see www.health-report.co.uk/sodium_lauryl_sulphate.html

Because of our traditional methods of soap-making we stir all this beneficial glycerine back into all our soaps to give you a luxurious, natural, chemical free soap full of Nature’s goodness.
www.pioneerthinking.com/glycerin.html - www.channel4.com/health/microsites/T/toxic/toxic-chemicals_2.html

Do you use preservatives?
If you are just making creams etc. for yourselves to use at home you can use plant based natural preservatives such as Grapefruit Seed Extract which will allow the product to stay ‘fresh’ in your fridge for a week or so. If you want to sell to the public however, Cosmetic Regulations insist you must have a preservative added, especially when you mix water and oils together. You need to preserve your products against deteriation and fungal growth etc.

Finding a completely natural, chemical-free preservative has been difficult for us but we are proud to be amongst one of the first companies in the country to use a brand new all-natural preservative. 100% effective and made from citrus based esters only.

Do you send your products abroad?
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