UPDATE - We have now found a real Carbolic Household Soap however this is not suitable as a body soap & only as a household soap.
The quick answer is no, we don't sell traditional Carbolic soap bars or antiseptic Coal Tar soap bars, but that's because these types of traditional soap bars don't really exist anymore - not in their original form anyway.
Instead it's usually just a Tea Tree soap hiding behind the label!
You'll likely only find products containing Carbolic Acid at your Pharmacy, & this is likely limited to medicated Shampoo's. This is as a result of UK Law surrounding the use of Carbolic Acid in cosmetic products.
Let me explain a little more...
Traditionally, Carbolic Soap Bars included Carbolic Acid which was derived from a form of Coal Tar. Coal Tar as you can probably imagine came from Coal. The main reason people used either traditional Carbolic Soap Bars or Coal Tar Soaps was due it being a mild disinfectant with both anti-bacterial & deodorising qualities.
But...
The Carbolic Acid found within these types of traditional soap bars has later been found to be a skin irritant, hence why it doesn't really exist anymore. You can get the same benefits from other naturally antibacterial soap bars. Take what people know as Wrights Coal Tar Soap as pictured. It is no longer named as Coal Tar Soap. Instead named as Wrights Traditional Soap with coal tar fragrance.
So What Makes It Still An Antiseptic Soap Bar...
That's where you need to look at the ingredients found within traditional soap bars that appear to be either Carbolic Soaps or Coal Tar Soaps.
Usually, as is the case with Wrights Traditional Soap it just contains Tea Tree Essential Oil.
Tea Tree essential oil more or less provides the same benefits as Carbolic Acid or Coal Tar did but without being such an irritant.
And you guessed it there are other natural ingredients that can also provide the same benefit. Pop in to our Leeds soap shop to find out more or shop online to discover natural soap bars like our Friendly Tea Tree Soap Bar which is handmade with Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter and Tea Tree Essential Oil.
Our next blog post answers another common question about Do Soap Bars Collect Germs?
3 comments
Hey Hugo. It literally says on the Wright’s website and even on the bars that it no longer contains coal tar. It’s just a fragrance now.
Hi Hugo. Thank you for your comment. I have to disagree with your comment given Wright’s Coal Tar Soap has written on the front that it is a ‘coal tar fragrance.’ This is also reflected within the ingredients. If there happens to be a Wrights soap available that I have missed, that does actually have Coal Tar as an ingredient, please could you post a link or image here for people to view it.
Thanks again for commenting.
It is a plain lie that coal tar soap is no longer sold. As you well know Wright’s sells coal tar soap which doesn’t contain tea tree oil.
How do you feel about being openly dishonest people?