Yaya Maria's Quick Facts

What

Yaya Maria's makes the most natural dish soap, hand soap, and body wash there is. Made with just 6 whole ingredients that everyone understands, Yaya Maria's soaps are ideal for people who want to live healthier lives.

When

Yaya Maria's started in December, 2017.

Where

Yaya Maria's is based in Flint, Michigan. It's soaps are available on yayamarias.com, Etsy, Amazon, and small brick-and-mortar stores across the US.

Who

Yaya Maria's (pronounced "YAH-yah mah-REE-yahz") was founded by Andy. Feel free to email him at andy (at) yayamarias.com or send a message here.

Click here to download logos and images.

Why was Yaya Maria's started?

After Yaya Maria's founder, Andy, was successfully treated for cancer, he and his wife wanted to keep him away from harsh chemicals to help him live a long and healthy life. So they developed formulas for the most natural soap there is. Today, Yaya Maria's uses those same formulas for making its soaps.

Andy says, “When I got sick, we started reading product labels to keep me away from harsh chemicals. We were surprised and disappointed to notice that the big soap brands that market themselves as 'natural' in fact use the same harsh chemicals as regular soap. We decided to make our own soaps that put ingredients first, and that really work. It mattered to us that people should be able to truly know what's in their soap. That's why we only use ingredients that are so natural, even our grandmothers would understand them."

How was Yaya Maria’s started?

It began with a little old lady named Maria who lived far away, in Greece.

One day Maria received news that her first grandchild was born. (“Yaya” means “grandma” in Greek). She was so overjoyed that she decided secretly to give the baby a gift. She opened a bank account in his name the same day.

Maria didn’t have much money, but every month, year after year, she deposited a few dollars from her small pension into the account for her grandson’s future. She kept the secret carefully, telling no one. By the time she died she had forgotten about it.

Many years after Yaya Maria passed, her son was sorting through a box of her belongings. To his surprise, a booklet fell out. It was the ledger for the forgotten account that Maria had opened for her grandson. The son couldn’t believe his eyes! Immediately, he called his son – Yaya Maria’s grandson – to tell him about the gift from above, sent by his late grandmother.

The young man was overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of his grandmother. That grandson is our founder, Andy.

Grandma Maria’s gift helped Andy start his soap business. In gratitude, he named the company after her - Yaya Maria's. And just as Grandma Maria put aside money for her young one, we donate parts of our proceeds to help children achieve a better future. This way, Yaya Maria’s legacy continues to help today’s young ones.

Why should people learn what’s in their soap?

Almost all soaps contain toxic chemicals like phthalates, parabens, and petrochemicals. These ingredients are sometimes hidden in ingredient lists under vague, catchall terms like "surfactant," "cleaning agent," "preservative", or “fragrance”. "Fragrance" alone can mean any of 3,000 undisclosed chemicals, many of which are toxic (more information on that here).

When you use hand soap that contains toxic ingredients, those ingredients enter your bloodstream through the skin (as shown in this study). Dish soaps enter your body when your food absorbs the dish-soap residue that clings to the plate (as shown in this study).

Once inside people's bodies, these chemicals harm people's health (as shown in this study). They even get transmitted to babies through the umbilical cord (as scientists discovered here).

What's different about Yaya Maria’s?

Yaya Maria's uses just 6 whole, safe, all-natural ingredients. That's it. This make Yaya Maria's soap 100% safe. It's easy for anyone to understand the ingredients at a single glance. See for yourself:

What about other "natural" soaps?

You can find so-called "natural" soaps everywhere. But almost all supposedly "natural" soaps contain the same harmful substances as regular soap. By contrast, Yaya Maria’s all-natural soaps are made with genuinely safe ingredients and are 100% nontoxic. Their non-toxicity ratings from the Environmental Working Group can be seen here and here. The difference is clear:

How can people be sure Yaya Maria's soap is truly natural?

Not only do Yaya Maria's soaps receive an "A" rating for nontoxicity from the Environmental Working Group (posted here and here). Yaya Maria's soaps were also lab-tested by the University of Georgia to ensure that they contain no hidden toxins. As a result of the lab test, Yaya Maria’s was certified USDA 100% biobased, a rare achievement for a soap. It means that the soaps are made from ingredients that come from plants, and contain no petrochemicals.

Yaya Maria's founder Andy says, "At Yaya Maria's we make truly natural soaps without any hidden chemicals, and the proof is right on the label. We encourage everyone to read the ingredient list. We are proud that anyone can understand our ingredients at a single glance."

But does it really work?

Yes. Yaya Maria's performs even better than conventional soap.

Here's how it's superior:

• Cuts through grease like no other.
• Rinses off easier than any other soap.
• Keeps hands amazingly soft.
• Naturally discourages germs: no more smelly dish sponge.
• Leaves behind zero toxins.

Here's what our customers have to say:

“We love the soap! I feel safe using it on all of our dishes and our hands too. I can't find a truly natural dish soap anywhere else. I feel save to use this stuff around my house and on my baby's bottles.” - Holly H.

“Best quality ingredients in a simple to use dish soap on the market. Thank you for your great work! Families like mine appreciate it. All the best!” - Michaela L.

“We love Yaya Marias. It's made from natural ingredients and is biodegradable.“ - Ron B.

“I wanted a natural toxin free dish soap. Yours was the only one with ingredients I could pronounce :)” - Noelle T.

“I am so tired of using chemical laden products. I am glad to have found a healthier and safer alternative.” - Theresa M.

“Because it is amazing, made in USA, not tested on animals, and did I mention that it is amazing! Simple and simply the best!” - Ellen C.

“Finally a dish soap that works, cuts through grease, is gentle to the skin, and doesn’t have ingredients that are allergens (like SLS). Way to go!” - Maria C.

“No questionable ingredients AND it works?? Easiest decision ever.” - Moira C.

Yaya Maria's founder Andy says, "We're incredibly grateful for all the positive feedback we've received from our customers. We have received thank-you cards for offering such a natural product. One customer even wrote a poem to praise Yaya Maria's natural dish soap."

Who certifies the quality of Yaya Maria’s soaps?

Yaya Maria's is serious about our mission of making soaps that are safe for people and planet, and friendly to animals. Don't take our word for it. Yaya Maria's is

• Best-rated for non-toxicity by EWG here and here.
  
• Cruelty-free certified with Leaping Bunny.
• Vegan-certified with PETA.
• Naturewatch Foundation endorsed.
• Green America certified for being environmentally and socially-conscious.
• USDA-certified 100% Biobased (independently lab-tested by the University of Georgia), meaning this soap is made entirely from plants, with zero petrochemicals.

Yaya Maria's soaps are made exclusively with distilled water. Distilled water is the purest water there is. Distillation is the process of boiling water and collecting the steam, which contains no impurities. The steam is then cooled and condenses into pure H2O.

Yaya Maria's soaps are made fresh in small batches. Each batch is formulated and made in-house (never outsourced) to maintain quality control.

You can feel the quality of Yaya Maria's soaps. Have you ever noticed how hard most soaps are to wash off? Many won't rinse off even after running your hands under the faucet for several minutes. This is because conventional soaps are made from very cheap (and toxic) petrochemicals that cling to dishes and skin.

Thanks to Yaya Maria's high-quality natural ingredients, these soaps wash off easily without leaving behind any chemical film (saving you water too). It's quality you can feel.

What is Yaya Maria's business philosophy?

Yaya Maria's mission is to make safe, all-natural products while respecting the well-being of our customers, our partners, the planet, and animals. (Learn more about our values here).

That's why Yaya Maria's soaps are biodegradable, are never tested on animals, are manufactured using wind power with zero waste sent to landfill, and are mailed to the customer using carbon-neutral shipping.

Yaya Maria's founder Andy says, "Our values come together in one philosophy: keep people and the planet safe. At Yaya Maria's, we're proud to be an independent family-owned business that makes natural products with truly safe ingredients for people who want to maintain their good health."

What's something most people don't know about Yaya Maria’s?

"The idea of making a soap only from safe, easy-to-understand ingredients comes from our own habit of label reading. We always like to find out what's inside a product before buying. That's why we display the ingredients in our soaps so prominently: to help our customers do the same."  - Andy (Founder)

Video, logo & product images

To embed Yaya Maria's explainer video, use the code below:

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Download our logo, founder photo, and product images here (copyright Mebert Brands, LLC).

Got more questions?

Email Andy: andy (at) yayamarias.com or send him a message here.