Eco-Friendly Pet Brand WashBar Names Dr. Liz Bales as Vet in Residence

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Press release: WashBar

Eco-friendly pet care brand WashBar is excited to announce that veterinarian and educator Dr. Liz Bales has joined its team as Vet in Residence.

Dr. Bales graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 2000, and has remained an active member of the animal welfare community throughout her professional life. She is passionate about bettering the lives of animals.

As WashBar’s Vet in Residence and a leader in the pet space, Dr. Bales provides expert insight into the benefits of WashBar’s line of products, including why their bar shampoo is actually better for the environment and your dogs than liquid shampoo.

On the environmental side, WashBar’s pet soaps come in compostable cardboard packaging, eliminating the use of wasteful plastic bottles. Dr. Bales notes that bar soaps are more highly concentrated than liquid soaps, which are mostly water. This means that in addition to consumers getting more bang for their buck, bar soaps use less energy to produce and transport, which reduces CO₂ emissions.

As for your pup’s health, the natural ingredients in WashBar like neem leaf, lemon-scented tea treat oil and manuka oil clean your pup without the addition of parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, and colors. And, Dr. Bales notes, the sticky consistency of liquid shampoos can mean that they’re harder to rinse thoroughly, meaning the shampoo can get trapped in the thick fur of your dog, increasing the likelihood of skin irritation.

Dr. Bales also addresses one of the main critiques of bar soaps: that they don’t sud effectively enough to give your pup that “squeaky clean” feeling. But, Dr. Bales argues, suds does not equal clean.

“On a psychological level people associate suds and bubbles with cleaning power,” she said. “We humans like bubbles so much, many commercial manufacturers add chemicals in to specifically create suds, foam, and soap. Spoiler alert: suds are soap molecules trapping air in spherical pockets and have nothing to do with cleaning. WashBar’s bar soap provides a satisfying and effective lather, naturally.”

(Photo courtesy WashBar/Sara Millet)