The time-enduring craft of the worlds purest soap.

The time-enduring craft of the worlds purest soap.

Today, personal care is spoken of almost exclusively in the reductive language of science. It's all nutrients, ingredients, formulations.


Reverence for genuine craftsmanship, high purity & an enduring bond with nature, perfected over centuries, is lacking. It is the perfection of the craft that refines natures raw materials into something superior.


No conveyor belts, no high shear mixing, no homogenizers. No manufacturing.


The entire process of Aleppo soap making takes 1 year.



Stage 1 - Cultivation

Olive tree

Olives & laurel berries are grown at our own groves in the fertile Levantine region of Hatay, Türkiye. This is done without the use of any chemical treatment (pesticides, insecticides etc.).

 

Stage 2 - Harvest

For both the olives & laurels, once they have reached a deep dark purple/ black consistency, the fruits are ready for harvest. This occurs usually around October- November time, but exactly when is subject to the farmers, who will make a judgement based on generational knowledge regarding smell, texture, appearance & size, not just the colour.

 

Stage 3 - Extraction

The olives are washed, crushed into a paste & pressed to separate the oil and water. This oil ends up comprising 80% of the soap in the final product.

Laurel berries are lightly boiled first, in order to soften them, then the pulp is pressed to produce laurel oil, which comprises 20% of the soap in the final product.

 

Stage 4 - Cooking

 

olive oil in the vat

Soda ash (sodium carbonate) is dissolved in water to create lye.

The olive oil and lye are added to a large underground copper cauldron which is heated by fire from beneath.

This mixture is both heated & stirred for 72 hours to allow for full saponification, ensuring no lye is left in the mixture. 

Once the olive oil is saponified to a paste-like consistency, the laurel oil is added & mixed in over the course of a few hours. At this point, the temperature of the cauldron is reduced in order to preserve the heat sensitive beneficial effects of the compound. 

 

Stage 5 - Washing

The olive oil & laurel oil paste mixture is washed with water to get rid of any potential lye residue.

 

Stage 6 - Pouring

recently poured aleppo soap

The mixture is poured over wax paper & is allowed to cool over the night to let the mixture harden slightly.

 

Stage 7 -Cutting

The following day, the soap will have hardened to a dense clay-like consistency and is therefore ready to be cut. This is performed using a musht al-saboun (soap comb). 

Whilst the soap is still relatively soft, each block is stamped with the soap-makers seal. In our case, the seal translates to "Abrahams Father. Aleppo Soap".

 

Stage 8 - Aging (12 months)

The bars are stacked into cylindrical towers, maximizing the surface area exposed to the shaded, dry, and well ventilated underground air.

This enables the soap to "dehydrate" evenly, and for the outer layer to oxidize, creating the iconic golden-brown outer shell.

Why is a 12 month aging period essential?

  • A fully cured bar is dehydrated, making it denser & longer lasting.

  • Any trace alkali from the lye is evapourated out of the bar, making the soap a perfect match for your skins slightly acidic pH.

  • Over this time, the scent of the laurel oil mellows & integrates with the olive base, creating the signature earthy aroma fully cured Aleppo soap is famous for.

Back to blog