Savon de Marseille?

[Rosey]

So I'm originally from France and the "savon de marseille" is a household item and I wanted to make some but all I could find was that it's 72% OO. Well and then what? lol

I have looked and looked and google has failed me...in both languages

 

[Classic]

Maybe this will help???

http://www.marseillesoap.com/history.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille_soap

 

[Egzandra]

I once bought Savon de Marseille in a local cut-price store (Lidl, UK), It was sold as a liquid cleaning soap, and I used it for the kitchen floor. Have not been able to find it since. It smelt very nice, and I did not know it was probably made of olive oil.

 

[Rosey]

That does help but it doesn't tell me more than what I know. 72% OO, I know they add palm and coconut maybe? I just wanted to come close. I wouldn't dream of calling it savon de marseille but i wanted to get that same feel.

I love the liquid one too. Ah..childhood

 

[dagmar88]

From what I know, it's olive oil & palm.

 

[Classic]

Martha did it this way...
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/sa ... y_kw=savon de marseille&rsc=header_1

 

[IrishLass]

Rosey, about a little over a year ago I was curious about Savon de Marseilles, too, A cousin of mine had gone to France and brought some bars of it back for my Aunt, who then raved to me about it. I did a bunch of searches on it, but all I could glean was that it was made with 72% Olive oil, sea water, palm oil and copra oil (which is the same as coconut oil). Not knowing what the other %'s were, I made up my own version using 72% OO, 24.4% CO, and 3.6% Tallow (I didn't have any palm on hand). I also threw some French green clay into it. I don't know if it was anything like the real thing, but it turned out to a pretty nice Castile-type soap.

IrishLass

 

[Rosey]

Sounds awesome. I never knew they used sea salt until i read it. Sounds like it's a secret recipe

I may try your recipe if that's ok and see what it turns out! I've been looking where to get the clay. I love the green color of those soaps!

 

[IrishLass]

By all means, Rosey- go ahead and try it! Let us know how it comes out!

IrishLass

Edited because I spelled your name wrong.

 

[Rosey]

Thanks! I need to go out and buy some more OO, I ran out

I'm going to make 2 more batches tonight of GM (with castor and not canola...pfft me.)

 

[gekko62]

'Soap Naturally ' gives 50% OO 50% tallow or palm

 

[heartsong]

x

just a thought...

savon de marseilles is made with seawater, which is pretty salty-and we know c/p salt bars are extremely hard.

has anyone soaped with just salty water, and if so did the bars become harder? did they lather better (?) since coconut oil is the only soap that lathers in salt water.

did it accelerate or act funny? would it harden faster?

so many mysteries, so little time! :roll:

 

[soapandwine]

I know this thread is old, but I wanted to add my 2 cents, as there seems to be some confusion on the 72% of olive oil part.

I imagine that Marseille soaps say 72% Olive oil because that's the percentage of oil to the TOTAL weight of the soap. In other words, I image that in a 100oz batch, it'll be 72oz of olive oil (100% of the oils) + 28oz of the water/lye combo. Based on standard lye calculators, then they either do some lye or water discount or both.

 

[Seifenblasen]

Soapandwine is absolutely correct!

Here it says that "a real savon de Marseille consists of 72% oil. It must be of vegetable oil or a mixture of vegetable oils or olive oil, but of the same percentage. (I believe it doesn't say the oils must be of equal proportion, but the total of the oils must be 72% of total weight). Depends on the oils used, the color of the soap varies. It must not contain animal fats or preservatives".

The weight stamped on the soap is its weight when freshly cut, not fully cured.

http://www.familleaunaturel.com/reconna ... marseille/

And according to this site, the ones made with coconut and palm oils are cream and with olive, coconut, and palm oils are green. (Note: The green color comes from the olive oil, not additives or clay or colorants. In fact, no additives are allowed other than a tiny drop of essential oil).

http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/savo ... Jk5g_UjLec

Most of the French websites stated that the only oils used are coconut, palm, and olive. Olive pomace is allowed. Marius Fabre added shea butter to some of the small soaps but there is no mention of sea water.

Savon de marseille actually originated from Aleppo soap, a 100% olive and bay laurel oil hot-process soap from Syria ...

http://www.alepposoap.com/presentation.html

 

[AngelMomma]

I have been so intrigued by this soap for a long time. It would be so cool to tour a factory that makes the real thing and talk to the soapmaker. Although, I am SURE they have and will always keep their SECRETS. It amazes me that they cook it for DAYS!!! I wonder if they must have to up the water amount for it to cook that long.

 

[SoapAddict415]

The version savon de marseille that I like to make is 74% OO, 18% CO & 8% castor oil. It comes out very nice.

 

[Seifenblasen]

It would be so cool to tour a factory that makes the real thing and talk to the soapmaker. Although, I am SURE they have and will always keep their SECRETS.

I take it you mean the factories in France? It would be a bit risky to visit the ones in Aleppo right now ... :twisted:

To arrange a tour at one of the factories in Salon-de-Provence, contact here:

http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/savo ... Jmo84UZxo4

The catch is even if you have the "secret formula", it will be impossible to duplicate at home, i.e., have a cauldron of hot soap boiling for days. Also, the Aleppo soaps are cured in a cave-like environment for sometimes years. I doubt I have that kind of patience!

 

[DragonQueenHHP]

http://savondemarseille.com/

looks like something I want to try

 

[AngelMomma]

Going to France to actually get a tour is out of the realm of possibility for me. Probably forever, since I don't buy lottery tickets :wink:

 

[Seifenblasen]

It's in French (and with a southern accent to boot!):

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONqF9AhLQ0s"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONqF9AhLQ0s[/ame]

The trimmings are re-batched, adding colorants, fragrance, etc. to make the smaller "toilet" soaps.

And lottery or not, most of us should not be going to Syria now! This is a short clip of how Aleppo soaps are made:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTADF_FDbkw&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTADF_FD ... re=related[/ame]