Olive Oil Soap Factory in Syria

[Seawolfe]

I found this while perusing reddit

http://imgur.com/a/EjAJV

It looks like the ENTIRE FLOOR of their warehouse is the soap mold? Its just insane. I cant stop looking at it. How do they mix the oils and lye water? Is it all olive oil? How long do they cure it?

 

[kchaystack]

I think I have seen this in videos about allepo soap.

Yes they use the floor as a mold.

Years ago, my family owned a cosmetic wax supply company. I was very young - so I do not remember clearly. But huge truckloads of wax would be brought in from Mexico, and they would melt it and pour onto the floor like this. Then after it would be broken up and bagged before being sold to various makeup companies like Mary Kay.

Funny how this is so similar.

 

[MsHarryWinston]

Oh my god that is so beautiful!

 

[MySoapyHeart]

How cool is that!!?

The worlds largest slabmold? :think::mrgreen:

 

[shunt2011]

I too have seen this before. Pretty amazing. And boy is that a lot of soap.

 

[TBandCW]

All I can say is WOW!!!

 

[madison]

What makes this soap great? Sorry if it's stupid question but I really like to hear from you guys. I got few bars as a gift recently, I love the earthly smell and the lather, what else you think makes it special?
I may have hijacked the thread, sorry seawolfe. I'll start new thread.

 

[CaraBou]

Pretty cool! I wonder if they emulsify it in tanks and then spray it out to be "molded." Boy, if that's the case, you sure wouldn't want to over mix!

 

[Stacyspy]

It looks like it may come from tank or mixer of sorts...if you follow the hose the guy is holding, it snakes quite a bit, then goes off to the right somewhere.

Pretty cool! I wonder if they emulsify it in tanks and then spray it out to be "molded." Boy, if that's the case, you sure wouldn't want to over mix!

Look what I found!!

 

[MsHarryWinston]

^ Whoa.

This makes me laugh hysterically at the thought of the 12oz batch I made today. Technically two 6oz batches? I made a 12oz batch and split it in half so that I could test 2 new scents. I feel like such a small time dabbler when I look at that mixing vat! Hahaha.

By the way, how cool would it be to have a soap recipe so utterly perfected and famously well known that all you ever need to sell is one single type of soap?

 

[Seawolfe]

I would so be arranging those bars into forts!

I did find a wiki article that explains what they are doing pretty well. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_soap

 

[Relle]

Reminds me of screeding cement.

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Pretty cool! I wonder if they emulsify it in tanks and then spray it out to be "molded." Boy, if that's the case, you sure wouldn't want to over mix!

Traditionally it would be a hot process soap, but who knows what they do these days.

 

[Nevada]

Out of business, over ran

http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/among-casualties-aleppo-ancient-olive-oil-soap/42868

 

[Steve85569]

Out of business, over ran

http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/among-casualties-aleppo-ancient-olive-oil-soap/42868

That article is from November 2014.
There haven't been any comments to it in a year.

It does bring up an interesting point though. I wonder if this tradition will survive.

 

[SimpleSoaper]

I tried my hand at making some Aleppo style soap a month or so back. Still waiting on the long cure...
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=57864

There is a good video on youtube that shows how they make, or more likely used to make, the soap. Just search for "aleppo soap". Unimaginably sad situation for the people in Syria.

 

[lenarenee]

Anybody know if it's possible to still purchase an authentic Syrian made Aleppo soap?

Here's hoping that Syrian soapmakers find a new home and a way to continue their tradition.

 

[shunt2011]

I made an Aleppo soap last April. Still on the curing rack.

 

[Soapmaker145]

I did a quick google search and there are many sellers on ebay. I think many of these might be made in Turkey. Looking at the pictures of the factories, I couldn't imagine cleaning up after those batches:shock:. I can't even imagine curing the soaps in these old buildings/structures. They look like they are mostly underground with very thick walls. They are probably at constant temperature and humidity all year long.

All kidding aside, I hope the factories and all the skilled artisans who make the Syrian soaps survive to make more soaps for as long as there is time. It would be so sad to see such a tradition die.

 

[navigator9]

Oh, I love to see these pictures of the Syrian soapmakers. My favorites are the mountains of soap, arranged so carefully to allow air circulation. I've seen a lot of these pics, but I had never before seen the one where they use the little boy to weight the end of the tool that scores the soap. Wonderful! These traditions are so valuable. They connect us to our past. When things that were once made by hand, start to be made in factories, by machines, we lose that connection. It's such a shame when that happens, because future generations just accept the crap that comes out of factories, and never know that once...things were different.