
6 things you didn't know about Marseille Soap
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When you hear talk about Marseille Soap or Savon de Marseille, what comes to mind first? Olive oil, Marseille the City, green soap? Maybe you have never heard of it. So here are 6 facts you didn't know about the Marseille Soap and why you should be using it.
Is there a connection between the City and the Soap?
Indeed there is. The first soap makers were recorded around Marseille at the end of the 14th Century. The demand for soap increased so much in the times of the first world war that Marseille supplied soaps to the North of France, Dutch, German and England. This is also the time when the production quality was such that "Marseille Soap" became a household name.
But I just bought Marseille Soap produced in Spain, is it still Marseille?
Not really. Unfortunately the name Marseille Soap is not protected and therefore there are many counterfeits on the market. There is however a stamp of approval that you should always look for when buying Marseille Soap. The "72%" stamp on the side is a mark of a real Marseille. In fact The Union des Professionels du Savon de Marseille was founded in 2011 to protect the traditional Marseille-style soap. “The authentic Savon de Marseille made by the UPSM soap factories is a hard and homogeneous soap, of different size and shape: cube, parallelepiped, bar, slices, oval, or shavings and flakes,” says the organization’s website.
What does this 72% stamp mean?

The rules for real Marseille Soap are very strict. According to the UPSM, there can be a maximum of four raw ingredients, must be made using a precise hot saponification process and lastly the place of manufacturing is the department of Bouches-du-Rhône. Soap must contain at least 72% of vegetable oil such as olive oil or coconut oil. Other ingredients are soda, sea salt and water. The 72% stamp is therefore proof that only vegetable oils were made to achieve the 72% oil saturation.
I've seen pink and blue Marseille soaps, what's that about?
There are only two different colors of Marseille soap; olive green and white. The green olive oil soap is more traditional and the white can be made out of any other vegetable oil (like coconut, peanut or even palm oil). Traditional Marseille soap is not mixed with any other ingredient that was once mentioned above, so if you find some scented or colored soaps, they might have been made by using Marseille soap, but they indeed always have additives that should have been carefully mentioned in the ingredient list.
So what is Marseille soap good for?
This is the most exciting topic for me. Marseille soap can be used in so many ways.
- As it doesn't irritate the skin, it is great as a body soap. It can even be recommended by dermatologic to help with eczema or psoriasis due to its high oil content. Even the most sensitive skins benefit from this as the soap has minimized risk of allergies.
- The soap is great for hand-washing of delicate garments such as those made of wool, silk or even leather. Just bear in mind to use the white Marseille soap to prevent any discoloration.
- Washing dishes. You can either use it as solid soap and just scrub the soap directly or grate it and mix with hot water. This is how I use my Marseille :).
- By mixing the shavings of the soap with water, makes a great general cleaner as well for surfaces of any kind. Or why not even for floor mopping.
- When using Marseille, there are a few extra steps to be taken to make the best homemade, perfume free, hypoallergenic and biodegradable laundry detergent. Here is the recipe:
- 25g Soap Flakes
- 1l Hot Water
- 1 tsp baking soda (optional as water softener)
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar (optional as fabric softener)
- 10 Drops of essential oil of your choice (optional).
- Marseille can also be used as stain remover, pet shampoo, or even as insecticide (spray soap and water mixture on your plans to protect from the pesky munchers, but be sure to test first that your plants can handle the solution)
The soap also holds the power of magic!
Old tradition says that Marseille soap relieves cramps and rheumatism. In order to do this, you should place a piece of soap at the bottom of your bed
Final hurrah for Marseille
To sum it up, due to its long history, Marseille soap is a traditional household item that has been unchanged for hundreds of years. You can always count on it. As it contains only few ingredients, so you can rest assured that it will always be hypoallergenic, rich in oils, without perfume, additives, preservatives or colors and of course biodegradable.