Aleppo Soap, alternately known as: 'Savon d'Alep', or 'Laurel Soap', or 'Ghar Soap' (laurel is known as ghar in Syria) derives it's English and French names from the city of Aleppo Syria where it is reputed to have been made for thousands of years. There many references to the royalty of antiquity, like E...gyptian Queen Cleopatra and Queen Zenobia of Syria, who used Aleppo Soap as their beauty se
cret. It is commonly thought that the process of soap-making emanated from the Levant region (of which Aleppo is a main city) and to have moved west from there to Europe after the first crusades based on the claim that the earliest soap made in Europe was just after the crusades, but in fact the Romans in the first century AD knew about soap and were making it and using it after 200 AD. Modern Soap Business in Syria
Business in Aleppo, which was a cosmopolitan trading hub on the ancient Silk Road, has declined since the Baath Party took over Syria nearly 50 years ago and imposed Soviet style economic policies that drove its leading business families into exile. Restrictions on private enterprise have eased in the past years, contributing to the city's architectural rejuvenation, a rise in tourism and efforts to market the trademark soap. Aleppo soap artisans now export most of their production, estimated at 600 tonnes a year, to Europe, South Korea and Japan, especially the high end soaps containing 16%, or more, of laurel oil. Aleppo Soap is classified as a Castile soap insofar as it is a hard soap made from olive oil and sodium hydroxide. What distinguishes Aleppo Soap from all other Castile soaps, is the inclusion of laurel oil in it's formulation. Process
As for what is known about Aleppo Soap, the following should provide a short overview. First, the olive oil is brought into a large, in-ground vat along with water and lye. Underneath the vat, there is an underground fire which heats the contents to a boil. Boiling lasts three days while the oil reacts with the lye and water to become a thick liquid soap. The laurel oil is added at the end of the process, and after it is mixed in, the whole concoction is taken from the vat and poured over a large sheet of waxed paper on the floor of the factory. At this point the soap is a large, green, flat mass, and it is allowed to cool down and harden for about a day. While the soap is cooling, workers with planks of wood strapped to their feet walk over the soap to try to smooth out the batch and make it an even thickness. Then the soap is cut. Three workers drag a rudimentary, rake-like cutting device through the soap to cut it one way, then again the other way until the whole mass is cut into individual cubes. Each cube is stamped with the family name. The cubes of soap are then stacked in staggered cylinders to allow maximum air exposure. Once they have dried sufficiently, they are put into a special subterranean chamber to be aged for one year. While it is aging, the soap goes through several chemical changes. First, and most importantly, the free alkaline content of the soap (the alkaline which did not react with the oil during saponification) breaks down upon slow reaction with air. The moisture content of the soap is also reduced, making the soap hard and long lasting. And lastly, the color of the outside of the soap turns a pale gold, while the inside remains green. Ingredients
The main constituents of Aleppo soap are olive oil and laurel oil. The olive oil used is pressed from the left-overs of prior olive pressings, called "pomace" and is a green color because of the high amounts of chlorophyll (the organic compound which makes all plants green) in the pomace. This oil is used because it is cheap. Upon saponification, the olive oil loses many of its intrinsic qualities; however its high vitamin E content is thought to remain intact through to the finished product. Laurel oil is very expensive, and obtained, through various means, from most parts of the bay laurel tree. It is thought to have high antiseptic and antioxidative qualities. It also adds a nice scent to the soap. The sodium hydroxide used to affect saponification in the oils was formerly obtained from the "salsola kali" plant, which we would call a tumble weed. The plant was burned to obtain sodium carbonate in the ash, which upon a number of processes involving quick lime and water, is made into sodium hydroxide, a strong alkali. Currently, the sodium hydroxide used is obtained through various processes involving sodium chloride from sea salt. Properties
Aleppo soap's purity and simplicity -- olive oil is a natural moisturizer and laurel oil a cleanser -- contrast with modern soaps that use everything from pig fat to crushed horse bone, as well as "less noble" oils, such as palm oil or other seeds. Unlike most soaps Aleppo soap will float in water. Sapunul de Alep - Scurta descriere
Sapunul de Alep este considerat ca fiind cel mai natural sapun existent in lume. Nascut si inca fabricat in Alep, Siria, sapunul de Alep contine exclusiv ingrediente vegetale si este produs manual. Artizanii din Alep acorda o atentie deosebita fiecarei faze de preparare a acestui sapun care devine astfel unic in lume datorita ingredientelor folosite si a modului de preparare. Istoricul
Sapunul de Alep se considera ca a aparut in orasul Alep din nord-estul Siriei cu aproape un mileniu si jumatate inaintea erei noastre si ar avea prin urmare mai mult de 3500 de ani. Apoi, in timpul cruciadelor, reteta sa, comercializata ambulant pe cale orala de calatorii de pe Drumul Matasii, a ajuns in Europa prin Italia si Spania. Acesta ar fi, astfel, stramosul tuturor sapunurilor tari din lume, si in special, al sapunului de Marsilia, mult mai recent care dateaza de la sfarsitul secolului al XVII-lea. Compozitia
Ingredientul de baza este uleiul de masline la care se adauga un minim de apa, soda calcinata vegetala, obtinuta din cenusa de Samphire) si ulei de boabe si frunze de dafin (Laurus Nobilis), care ii confera culoarea sa verde, datorita prezentei clorofilei naturale inainte de uscare. Procesul de fabricare
Pentru saponificare, uleiul de masline este incalzit cu apa intr-un cazan de cupru imens, apoi se adauga uleiul de boabe si in special cel de frunzele de dafin pentru a completa aceasta reactie care dureaza mai mult de douazeci de ore. Pasta rezultata, de culoare verde, este apoi intinsa si taiata manual in calupuri. Aceste calupuri sunt apoi stivuite sub forma de turnuri pentru o perioada de uscare de 9 – 10 luni in beciuri foarte bine aerisite, dar ferite de lumina soarelui, timp in care sapunul capata o noua culoare maronie. Sapunul de Alep traditional se gaseste in general sub forma de calup dreptunghiular maroniu, pe care sunt inscrise numele producatorului si calitatea sapunului. Calitatea unui sapun de Alep este data de cantitatea pretiosului ulei de boabe si frunze de dafin care se regaseste in compozitia sapunului (poate varia de la 1% la 45%). Proprietati
Uleiul de masline hraneste si catifeleaza pielea, in timp ce uleiul de boabe si frunze de dafin restabileste filmul hidrolipidic care protejeaza pielea si de asemenea are un puternic efect antiseptic si dezinfectant. Utilizare
Deoarece restabileste filmul hidrolipidic al pielii poate fi utilizat zilnic fara moderatie si de asemenea pe termen lung. Este recomandat in tratarea eczemelor si a dermatitelor atopice atat prin utilizare locala (spalarea pielii) cat si ca detergent (multe dermatite sant cauzate de detergentii si balsamurile pentru rufe)
O alta recomandare este in igiena zilnica a celor care sufera de psoriazis. Este indicata in special combinatia de sapun de Alep cu namol de la Marea Moarta. Igiena este esentiala in tratmentul acneei. Sapunul de Alep are o actiune antiseptica, curata in profunzime si se opune blocarii porilor cu dopuri de sebuum. Se recomanda combinatia cu namol de la Marea Moarta si cu argila care ajuta la limitarea excesului de sebuum. O alta utilizare este in cazul crustelor de lapte (are o actiune emolienta) si a pielii uscate. Mai poate fi folosit ca sampon (o data sau de doua ori pe saptamana), ca masca faciala (lasati un minut apoi clatiti) sau chiar ca spuma de barbierit. De asemenea are un puternic efect antimolii asa ca poate fi depozitat in dulapurile cu haine.
