Felted Soap | PomNoir

Handmade by Liz at Wild Grove in Bristol for The Ottowin Shop.

Soaps are handmade the traditional way by combining various oils and butters with sodium hydroxide (lye).

The "Hot Process" method of creating soap, characterised by the production of a hard, pleasant smelling soap was originally started in the Islamic Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age (854-925). The majority of this newfound luxury was produced in Syria, from a mixture of olive oil, ash and lime, this would then be brought to Europe to replace the cruder animal fat soaps. By the 13th century the manufacture of soap in the Islamic world have become virtually industrialised, with sources in Nablus, Fes, Damascus and Aleppo.