About us
Our company
Lalep is a Syrian company specialized in producing and marketing Aleppo Soap (Savon d’Alep), and According to war in Syrian and growing demands on our products from Europe and Middle East we extended our business into Turkey producing the same traditional soap, making use of our experience and keeping up the same traditional composition that contains the same natural and eco-friendly ingredients.
Aleppo soap stands for a much older tradition than many of the detergents and washing agents that are in use nowadays. Olive oil and laurel oil are usually fundamental ingredients. Aleppo soap (arab: «sapun ghar») - the literal meaning would be laurel-oil-soap) is boiled with olive oil and laurel oil. Colourings, artificial flavours, foam stabilisers, perfumes etc.... are unfamiliar materials for traditional Aleppo soap boilers for two reasons. One is that they work with traditional formula. And then, their old-fashioned technology doesn´t encourage the blessings of modern chemical engineering, either. The simple, but labour-intensive production manufactures soap which skin friendly and environmentally friendly qualities are widely appreciated.
The ratio of olive oil and laurel oil varies from one sort to the other. Usually, Sapun Ghar contains between 2 to 40 percent of laurel oil, and therefore between 98 to 60 per cent olive oil – as far as oil is concerned. potash is another important part of the formula. Traditionally, the higher the laurel ratio, the more costly the production - and the more valuable the soap. Olive oil soap contains rather small amounts of laurel oil, if any. Chances are that it does contain at least a small share, as this is considered an appreciation of the product. Olive oil is used for exports to the EU more commonly than laurel oil soap. As a rule, the soap boilers in Aleppo work during winter – from November to March of each year. It takes about six to nine months for the products to dry on racks in well aerated arches.
This is how production works:
Olive oil is mixed with soda ashes in boiling tanks (normally industrial soda ashes these days), and boiled with up to 200 degrees C. under constant stirring, until the olive oil splits into glycerine and sodium salt. The adept decides when this process should be considered complete.
Shortly before this is the case with Sapun Ghar, laurel oil is added to the hot substance. Even the bigger tanks usually don´t offer more than about 5000 kg capacity for this mixture. The soap mixture is now pumped from the tank to an even ground (often on an upper floor). Here, it is then flattened or smoothed. After the substance has hardened sufficiently, the soap blocks as we know them are cut and, the seal of the producer moulded into it.
The soap pieces may keep their qualities for a number of years, and many people let it ripen further after buying it. For instance, some may store the soap as odor dispensers in garment closets. Thus, the foam gets more fine-pored, the piece of soap gets harder, and the soap will have a longer lifetime in use. The outside of the soap grows darker, as it ripens – provided that it is exposed to some daylight.
Olive oil contains several vitamines - especially vitamin E - and minerals. The olive oil share of these soaps can be up to 100% of the oil, as it has been appreciated for skin care around the Mediterranean for thousands of years. With the use of olive oil, particularly mild soap with dense and fine-pored foam can be made. The hand feels the oil, but no grease comes to the hand.