'SAVON DE MARSEILLE', GREAT SOAPMAKERS SINCE 1370

The sun has shone again in the sky of Marselha after a few days of torrential rain. Storm Ingrid has said goodbye to us, but storm Joseph is expected to arrive in the next few hours.

The other Joseph (de Ca'th Lon) has visited the Musée du Savon de Marseille with Claire Fontaine and The Grandma today. Marselha has many elements that make it famous and prestigious around the world and one of them is its soap, manufactured since the 14th century. After visiting the museum, they will taste a fantastic bouillabaisse, a daube, some supions and buy some oreillettes of Provence for the trip they will take this same afternoon to Montpelhièr.

They have been wonderful days in Marselha, a city that The Grandma loves very much and to which she hopes to return soon. Now, they will visit another of the cities loved by her, a city that has been beating for centuries and that keeps Occitan culture alive.

Savon de Marseille or Marseille soap is a traditional hard soap made from vegetable oils that has been produced around Marseille, Provence, for about 600 years.

The first documented soapmaker was recorded from the city in about 1370. By 1688, Louis XIV introduced regulations in the Edict of Colbert limiting the use of the name Savon de Marseille to olive oil based soaps. The law has since been amended to allow other vegetable oils to be used.

By 1913, production had reached 180,000 tons. Thus, in 1924, there were 122 soapmaking companies in the Marseille and Salon-de-Provence areas combined. However as of 2023, there were only four remaining, all part of an association called Union des Professionnels du Savon de Marseille (UPSM).

Traditionally, the soap is made by mixing sea water from the Mediterranean Sea, olive oil, and the alkaline ash from sea plants together in a large cauldron (usually making about 8 tons). This mixture is then heated for several days while being stirred continuously. The mixture is allowed to sit until ready and is then poured into a mold and allowed to set slightly. While still soft it is cut into bars, stamped, and left to completely harden. The whole process can take fourteen days to a month.

Today there are two main types of Marseille soap: the original greenish-hued variety made with olive oil, and a white one made of palm and coconut oil mixture. Originally sold only in 5 kg and 20 kg blocks, they usually come in 300 g and 600 g squares nowadays. Though smaller and larger sizes are available, from 15 g guest soap up to a 10 kg  self-slicing block.

Marseille soap is frequently used for domestic cleaning, including hand-washing of delicate garments such as those made of wool or silk. In its liquid form it is commonly sold as a hand soap. It can also be used in agriculture as a pesticide.

More information: Savonnerie Marseillaise de la Licorne

In Marseilles they make half the toilet soap 
we consume in America, but the Marseillaise 
only have a vague theoretical idea of its use, 
which they have obtained from books of travel.

Mark Twain