Soap-making

The history of soap

The history of soap goes back to thousands years ago. The Sumerians and the Egyptians made it as a paste with animal fat and potash. At the time, soap was used for purposes other than daily hygiene: treating skin diseases, bleaching hair and laundry.

It was not until the 2nd century AD that the Romans started using soap for personal hygiene. Then, over the years, the uses of soap and saponification recipes diversified.

The Arabs were able to obtain firmer soap by using the ashes of sea plants that contain lye. Their know-how travelled from the Middle East to the Mediterranean area: Spain, Italy and especially France. And that is how the harbour of Marseille became the main transiting hub for soap!

The designation “Marseille Soap” refers to a revolutionary manufacturing process. Animal fat was substituted with olive oil from the Marseille area, and this made the soap firmer.

Despite the modernity of the soap industry, the basis of saponification has never changed. The process consists in combining lipids or fats with alkaline agents. There are two types of soaps :

LYE SOAP

Solid soap obtained by mixing vegetable oil with sodium hydroxide.

POTASH SOAP

Liquid and/or paste soap obtained by mixing vegetable oil with potassium hydroxide or potash.

Laboratoire Sandralex is proud of this thousand-year-old heritage which we are still putting to good use today! In order to adapt to the needs of today’s market, we offer soap products in various forms.

You can choose between raw materials such as soap pellets and liquid soap concentrates, or finished products such as paste soaps and transparent or liquid soaps.

Our products are manufactured with natural ingredients. Depending on the criteria in your specifications, the ingredients used may also be sourced from organic farming, which is currently in high demand !

Soap noodles

  • Conventional palm oil-free range

    Our soap noodles are essentially formulated with copra, sunflower or olive oil. As palm oil is responsible for the deforestation caused by the intensive monoculture of palm trees, we chose to limit its use in our formulas as much as possible in order to protect the biodiversity.

  • ECOCERT/COSMOS certified

    We produce soaps using a base of several vegetable oils: sunflower, copra or olive oil. Most of Laboratoire Sandralex soap noodles are of natural and vegetable origin and are COSMOS Natural and COSMOS Organic certified, two renowned certifications.

COSMOS Natural:COSMOS Organic
Rich in natural vegetable oils with many proven benefits, our soap pellets may be used as a base ingredient or additive to create your personal hygiene or detergent end product.

We also supply soap flakes and vermicelli made with nurturing olive oil.

Our COSMOS Organic certified pellets are made using organically grown oils and they contain at least 95% naturally sourced ingredients.

We constantly strive to offer our customers innovative solutions. Don’t hesitate to contact us for your development projects, we are at your service !

Liquid soaps

Liquid soap concentrates

Designed for manufacturers, our liquid soap concentrates are made using the vegetable and beneficial oils of your choice. Depending on their content, they may be COSMOS Natural or COSMOS Organic certified.

COSMOS Natural :  made with organically grown ingredients, these soaps can be manufactured using various plant oils: olive, laurel, copra, shea, sunflower… on request !

COSMOS Organic : made with 100% organically grown vegetable oils such as olive, coconut or sweet almond oil, our liquid soaps contain at least 95% naturally sourced ingredients.

We can develop new formulas for liquid soap concentrates tailored to your specifications. In any case, we will adapt to your needs !

Sandralex can supply neutral or semi-finished bases to design your products with the fragrances and additives of your choice. They are then bulk packaged in 10L to 20L canisters or jerrycans; 200L drums; 1,000L BIC vats or 25,000L tanks.

Custom-made liquid soaps

We offer a broad range of liquid soap formulas, both custom-made and full-service. Depending on your needs, we can include healthy vegetable oils such as argan or sweet almond oil.

Paste soap

Soft and creamy-textured, our paste soaps are made essentially with olive oil. We can also study your personalised development projects, formulated with different specific oils.

Our paste soaps can be packaged in jars and tubes and may be either COSMOS Organic or COSMOS Natural certified, depending on their ingredients. These products include a full range of soft soaps with different textures, all very respectful of our beautiful planet !

Transparent soaps

Soft and moisturising, our transparent soaps are glycerine-rich and naturally protect the skin.