To select the ingredients you want to use, first check close by your home (or work) if someone is selling those products (bio shop, drugstore, bio supermarket,..). Try it with what you find. And if you are happy with it, fine tune your own ingredient selection.
Soap
- Aleppo soap is made in Syria, in the region of the city of Aleppo, from olive oil and laurel berry oil (added at the end of the process).
- Marseille soap is made in France, in the region of the city of …. (do i really have to say it?), from olive oil and palm oil or copra oil (extracted from coconut). Beware of imitation using animal fat instead…
- Black soap is sometime use as unique soap or mixed with another one. It exist in liquid form or creamy (2 tablespoon liquid = 1 teaspoon creamy black soap).
If you use something else, check that it doesn’t contains glycerine (as it has the tendency to stay sticky in the water evacuation pipes…).
How to choose?
Both need to be imported from another continent (either soap; or its ingredients). But with the actual fuss about palm oil (deforestation to plant intensive culture of palm trees), Aleppo seems the more sustainable (eco, fair,…). However, you have to see what you can easily get.
I’ve just finish a bag of “soap flakes” which are apparently made of coco and palm oil only (from “la droguerie ecologique”)… I’ve search the details of the content for the purpose of this review… now that I know it, I want to use something else… the search starts again….
Soda
In household products, soda is very often used. You will hear of “crystal soda” (sodium carbonate, washing soda) and “baking soda” (sodium bicarbonate).
Crystal soda is used for white laundry as it is described to fade colored textiles. Don’t worry, not as bleach does; I’m using crystal soda for all my laundry, and I didn’t see the effect of crystal soda (yet).
Baking soda, can be used in the kitchen. Its structure is much lighter (fine powder). You can also find “technical sodium bicarbonate” which will probably be cheaper (i guess it is less pure, and therefore no to be use for cooking) .
I’m using both crystal soda and ” technical sodium bicarbonate”, but once my bag of technical sodium bicarbonate will be empty, I’ll switch to baking soda.
Essential oils
I’m definitely not an expert in essential oil. I use those ones:
- Lavender: nice smell and relaxing
- Tea tree: antiseptic
Eco With Kids 