Italsilva's innovation in Marseille Soap

A classic product, Marseille soap has been merged with the most modern technology made available by research and a century of experience at Italsilva in the production of soaps and detergents: guaranteeing consumers traditionally effective products that are in tune with the times. In 1997, Italsilva enacted its great revolution of transforming a classic product, solid Marseille soap (the traditional soap “bar”), into a liquid, easy dosage and simple to use product that preserves the same characteristics as the “original” product: its exceptional cleaning and hygienizing power also has a delicate touch on fine treated fabrics (for laundry detergents) and skin (for beauty care products). Marseille soap is hypo-allergenic and presents a balanced physiological pH level, delicate enough to be used even on gentle baby skin: if it can be used on a baby's skin, it can certainly be trusted on delicate fabrics!

History

The history of Marseille soap dates back to the 9th century. Tradition in the region of Liguria has it that in the city of Savona a fisherman's wife first came across this soap in an absolutely accidental, "household" manner by boiling soda lye in a pot containing olive oil. Since then, this laundry soap has been produced with primary materials deriving from natural vegetable fats from olives, natural soda and essential citronella oil, which lends Marseille soap its typical and unmistakably characteristic fragrance. The development of the soap industry along the coastal cities of the Mediterranean (Savona, Genoa and Venice) was favored by the presence of olive oil and natural soda obtained from the ashes of sea plants. The first soap factories were therefore established in Liguria, specifically at Savona, where soap-making became a flourishing business already in the 15th century.
During the 1600s, due to a stoppage in industrial activity throughout the Italian peninsula as a result of frequent invasions, supremacy in the soap trade was passed on to the French: Colbert, a minister under Louis XIV (the Sun King), called in master Ligurian soap-makers and built soap factories in Toulouse and Marseille. The area around Marseille, in particular, distinguished itself immediately for the high quality of the primary materials used in its soap factories. All of which explains the close bond which still today links this soap to Marseille - even though the origins of this noble and ancient product derived from natural ingredients are distinctly closer to Italy... we need only point to the linguistic similarity between “Savona” and "savon", the French word for soap. The overall versatility of Marseille soap allowed its use to be immediately and widely disseminated: its success was therefore ordained.
The history of Marseille soap goes back hundreds of years, and the manufacturing norms and guidelines of this irreplaceable product were established by an edict issued by the Sun King himself. The production techniques and natural ingredients employed in the making of this product are steeped in tradition, yet render it modern and capable of satisfying even the most demanding consumers.