Cut a bar of Aleppo soap in half and you find something no supermarket bar has: a tan crust around a deep green heart. That colour is the visible record of a recipe that uses two oils, a cauldron and months of patience.
This guide explains what Aleppo soap is, what goes into it, how it is made, and how to recognise the real thing, with every fact linked to its source.
Key takeaways
- Aleppo soap is a hard soap made from olive oil and laurel berry oil, saponified with lye and water. No fragrance, colourant or preservative is added.
- It is cooked, poured onto the factory floor, cut, hand-stamped and cured for 6-9 months (UNESCO, 2024).
- The laurel percentage, usually 0% to 40%, sets each bar's scent and price.
- War cut Aleppo's output from about 30,000 to under 1,000 tonnes a year; by 2019 around 12 factories had reopened (AFP, 2019).
- In December 2024, UNESCO recognised the craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar soap as intangible cultural heritage.
What is Aleppo soap?
Aleppo soap is a solid, handmade soap from Aleppo, Syria, made from olive oil and laurel berry oil. Makers cook the oils with lye and water, cut the set paste into cubes, stamp each cube and cure it for months. Nothing else goes in.
In Syria it is known as Ghar soap, after ghar, the local name for laurel oil (UNESCO, 2024). It is one of the oldest hard soaps still made today, although its exact origin is unknown. Popular claims about Cleopatra or Queen Zenobia using it are unverified (Wikipedia).
What is documented is its influence. Castile soap began in the same Levantine tradition: Mediterranean makers could not easily get laurel oil, so they dropped it and kept the olive oil (Wikipedia, Castile soap). Our guide to Aleppo vs Marseille vs Castile soap compares the three side by side.
Today the name covers both a method and an origin. A bar made with the same two oils in Spain or Belgium is Aleppo-style soap. A bar made the traditional way by Aleppo soap houses is Aleppo soap in the full sense. Our guide on how to spot fake Aleppo soap shows how to tell them apart.
What is in a bar of Aleppo soap?
A genuine bar has four inputs, and only two you would call ingredients: olive oil and laurel berry oil. Water and lye are the reactants that turn those oils into soap. Our full breakdown of Aleppo soap ingredients decodes the label line by line.
Olive oil
Olive oil makes up most of every bar, from 60% in a 40% laurel bar to 100% in a pure olive bar. Aleppo makers use a natural, locally produced olive oil the craft calls metraf (UNESCO, 2024). It gives a hard, slow-wearing bar with a dense, creamy lather.
Laurel berry oil
Laurel oil comes from the berries of the wild bay laurel tree. Families gather the berries in autumn, boil them until they split, and skim off the oil that rises to the surface (UNESCO, 2024).
The oil is dark green, strongly scented and far scarcer than olive oil. That scarcity is why bars with more laurel cost more.
Lye and water
Lye (sodium hydroxide) and water react with the oils in a process called saponification. When the reaction is complete, no free lye remains: it has become soap and natural glycerin. That is why many labels list the result, such as sodium olivate, rather than lye itself.
Pro Tip: Turn the bar over and read the label. If you see parfum, colourants, palm oil or anything beyond olive oil, laurel oil, water, lye and glycerin, it is not a traditional Aleppo bar.
How Aleppo soap is made
The method UNESCO recognised in 2024 still follows the same basic steps. Production runs through the cooler months, roughly November to March (New Lines Magazine, 2025).
- Harvest. In autumn, families gather wild laurel berries and boil them to release the oil.
- Cook. Olive oil, laurel oil and lye cook together in large vats. The boil traditionally lasts about three days (Wikipedia).
- Pour. The hot paste is poured across the factory floor and left to cool and harden for about a day.
- Cut. Workers walk across the slab in wooden shoes, level it with a rake and cut it into cubes.
- Stamp. Each cube is hand-stamped with the seal of the family that made it.
- Cure. The cubes are stacked in cylindrical towers or pyramids and air-dried for six to nine months (UNESCO, 2024).
Each step leaves a mark you can see on the finished bar: the flat underside from the floor, the straight cut edges, the stamp on one face, and the colour change from the cure. Our step-by-step guide to how Aleppo soap is made goes deeper, including whether you can make it at home.
Why Aleppo soap is tan outside and green inside
The colour is the clearest sign of a properly cured bar. While the cubes dry in their towers, air slowly oxidises the surface, turning it pale gold and then brown. The inside, sealed from the air, keeps the green of the olive and laurel oils (Wikipedia).
A cut face exposed to air slowly darkens too, so the green is easiest to see on a fresh cut. Our guide to why Aleppo soap is cured for months explains what the cure changes and why older bars wear more slowly.
The circular mark pressed into one face is the maker's seal. Each soap house stamps its own, so the seal identifies the family that made the bar (UNESCO, 2024).
What the laurel oil percentage means
The percentage on an Aleppo bar tells you how much of its oil is laurel; the rest is olive. Wikipedia cites 2-20% as typical and more than 16% as higher quality, while many sellers now offer 30%, 40% or more (Wikipedia).
More laurel means a stronger, earthier bay scent and a higher price. It does not make one bar "better". It changes the character. Here is how the four strengths in our Aleppo soap range compare:
| Bar | Laurel oil | Olive oil | Scent | Pick it if you want | Price from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pure Olive | 0% | 100% | Mild, almost neutral | The gentlest scent | €7.90 |
| 10% Laurel | 10% | 90% | A light note of bay | A first taste of laurel | €9.90 |
| 20% Laurel | 20% | 80% | Clear bay, earthy | The classic balance | €12.90 |
| 40% Laurel | 40% | 60% | Strong, resinous bay | The most laurel | €18.90 |
Our guide to the laurel oil percentage in Aleppo soap covers each strength in detail and how to choose.
Pro Tip: New to Aleppo soap? Compare the strengths before you commit. Our soap collection shows all four side by side, from Pure Olive to 40% laurel.
Find your strength. Not sure where to start? Compare all four strengths on one page and pick the scent you like. Shop the collection - free EU shipping over €50.
Where Aleppo soap is made today
For centuries, most of the world's Aleppo soap came from workshops in and around Aleppo. The war that began in 2011 changed that almost overnight.
AFP reported in 2019 that Aleppo province produced about 30,000 tonnes a year before the conflict. Output fell below 1,000 tonnes after 2012, then recovered to around 10,000 tonnes, with about 12 of roughly 100 factories working again (AFP, 2019).
Some families kept the craft alive abroad. The Kadah family's Aleppo factory was destroyed in 2014; they rebuilt in Nizip, near Gaziantep in Turkey, and have made soap there since 2015 (New Lines Magazine, 2025).
So is Aleppo soap made in Turkey? Some is, often by Aleppo families using the same method. Others went home: soap maker Ali Shami reopened his Aleppo workshop in March 2019. "I never stopped making soap throughout the war," he told AFP.
In December 2024, UNESCO added the craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar soap to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It describes a craft passed from parents to children across Syrian families (UNESCO, 2024).
Alepo buys its bars directly from soap makers in Aleppo. The full story of the war years is in our article on Aleppo soap and the Syrian war.
A short history of Aleppo soap
Nobody knows exactly when Aleppo soap was first made. Claims of 5,000 years or royal users circulate widely, but they have no evidence behind them (Wikipedia).
What is documented: Levantine makers produced hard soap from olive and laurel oil long before Castile soap, which grew out of that tradition (Wikipedia, Castile soap). The modern story is better recorded, as the timeline below shows.
Our history of Aleppo soap traces the full story, from Aleppo's soap houses to Europe.
How to tell real Aleppo soap from "Aleppo-style"
Four checks catch most imitations. You can do all of them in under a minute.
- Cut it. Real Aleppo soap is green inside and tan outside. A bar that is the same colour all the way through has not been cured the traditional way.
- Find the stamp. Look for a maker's seal pressed into one face.
- Read the label. Expect olive oil, laurel oil, water and lye, nothing more.
- Check the origin. Look for Syria or a named Aleppo soap house. "Aleppo-style" or "Aleppo recipe" usually means made elsewhere.
Price is a fifth clue. Laurel oil is expensive, so a very cheap "40% laurel" bar deserves a second look. Our guide on where to buy real Aleppo soap lists fair prices by strength, and the full 7-sign authenticity checklist covers the rest.
How people use Aleppo soap
Traditionally, one bar does a lot of jobs. People use Aleppo soap for hands and body, many wash their hair with it, and some use it to shave. Our guides cover what tradition says and what research shows and how people wash hair with Aleppo soap.
If you have sensitive skin, test it on a small area first. Our article on Aleppo soap side effects and pH explains why all true soap is alkaline and what that means.
Pro Tip: Keep the bar dry between uses. A bar left in a puddle softens and wears fast; on a draining soap dish it lasts far longer. More in our guide on how to use Aleppo soap.
Frequently asked questions
Was ist Aleppo-Seife?
Aleppo-Seife ist eine traditionelle feste Seife aus Aleppo in Syrien. Typisch ist eine Mischung aus Olivenöl und Lorbeerbeerenöl, die mit Wasser und Lauge verseift wird. Anschließend wird die Seife gegossen, in Stücke geschnitten, gestempelt und getrocknet. ALEPO bietet drei Lorbeersorten und eine reine Olivenölseife aus Aleppo an.
Woraus besteht traditionelle Aleppo-Seife?
Zur Herstellung werden Olivenöl, Lorbeerbeerenöl, Wasser und Natriumhydroxid verwendet. Die Lauge reagiert mit den Ölen zu Seife. ALEPO bietet außerdem eine reine Olivenölseife ohne Lorbeeröl an. Die Ölmischung beschreibt die Ausgangsöle; Bezeichnungen wie Sodium Olivate stehen für die daraus entstandene Seife. Die vollständigen Angaben findest du bei der jeweiligen Sorte.
Was bedeuten 10 %, 20 % und 40 % Lorbeeröl?
Die Prozentangabe bezeichnet den Anteil an Lorbeerbeerenöl in den verwendeten Ölen. Bei 20 % sind es 20 % Lorbeeröl und 80 % Olivenöl, bei 40 % entsprechend 40 % und 60 %. Sie bedeutet nicht, dass die fertige Seife zu diesem Anteil aus unverseiftem Lorbeeröl besteht. Unsere reine Olivenölseife enthält kein Lorbeeröl.
Wo wird ALEPO-Seife hergestellt?
Unsere Seife wird in Aleppo, Syrien, hergestellt. Der Versand an unsere Kundinnen und Kunden erfolgt aus Vilnius, Litauen. Herstellung und Versand sind also zwei verschiedene Schritte. Unter Unsere Geschichte erfährst du, wie die Seife gegossen, geschnitten, gestempelt und getrocknet wird.
Why is Aleppo soap dried for months?
Drying allows water to leave the freshly made soap so the bar becomes firmer. Bars are stacked with air gaps rather than packed tightly together. ALEPO’s product pages state nine months of air-drying; traditional production times vary by maker. Soap sold as a finished bar has already been dried—you do not need to wait another nine months after delivery.
Woran erkenne ich originale Aleppo-Seife?
Prüfe den angegebenen Herstellungsort, die vollständigen Inhaltsstoffe, den Lorbeerölanteil und die Angaben zum Hersteller oder Verkäufer. Ein Stempel, eine braune Oberfläche oder ein grüner Kern allein beweisen die Herkunft nicht. ALEPO-Seife wird in Aleppo, Syrien, hergestellt. Mehr über das Handwerk erfährst du unter Über uns.
The bottom line
Aleppo soap is two oils, lye, water and time. The tan crust, the green heart and the maker's stamp are the proof that the time was taken. The laurel percentage is simply a choice of character, from the mild pure olive bar to the deep bay of 40% laurel.
The craft came close to disappearing in the war. It is still here because families in Aleppo, and Aleppo families abroad, kept making it.
Try the real thing. Four strengths, made in Aleppo, cured the traditional way. Shop all four Aleppo soaps - free EU shipping over €50.
Sources
- UNESCO. "Craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar soap." Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, 2024. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/craftsmanship-of-aleppo-ghar-soap-02132
- AFP. "The scent of soap making returns to Aleppo." 22 March 2019 (via Business Standard). https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/the-scent-of-soap-making-returns-to-aleppo-119032201006_1.html
- New Lines Magazine. "The resilient artisans keeping Aleppo soap alive." 27 February 2025. https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/the-resilient-artisans-keeping-aleppo-soap-alive/
- Wikipedia. "Aleppo soap." Accessed 4 October 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_soap
- Wikipedia. "Castile soap." Accessed 4 October 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castile_soap
