Frequently Asked Questions

Have you guys seen Fight Club?

Yep, big Brad Pitt fans over here!

Why is it called Ground Soap?

Good question! No, it isn’t made from dirt. It's also not ground up and pressed together or anything weird like that, It’s just made from ingredients that grow from the ground, It’s that simple. We came up with it over ten years ago and if I remember correctly there was wine involved.

Can I use Ground Soap on my face?

Yes! It’s actually a big part of many people’s face routines. Ground Soap is cold processed which allows us to make it both cleansing and moisturizing at the same time. Generous amounts of organically grown Shea, Mango and Cocoa Butters provide a natural moisturizing lather that is not only safe for sensitive skin, but often helps improve things if you’re used to using cleansers or soap with preservatives and harsh detergents. Face Mate is the fan-favourite face cleanser with Plain Jane a close second.

What is the PH of your soap?

We make cold process soap which ends up at a PH of between 9 and 10. This is the normal range for all true soaps because below that range, soap loses its ability to clean. Your skin is slightly acidic and is typically around a PH of 5 and that disparity has caused much debate in the past few years. Most dermatologists agree that washing with soap raises your skin's PH only slightly and it typically returns to normal in only a few minutes. Our recipes also use a process called superfatting to leave a small amount of moisturizing oils and butters behind and make sure your skin is left nourished.        

Is this Hippie Soap?

Yes…we think. It’s Cold Processed soap that starts with a terribly decadent recipe and is made using the best ingredients grown on earth by pretty cool people. If that sounds like what you think of Hippie Soap then we’re just fine with that. We don’t wear bell-bottoms but we do give out free love.  

Can I buy Ground Soap in stores?

Maybe. Ground Soap is available in retail locations around Canada, the United States and Europe and a full list can be found on our Retail page.

Is there Palm oil in it?

No. Palm Oil is the bad guy of the natural oils. Not through any fault of its own, but more by way of its ubiquitous use by humans and what we do to produce enough of it to meet global demand. Food producers worldwide use vast amounts of this cheap oil in everything from bread to chocolate and lipstick to commercial detergents. In fact it’s found in some form in about half of the products in your local grocery store. The problem is that palm oil production is associated with wholesale rainforest destruction, forced labor, often by children and the habitat destruction of thousands of endangered species. As a consumer, choosing not to buy it is complicated by the fact that there are reportedly hundreds of names for it and thousands of derivatives of it… so good luck. A good rule of thumb is to look for any name containing palm like palmate, palmitate, palmitic etc. in the ingredients of your food and household products. It goes without saying that there’s none of it in Ground Soap.

Is Ground Soap safe for sensitive skin?

Yes. While we certainly can’t identify the nature of each person’s skin issues and what triggers them, we know the most common culprits. Contact dermatitis is almost always caused by an irritant that comes in contact with the skin, and if you think about all the things that you put on it over the course of a day you can get a little closer to finding the culprit. If you wash your skin in the morning using some kind of cleanser, then apply moisturizer, and then maybe make-up and a body spray followed by deodorant and perfume, you’ve potentially set the scene for a skin revolt. Unless all of those products were squeaky clean you may have a cocktail of chemical irritants in direct contact with your skin all day, every day; and all this even before your evening routine. Maybe this doesn’t affect you at all but if you think you have a problem with sensitive skin, the products you use are the first place to look. We regularly hear from people that Ground Soap works perfectly on their sensitive skin and using it has improved things, but we’ve never heard from anyone that Ground Soap has irritated their skin. All-natural ingredients in proper proportions are the key and we take great care to make sure that all our soaps don’t just work and smell great, but are also balanced and gentle. We’re really proud of Ground Soap and hope that it contributes positively to your overall skin health, even if it's sensitive.

Note; Warming oils like cinnamon and mint are not suggested for sensitive skin so soap varieties like Backbone and Body Breath should be avoided. People with overly dry skin should avoid using natural soaps because higher PH products can compound this condition. 

How long do they last?

Really that depends on how much you use it, but generally our bars last a long time when taken care of properly. “Taken care of?” you ask. “Like I need more to do. Plus, It’s just a bar of soap right?” Don’t worry, this is easy. Check out our “Care and Keeping” page for some easy to do tricks to make your soap last a long time.

Do you have any other scents?

We currently make ten varieties of soap using a total of fifteen different essential oils to scent them and we feel like these represent the key pillars of what we like to do. There are lots of other great essential oils to blend but for reasons like volatility, preference and cost, it isn’t practical to use them in our soap. One of the hardest things to achieve in soap making is natural scenting. Essential oils are famous for evaporating away before you get to enjoy them and we don’t use any artificial fixers to keep smells from fading. Our ten varieties have been formulated using healthy amounts of relatively stable essential oils and inventory is managed so that orders are fulfilled with freshly made soap that has a shelf life of one year.

What are your personal favs?

Face Mate has become my practical favourite. I have oily skin that’s prone to breakouts and it controls these issues well. But when I have some time to enjoy it, Black Cricket or Aum are my guilty pleasure favourites. I also love a cool shower with Body Breath after a workout or even before bed sometimes. It’s refreshing, tingly and exfoliating and gives me a very clean feeling. I also have a soft spot for Grove because it reminds me of being a kid playing in the woods.

Do you have a shampoo bar?

Not officially, but lots of people tell us they use our soaps in their hair. A caution though; while most people can use cold process soap in their hair without issue, it does have a higher PH than commercial shampoo and your scalp can be sensitive to this because it has a different chemistry than the rest of your skin. Boldly Humble has a secret to tell though. Years ago A friend of mine noticed that Boldly Humble had cleared up his dandruff and the first thing I said was “why are you washing your hair with it?” I didn't actually know at the time that guys will use bar soap in their hair when they run out of shampoo but that’s beside the point. The lesson here is that the anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties of anise oil seem to have an effect on dandruff. After a bit more research we discovered that it’s also anti-parasitic and has a pretty decent track record on lice.