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WHY BLOCK? The History, Industry, environment and soap on your skin.
Small Batch.
Top Notch.
British Soap.
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EARLY BRITISH SOAPMAKING
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THE INDUSTRY
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YOUR BODY
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THE ENVIRONMENT
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SOAP THAT JUST WORKS
Small Batch. Top Notch. British Soap.
CIVIL BLOCK is natural soap formulated to work the best. No compromise.
Science + Factories gave soap to the people
Ever heard of a British Soapery?
Not a big surprise – these things are no more. In the 1800’s, soaperies, or soap factories, covered the British Isles. Once poor quality and expensive, these new specialists produced a simple soap that was high performing and economical.
For the first time, the everyday British person had access to sanitation and personal hygiene for the masses, thankfully, was born.
How did this come about?
Britain had the biggest worldwide consumption of soap since Elizabethan times. However, it was secretive guilds that produced small quantities using procedures best described as alchemy.
However, at the turn of the 19th Century, a new understanding of science was born – Chemistry
This “atomic theory” demystified the soap making process, and soon after the first chemical production started – manufacturing base alkali from sea salt.
The Chemical Industry
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The Industrial Revolution
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The Golden Age of the British Soapery
CIVIL BLOCK is built from this Golden Age
The British Soaperies closed with the building of enormous factories.
Profit obsessed fat cats pushed for more automated production methods driving quantity, to the detriment of quality.
Naturally occurring Glycerin (we’ll look at this later) was problematic for the machinery, so was removed. Heat treated manufacturing destroyed many natural qualities.
The comparably inferior product could, however, be sold immediately, and for much cheaper.
But profits could get highter
During WWII, chemistry advanced to create something very new. A completely chemical surfactant, or as we know it now, detergent.
Industry embraced this cheap new technology. By adding synthetics to soap, the cheapest fat bases could be used, topping the poor performance up with detergents.
Further chemicals were developed, some foaming agents to create lather, some chemicals purely for cheap fragrance.
Profit obsession drove down price…
and quality
Ever heard soap dries your skin?
Ever watched Mad Men?
Cheap base soap plied with synthetics is only half the story
That skin of yours is no Rain Mac. It’s permeable. It breathes, absorbs + excretes. Synthetics and Petrochemicals found in mass produced skincare will enter your body through your skin. Really think it’s a good idea to rub that sh*t all over it?
Natural soap is simple and fantastic for the skin.
Something special happens when soap is made the traditional way – Natural Glycerin is created. This amazing by-product moisturises, aids the natural barrier function and mechanical properties of the skin, protecting against irritants and speeding up healing.
What do we do?
Load the soap with mineral rich clays, vitamin dense ingredients and powerful essential oils. Great soap, supercharged.
What does the Industry do?
Take the Glycerin out.
Tell you soap dries the skin.
And then…
Sell you the Glycerin back in expensive moisturisers and serums.
Those pesky advertisers deserve another yacht.
Made with plant based oils and simple base alkali, our soap bio-degrades quickly without causing the planet long term harm.
With a carbon neutral website hosted in the UK, lablels printed on uncoated FSC paper to ISO 14001:2015 Eco standard, and boxes made in house from UK manufactured 100% recycled card, we do everything we can to keep that footprint down.
How does this differ?
Some industrial ingredients never naturally decompose. Taking huge resources to produce, destroying the planet in the doing so, and can even be found in human breast milk. Nice.
To top it off, it gets packaged in plastic and shipped thousands of miles all over the world. Think planting a tree will make a difference?
How do we stop this?
Choose not to use these synthetics. Though government approved, we can all make our own decisions. CIVIL BLOCK gives you an option to choose an ethical, sustainably sourced, UK made Small Batch soap.
Better for everyone.
CIVIL BLOCK Small Batch soap
is much friendlier to our planet
To top it off, it works really bl**dy good.
Lets face it. Soap has a job. Not a glam one.
It’s all well and good being sustainable, ethical + small batch,
but if it doesn’t work, who cares?
Every BLOCK must pass 4 Checks:
1) A good hard, long lasting soap.
No messy sludge.
2) With a thick lather that stays put.
No flash in the pan.
3) That cleans oils and grease brilliantly.
No sweaty pits.
4) Leaving the skin fresh, moisturised and healthy.
No dryness. No irritation. No problem.
This is where the modern microsoapery excels
With an ethos from the Golden Age of the British Soapery –
to make quality soap available to the people.
With the best quality ingredients –
knowledge how to use them – sourced in the most sustainable way.
With equipment to calculate exact proportions,
exact temperatures and exact time to make it.
CIVIL BLOCK is natural soap formulated to work the best. No compromise.