Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, you can use soap instead of shower gel. A bar of soap is versatile and not only cleanses the body, but also the face and hair in a natural way. This saves space in the bathroom and significantly reduces plastic waste. The moisturising properties of soap provide the skin with the care it needs and support its regeneration after every use. Furthermore, soap is a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative, as it contains no chemical additives and requires no plastic packaging. Give it a go and enjoy the feeling of being completely at ease in your own skin!

Yes, soaps can also be used for skin conditions such as allergies, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis or blemished skin. High-quality soaps support the skin’s natural function and can provide relief even for sensitive or problem skin. As every skin type has its own individual needs, it is advisable to try the soap over a longer period of time. Here are some recommended soaps based on numerous positive customer reviews: For

allergies:
No. 08 Velvet Soap (unscented), No. 67 Healing Clay Soap (unscented) for face, body and hair

For very sensitive skin, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis:
N°01 Salt Soap, N°66 Healing Clay and Lavender Oil Soap for the face, body and hair For

blemished skin, acne:
N°01 Salt Soap, N°11 Tea Tree Oil Soap, N°27 Frankincense Soap with antiseptic properties Try

out which soap suits your skin best.

Yes, many of our soaps are versatile and can be used for both showering and washing your hair, depending on your personal preference. Examples of such all-round soaps include N°01 Salt, N°05 Blue Danube, N°27 Frankincense and N°46 Cedarwood. Any of our soaps is suitable for washing your body and hands.

To use the N°01 Salt Toothpaste Soap, wet the head of your toothbrush and rub it in circular motions over the soap a few times until a light lather forms. Then brush your teeth as usual. Give your palate a few uses to get used to the fresh, slightly salty taste. The soap leaves your mouth feeling pleasantly clean. Our N°01 Salt Soap has been tested by dentists and is also safe for children.

Hair soap cleanses the hair naturally by gently removing dirt, dandruff, sebum and oil. The plant oils and extracts it contains nourish the hair without artificial additives such as surfactants, parabens, microplastics or silicones. Whilst these additives, which are often found in conventional products, coat the hair and make it soft, they can, in the long term, be harmful to both the body and the environment. Hair soap makes no exaggerated claims, but reliably fulfils its function of thoroughly cleansing the hair without irritating the scalp. Over time, the hair and scalp can regain their natural balance. This can even result in the scalp becoming less oily – a practical side effect.

Hair soap should not be confused with ‘solid shampoo’ (shampoo bars). Solid shampoo is essentially liquid shampoo from which the water has been removed. It usually contains the same ingredients as conventional shampoo, often including strong surfactants such as sodium laureth sulphate. A glance at the list of ingredients reveals the differences.

Here are some general tips for washing your hair with hair soap:

WASHING YOUR HAIR:
Wet your hair thoroughly. Rub the soap directly onto your scalp to create a rich lather. Massage the lather thoroughly into your hair and scalp. Then rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water – it is better to to rinse for a little longer to ensure the soap is completely removed. You can repeat the process if necessary.

THE ACIDIC RINSE:
For extra shine, easier combing and to remove any soap or limescale residue, an acidic rinse is recommended. Mix 2 tbsp of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar with one litre of lukewarm water. After washing your hair, pour this mixture over the lengths of your hair or spray it on generously from a spray bottle. There is no need to rinse it out, as the smell will quickly dissipate as your hair dries. Be careful not to apply the acidic rinse directly to the scalp, as this can strip the skin of its natural oils and stimulate excess oil production. The optimal concentration and frequency of the acidic rinse depend on water hardness and hair type – a bit of experimentation is required here.

THE TRANSITION:
It is normal for your hair to feel different at first after washing with hair soap. It is often fuller and has more body, but may also feel slightly heavier. Give your hair time – depending on its condition and texture, the transition phase can last from a few days to a few weeks. During this time, the hair rids itself of all ‘old burdens’ (chemical residues and coating substances), and any previously invisible damage may come to light. With patience, your hair will eventually return to its original, natural quality.

Would you like some samples?
You’re welcome to ask for samples in our shops or leave a note with your next order (e.g. “Please include hair soap samples”). We’ll be happy to send you additional samples to try (subject to availability).

We use only the finest vegetable oils, extracts and natural treasures, sourced wherever possible from local and certified organic cultivation. We place great importance on working with Austrian suppliers, manufacturers and service providers – from packaging design and the sourcing of regional vegetable oils right through to carpentry work for our shops.

We source all our extracts, such as the edelweiss extract for the N°12 Alpine Rose, from a renowned supplier in Switzerland. The organic olive oil for the N°50 Olive Oil Soap comes from Turkey and Greece, whilst the organic lime blossom honey for the N°13 Honey Soap comes from Styria. We source hazelnut and poppy seed oil from a well-known Austrian oil mill; the whey comes from an Austrian organic farm; and the natural rock salt comes from Germany and Austria – these are just a few examples of our suppliers.

We source the valuable healing clay for our N°66 and N°67 healing clay soaps from a well-known salt lake in Ukraine. Some other ingredients not found in Europe, such as coconut oil, jojoba oil and cocoa butter, are sourced from trusted suppliers with certified organic cultivation.

Our fragrance essences come from a traditional Viennese perfume house. Even our perfumer’s father used to work with Friedrich Weiss, Vienna’s last soap maker, on these wonderful fragrance compositions. Some of these fragrances, such as the N°54 Viennese Fragrance or N°20 Sisi Violet, remain part of our range to this day.

Our soaps are made from coconut oil and lye. After saponification, we add further plant-based nourishing oils, extracts, essential oils or fragrance oils. Some soaps contain other natural treasures such as rock salt, healing clay, lava clay, whey and honey.

To enhance the enjoyment and expand the range, we use colours as well as fragrance compositions created individually in collaboration with our perfumer. A fragrance composition is a complex blend of scents. It usually consists of a mixture of natural raw materials (e.g. extracted plant and flower parts) as well as chemically synthesised fragrances (e.g. animal-derived fragrances such as amber and musk can now be chemically synthesised), which the perfumer skilfully ‘composes’. With the exception of certain components in our fragrance compositions, we use 100 per cent natural ingredients. We naturally avoid animal fats, palm oil, preservatives, emulsifiers, silicones, microplastics and other chemical additives.

The soaps in the “NATURREIN” range contain only natural fragrance essences and blends, whilst the soaps in the “TRADITIONELL” range contain fine fragrance oils, which may also include synthetic components.

All our soaps are biodegradable.

Yes, our soaps are not tested on animals. We do not carry out any tests on animals and do not use any ingredients that have been tested on animals.

We use certified organic coconut oil as the basis for our soap-making. ‘Cold-stirred coconut oil soap’ – that was the name given to this Viennese soap when it was produced in Stadlau by Friedrich Weiss, Vienna’s last soap maker. We are honoured to continue his life’s work and to remain faithful to the wonderful, secret basic recipe. In recent years, however, we have made some great improvements, such as switching to certified organic ingredients and regional vegetable oils, as well as developing new products such as tooth-brushing soap, intimate soap and salt soap.

How did we come to use coconut oil? Coconut oil has a long tradition in Vienna and is closely linked to our Viennese soap. Cocos nucifera, a tropical palm tree, was an important trade commodity around 1800. Even back then, Viennese soap makers appreciated the valuable nourishing properties of coconut oil and used it as a base oil. In fact, coconut oil was even pressed in Vienna itself.

Coconut oil is characterised by its excellent skin-nourishing properties and contributes to the fine, dense lather that defines our Viennese soap.

We source our coconut oil from certified organic cultivation in the Philippines. The plantations are visited by our importer several times a year to monitor compliance with harvesting conditions and ensure that high standards are maintained.

Our soaps are highly moisturising, with a superfat content of around 9 to 15 per cent. This superfat content ensures a wonderfully creamy lather and an unrivalled moisturising effect.

If you are looking for soaps with the highest superfat content, we recommend our ‘highly moisturising’ category. There you will find, amongst others, the following varieties: N°08 Velvet, N°16 Red Poppy, N°17 Grape Seed Oil, N°23 Tea Rose, N°25 Apricot Kernel Oil, N°28 Jade and N°47 Whey.

Real soap is always alkaline. During production, high-quality vegetable oils are mixed with lye, which gives the soap its cleansing power. The pH value of our soaps is around 8.5, which can have a positive effect on how your skin feels and on your general well-being.

Soap not only serves the purpose of cleansing, but also supports the skin’s natural functions. It promotes the deacidification of the body via the skin and helps to maintain the acid-base balance. After using a nourishing soap free from harsh ingredients, the skin can regenerate quickly and rebuild its protective lipid barrier. Thanks to the deep cleansing action, nourishing substances such as natural oils and extracts can be better absorbed by the skin. The slightly elevated pH level on the skin’s surface also boosts resistance to bacteria, viruses and fungi.

We can look back on decades of positive experience with alkaline soaps and bath additives in skincare. Feedback from our customers confirms our approach: this includes reports from doctors whose skin had been compromised by years of disinfection and the use of liquid soaps, and who now find their skin feels comfortable again thanks to our soap. Customers who suffer from skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis or psoriasis and have tried numerous products also report the long-awaited relief they have found thanks to our soap.

Our soaps have a pH value of approximately 8.5 and are therefore, like all handmade natural soaps, alkaline. These alkaline soaps differ from so-called ‘bar soaps’ or syndets (synthetic detergents), which contain chemically produced surfactants and often have an acidic pH value. Although they look similar to soap in their solid form, they are not genuine soaps. ‘Solid shampoo’ also falls into a different category: it is essentially liquid shampoo from which the water has been removed. Solid shampoo is based on the same chemical ingredients as conventional shampoo and often contains strong surfactants that are not found in real soap.

Real soap is produced through the natural saponification of fats – in our case, coconut fat and other vegetable oils – together with sodium or potassium hydroxide. One advantage of our handmade soaps is their high superfat content of 10–15 per cent, which ensures that the nourishing oils in the soap are retained and continue to care for and nourish the skin after washing.

Alkaline soap not only cleanses but also supports the skin’s wellbeing by gently caring for it whilst helping to deacidify the body.