Claus Porto

The oldest and most prestigious soap making factory in Porto, Portugal, CLAUS PORTO was founded in 1887 by two world renowned chemists: Ferdinand Claus and Georges Schwedder. Together they created the base for what was to become one of the most important soap making factories ever. Hindered by the advent of the WWI, the two German founders were forced to leave Portugal forever and sold the company to one of its executives, Achilles de Brito. Under his expertise and guidance the company flourished and became renowned throughout Europe as the best soap making factory in the world. Soon after, famous fragrance and fashion houses in France, England and Spain came to Porto to have all of their soaps made by CLAUS PORTO, renamed ACH BRITO after its then current owner. The factory today is still family owned and run by the great grandson of Achilles de Brito. At this 117 year old company, the family continues with the great soap making traditions that were a matter of honor for the original founders.

Other companies use modern automated methods, and lower quality ingredients for one simple reason: to make more product in a less expensive fashion, or, quite simply, modern technology has left the human out of the equation. At CLAUS PORTO / ACH BRITO it is exactly the opposite. The time - honored tradition of milling seven times (milling refers to the process of "mixing" the soap; the more times that the soap elements are passed through the mill, the more air bubbles are forced out of the mix and the more the fragrance is evenly distributed) has remained to this day the secret of the success of the CLAUS PORTO line. Milling seven times renders a dense, hard soap that is fragrant down to the very last bit, doesn't needlessly split or crack and gives a rich creamy lather. All of the soaps are naturally air - dried (as opposed to hot air machines which dry other soaps on the outside, leaving them soft and gooey on the inside and eventually causing them to crack and melt down to ugly blobs after being used) on racks for two to three weeks, ensuring an even, consistent bar. These luxurious and creamy bars are made with coconut oil and enriched with 2% shea butter to moisturize, protect, and replenish the skin's natural protein complexes. The highest quality fragrances from the south of France are used to create the exotic, lingering scents that have made these soaps so famous. The final soap product, and more importantly the base ingredients (many soap producers cannot make this claim) are never tested on animals. As this soap is completely natural and 100% bio-degradable, it is environmentally friendly.