The Fragrance of Arosa

In Arosa, there is a quiet rumour that no local family smells quite as wonderful as the Urechs. And for good reason. For soap maker Beat Urech and his family, everything revolves around crafting and selling heavenly scented natural soaps from the mountains of Arosa.

The idea of making the world a little cleaner – with a soap as natural as Arosa’s stunning surroundings – never left Beat Urech. Trained as a pharmacist, he became familiar with glycerine, lye and essential oils at an early stage. In his search for a pure solution, free from chemical additives and artificial fragrances, he discovered an old soap manufactory in Vienna. Once bitten by the soap-making bug, the first bucket of Original Arosa Natural Soap was soon mixed.

“Soap is not just soap.”‍– Beat Urech, Soap Maker

For more than ten years now, Beat Urech has been perfecting his recipes in the family-owned manufactory. With great care, he prepares precious essential oils and carefully selected natural ingredients such as herbs, woods, honey or hay from Markus Lütscher – a “true Arosan” whom we have already introduced in our newspaper.

With love and patience, melted fats, oils and lye are blended until the so-called “soap wedding” takes place at exactly 40 degrees Celsius and the mixture slowly begins to thicken.

The intense fragrance is created by gently adding essential oils and local ingredients. The soap is poured into moulds, cooled by the Alpine climate and stored for three days. Afterwards, it is cut into individual bars and stamped with the Seifenmacher logo.

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Before being sold, the unwrapped soaps rest for 30 days in spruce wood boxes. During this time, mother Elisabeth takes care of packaging and shipping the soaps to the lowlands, while father Armin provides technical support and always keeps a cool head. That the whole family has taken on the scent of soap is hardly surprising.

These soaps are almost too precious for simple handwashing. They are best enjoyed in the shower: handcrafted Seifenmacher soaps not only cleanse thoroughly, but also nourish the skin, leaving it soft and smooth.