Handmade Soap in Winnipeg — Made in St James
We make our soap here in Winnipeg, in the workshop behind our shop at 2082 Ness Avenue in St James. Not imported, not white-labelled, not made in batches of ten thousand. Cut by hand, cured on racks in the back, and sold a few metres from where it was poured.
How our soap is actually made
Every bar is cold process. Oils and butters are blended with a lye solution, poured into moulds, left to set overnight, then cut and racked to cure for four to six weeks before it goes on the shelf.
That cure is the part most people do not see, and it is the part that matters. A properly cured bar is harder, milder and lasts considerably longer in the shower than a young one. It is also why we cannot simply make more when a scent sells out — a new batch is a month and a half away.
What natural soap means to us
The word gets used loosely, so here is what we mean by it.
- Full ingredients listed. Every product page carries its complete INCI list. No proprietary blends, no vague “botanical complex”.
- Plant oils and butters as the base — olive, coconut, shea, cocoa — rather than detergent bases.
- Small batches. Quantities small enough that we know what went into each one.
- No unsupported claims. Soap cleans. We do not tell you it treats anything, because that would not be true and it would not be legal.
What we make
- Bar soap — plant-oil bars in scents from Lavender Sage to Canadian Lumberjack, plus unscented and fragrance-free options
- Speciality bars — African black soap, neem oil, hemp seed, oatmeal milk and honey
- Whipped and foaming soap — for hands and for anyone who prefers a pump
- Shampoo and conditioner bars — plastic-free hair care
Why buy handmade soap in Winnipeg
Winnipeg is hard on skin. Minus thirty in January, dry indoor heat for five months, then a humid July. A mass-market bar built for a mild climate can leave skin feeling tight within minutes of a shower here.
Handmade cold-process soap keeps its natural glycerin, which commercial manufacturers usually remove and sell on. That glycerin is a large part of why a handmade bar feels different in a prairie winter.
What else is in the shop
Roughly half the shop is ours, and half belongs to other Canadian makers.
Ours: cold-process bar soap, whipped and foaming soap, body butter, lotion and lotion bars, facial oils, masks and serums, bath salts and soaks, shampoo and conditioner bars, and household cleaners.
Theirs: hand-poured candles, aromatherapy blends, crocheted toys, hand-decorated glass mugs, jewellery, raw Manitoba honey, hot sauce, sourdough and more. Read about the makers we carry, or shop the Artisan Studio.
There is also a refill station, where you bring your own bottle and pay by weight.
Come and smell them first
Soap is difficult to buy online. Scent descriptions only go so far, and the difference between a bar you use once and a bar you re-buy is usually something you can only tell by picking it up.
We are on Ness Avenue in St James, in the same stretch as the everyday errands, so it is easy to fold into a trip you were making anyway. There is parking at the door, everything is out on the shelf, and you are welcome to smell the lot.
The late closes on Tuesday and Wednesday are there deliberately, for anyone who cannot get to a shop before five.
Visit us
Pure Wash
2082 Ness Avenue, Unit 8, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 0Z3
431-450-5011
Open Tuesday to Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday. See full store hours and location.
Not near Ness Avenue? We ship across Canada. Shop soap online, or read about our skincare.