How AVA Cholayil makes the Medimix soaps

Handmade soaps have distinct advantages. They are good for the skin and the process of making is eco-friendly. AVA Cholayil does not use even a single unit of electricity to make its soaps. It makes as much as 15 crore units every year. Here is a snapshot of how it makes its Medimix Clear Glycerine soap. The photos were shot at the company's Pondicherry factory.

Seen here: Raw materials (coconut oil, palm oil and caustic soda lye) are unloaded from trucks from an elevated ramp and stored in separate ground level tanks. The raw material is not pumped but flows on account of gravity

Gravity is the driving force for the soap-making process. The raw materials are pumped to overhead tanks (which has capacity to hold stock required for a day's production) using hand-rotated pumps.

The soap is made by first melting fatty acids and solvents separately (in the upper deck). Once the fatty acid is liquefied, colours and herbal extract are added and it is transferred by pipes (again using gravity) to the mixing drum (in the second deck). The mixing happens through hand-rotated wheels. Caustic soda lye is added and this triggers the saponification process and what emerges is the soap in a semi-solid form. To this melted solvent is added and the soap gets liquefied. Solvents give the soap its transparent form. Perfume is then added.

Another round of mixing happens to get homogeneity.

The liquid soap is then transferred to cooling drums placed at ground level.

The cooling drums are then stored for maturation (the hot liquid soap cools and turns into solid). This takes five days.

After 24 hours, the cooling drum is removed and the mould is stored to complete the process of maturation.

After five days, the fully mature mould is taken out and weighed.

The mould is then cut into plates using a hand-rotated machine with metal wires slicing it.

Plates look like these.

Plates are then cut into bars.

Bars are then cut into cakes.

Cakes are then readied for stamping.

Stamping gives the final shape to the soap and embosses the brand name on the soap.

A stamped soap looks like this.

The stamped soap is then packed...

and readied for despatch.