Product FAQs
Q: How is your soap made? First and foremost, our soap is made by-hand by our amazing team of skilled soapmakers. We begin by blending together plant-based oils and sodium hydroxide. The chemical reaction between these two creates what we know as soap. Any fats or oils can be used to make soap - we choose to use 50% olive oil and a blend of coconut and palm oils, to create nourishing soap that is great for all skin types. Each type of soap we create is unique based on the additional ingredients we mix in, to add value to the end product (for example, lavender essential oil, or calendula petals).
It is cut into bars by hand once it's extracted from our unique oval molds, edged to remove any soap burring from the cutting process, and shelved for two weeks in the curing stage. Curing helps any excess water to evaporate, leaving a hard and long-lasting bar. We could get more technical, but frankly, you'd likely yawn.
Q: Why do you use palm oil in your soap? Our palm oil supplier is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. RSPO certification is an assurance to the customer that the standard of production is sustainable. Palm oil adds two properties: hardness of the bar and stability of lather, which is why we choose to use it in our formulation.
Q: What does “cold-process” mean? In the process of making our soap, we do not add any extra heat to cause saponification of the oils. This heat-free method is one of the oldest and purest forms of natural soapmaking. It's unlike the commercial methods of soapmaking where soap is ground up, mechanically forced by pressure into bars. Ever notice the cracks that a bar of commercial soap gets after using it for awhile? You won't ever have that happen with ours.
Q: What are essential oils and do you use them in your products? Essential oils are potent compounds extracted from plants (leaves, stems, peel, root, flower, bark, etc). They can be used for therapeutic purposes and are often included in reputable personal care products to add additional efficacy or for a specific desired outcome.
Yes, most of our products contain either single notes or blends of essential oils.
Q: What are fragrance oils and do you use them in your products? Fragrance oils are lab-created scents that can contain both natural and synthetic components to achieve a certain scent profile. Yes, some of our products contain skin-safe, Health Canada/FDA approved fragrance oils. We choose only high quality, phthalate-free fragrances to enhance the user experience of our products.
Q: Why are the prices higher than what I usually pay for soap at the grocery store? Great question. High quality natural soap takes a great deal of labour and superior ingredients to make versus commercially-manufactured soap that you may find at your local grocery store. We do not use any cheap filler oils, nor do we use any detergents to make our soap, making it a more skin-friendly and higher priced product. But, in comparison to length of usage, our soap is actually not priced much higher than the other guys.
Q: How can I get product suggestions customized to me? Use our Product Recommendation Quiz to help you find the Wild Prairie products best suited to your skin type and scent preferences. Answer a few simple questions, and it will give you the top matches according to your responses. Stay tuned for our Wild Prairie dating app, matching you with potential suitors based on similar skin types and scent-preferences! (Just kidding, we're good but not THAT good. You're on your own when it comes to finding the love of your life).
Q: Are Wild Prairie products vegan? The majority of our products are vegan. Exceptions are those products containing beeswax (lip balm, lotion bars, as examples) and a few of our soap (Mango Kiss, Oatmeal Milk & Honey). For a full ingredient list, please check individual product pages, and look for the vegan symbol associated with those products.
Q: Which products are 100% organic? Our Organic Dandelion Balm and our Little Lamb Balm are both made with 100% natural and organic ingredients.
Q: What are the expiry dates? Many of our products should be used up within 1 year of opening. However, our natural bar soap has a 3 year expiry date, and our Hand & Body Wash has a 2 year expiry date.
Q: Are the shampoo bars safe for colour treated hair? Yes. We use all-natural, colour-safe ingredients in our shampoo and conditioner bars.
Q: Which products are safe for use during pregnancy? With the exception of our Knotty Body Soaking Salts and Lotion Bar, our products are safe for use during pregnancy. For specific concerns and questions, we recommend checking with your doctor or health care professional before using any new product that you may be uncertain about.
Service FAQs
Q: Do you have any stores in my area? If you live in the Edmonton, Alberta area, our flagship boutique and refillery is located at 10345 69 Ave. NW. We are open Monday through Friday from 9 am - 5 pm and Saturday’s from 10 am - 3 pm. We are closed on Sundays and all statutory holidays. To inquire about locations nearest you, feel free to email us at info@wildprairiesoap.ca.
Q: Can I change my order after it has been placed? Yes! As long as our customer service team hasn’t yet shipped your order, you can contact us to make changes. Send us an email to info@wildprairiesoap.ca or call our customer service team toll free at 1-866-681-7627.
Q: Do you ship outside of Canada? Yes, we do. We use Canada Post, FedEx, UPS, Canpar and other carriers to ship orders anywhere in the world.
Q: Can I return products that don’t work for me or I just don’t like? Technically, yes, you can. However, you must ship them back to us at your expense and pay for the shipping costs to have different products shipped to you. We only exchange products that are in their original condition and have not been used in any way. Because returning them to us is not usually worth the expense, we recommend either gifting the products to someone you feel might enjoy them more or leaving them for use by someone else in your home. You can find our Refund Policy page here.
Q: This is my first order, can I have a discount? We offer first order discounts of 10% when you join our newsletter. Feel free to sign up below! A discount code will be automatically sent to you for you to use within a few days (or, like immediately!).
Q: Do you offer bulk discounts? For specific bulk order inquiries please contact our team at info@wildprairiesoap.ca and indicate what products, how many and your timeline. Please note, we do not offer bulk discounts on fewer than 100 pieces.
Q: Canada Post lost my package, how can I still get the items I ordered? In the event that your package goes missing and Canada Post is unable to locate it, we will re-send your package and handle the claim with Canada Post. This is a very rare occurrence, thankfully.
Q: Do you wholesale your products? Yes, we love to find new stockists! If you have a brick and mortar store and would like to apply for wholesale, please fill out the application here. Our sales team will be in touch with you.
Q: What is your Accessible Soap for All program? We provide soap and soap ends (pieces from our cutting process) for those in need, via partnerships with various community organizations throughout Canada. This began in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, in an effort to help combat the spread of the virus, and helping to ensure that everyone who needed access to high quality soap could get it. We’re proud to say that to date we have given away over 7,800 bars of natural soap. Check out some of our amazing partnerships here!
If you are interested in learning more, or want to partner with us, please contact our brand manager, Naiomy, at naiomy@wildprairiesoap.ca and let us know what you're thinking!