Made in Chorley: The story of the Droyt Soap Factory

Lancashire Post

Droyts has a rich history dating back to 1893, and still to this day produces the finest glycerine soap, made by hand in a Victorian cotton mill in Chorley, Lancashire.

Transcript

00:00It's a very interesting building to be in. We could have this company making the same soap

00:22on an industrial estate. Absolutely not a problem. In many ways it would be easier,

00:27but you would lose a little bit of that historical connection.

00:33Droits is an amazing old glycerin soap manufacturer founded in Minsk in 1893, of all places, in Belarus.

00:44We started making a figure soap called PC-49 in the 1950s, which was an amazing product

00:49and became a big seller for Droits. It was a little policeman and there were teams of

00:56people upstairs painting little gold buttons and gold emblems on the helmet of the PC.

01:02Amazing product. But then, over the years, the figure soap market declined and the glycerin

01:10soap market was taking off. So the decision was made in the 80s to stop making solid soap

01:14and make glycerin soap. And that's what we've been making ever since.

01:18A glycerin soap is a very interesting product. Glycerin is a moisturiser. So with the glycerin

01:31soap, it doesn't leave the skin feeling as dry. And this is a hard thing to do. You can't really

01:38mechanise that process.

01:40When I first started, we only made two types of soap, Audiclone and Yellow Rose.

01:46And now we're probably over 30 different types now what we produce. But we can produce any soap

01:52for anybody really. If they want a certain colour or a certain perfume, then we can do it.

01:58I first started back in 1980, two weeks after leaving school.

02:04My mum was working here then, and the rest is history. Depending on what we're doing,

02:10if we're manufacturing, I'm in that side of the manufacturing side most of the day.

02:16Then basically, if any wagons roll up to be loaded or unloaded, then we break off that. Then we're

02:22here cutting blocks of soap for the women to process. And then, before you realise it,

02:26it's time to go home again.

02:27The factory is run with steam boiler. So it's steam heating. We have a drying room,

02:34steam heating in the winter for the factory. The manufacturing is all run with steam.

02:43So we're now standing in the boiler room. This boiler has been here since 1985, I think.

02:49This is responsible for heating the factory, for warming our drying room, and for manufacturing.

02:58It's almost, you're fair to say, when this breaks down, the whole factory shuts.

03:02It's an incredible old thing steaming away.

03:07This is our mixing pan. In the 80s, everything used to be done by hand.

03:13This is where we add all the ingredients. Start the process. And you can see inside,

03:21all nice and clean, ready for the next soap making. You pump from here into a frame.

03:28These were bought by the company in 1947, I think. So we can pump in a ton of soap,

03:36let it solidify. So you take off one side, and then you take off one end, and then you take off,

03:44you know, and you have to be careful. So two guys have to do this because they're heavy.

03:49You do occasionally get leaks, and you can see the little dribbles down here. We do not take these off.

03:57If there's a little fault in the little channel that the soap can get through,

04:02we do not want to unblock it. So we just leave everything in place, because that kind of seals it up.

04:11And that could be really old. I have no idea. That could be historical.

04:19When the soap is made, we store it for at least two weeks. And there are rows of soap

04:25every way you look. So we cut everything with wires. We cut the block into plates,

04:37and then we cut the plate into bars.

04:39And then we take two bars or three bars at a time, and then push them to an end of a stop.

04:55And they're put in the racks for a day, and then they go into our dry room for a day.

05:13And then they come out and are stamped on the stamping machine.

05:30And that's the whole process. And each process takes a day.

05:40It's really easy to think about, and then they go into their own US.

05:44And they continue to make a look.

05:45And they can't use the code to make a look like you're going to make a look like you're waiting for a day.

05:47They go out and that's the thing.

05:47Now we go out and do that.

05:50But we make sure it's a good deal.

05:51And there's a goal.

05:52Well, if you come out and make a look.

05:54Then we make a look like a big one.

05:55Well, maybe, I'll see you next time.

06:00And I'll see you next time.

06:01Bye.

06:02Bye.

06:04Bye.

06:05Bye.

06:07Bye.

06:08Bye.

06:09Bye.

06:10Bye.

06:10You would ask people, you know, maybe 10, 15 years ago, what's a glycerin soap?

06:24Most people don't know.

06:26But people who use our soap love it.

06:30Keeps you clean.

06:31People say you've got a clean job, but sometimes it's not.

06:35I commute on the train.

06:36I don't want to overpower all my fellow computers, but at least it's a nice smell and not horrible.

06:40It's a nice smell.

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