Amsterdam is best known for its canals, gabled houses, and café culture — but behind the picture-perfect scenes lies a city with an unexpectedly rich connection to soap, hygiene, and global trade. Long before natural soap bars became a lifestyle choice, the Dutch capital was setting the standard for cleanliness, centuries ahead of the curve.
A Reputation for Cleanliness
By the 1600s, visitors to Amsterdam were astonished by how immaculately clean Dutch homes were. Floors were scrubbed daily, facades were spotless, and house-proud women often washed the pavements outside their doors. Dutch paintings from this era — by artists like Pieter de Hooch and Johannes Vermeer — offer a window into this world: crisp linen, polished pewter, sunlit interiors… all pristine.
Cleanliness wasn't just functional — it was cultural. It reflected moral discipline, social status, and civic pride.
What Soap Did the Dutch Use?
Unlike regions such as Marseille or Aleppo, Amsterdam never developed its own iconic local soap recipe. Instead, the Dutch leaned on something else: trade.
As one of the world’s busiest ports, Amsterdam had access to:
Castile soap from Spain, made from olive oil
Palm and coconut oils from Africa and the East Indies
Aromatic resins, spices, and botanical ingredients via the Dutch East India Company
Potash and animal fat for more basic, household soaps
Soap in 17th- and 18th-century Amsterdam was both local and global — a melting pot of ingredients arriving from distant shores, then adapted for domestic life. While not always used for daily bathing (full-body washing was still reserved for special occasions), soap was a regular part of laundry, handwashing, floor scrubbing, and even perfuming clothing.
A Modern Return to Thoughtful Clean
Fast-forward to today and Amsterdam continues to blend clean design, thoughtful living, and global influence. Boutique shops across the city stock artisan soap bars, refillable shampoos, and plastic-free skincare — drawing on many of the same oils and plant-based formulas once imported through the port.
There’s a natural symmetry between that heritage and what we do at SOAPYARD.
Though not based in Amsterdam, Soapyard’s own roots lie in the world of European port cities. Our French-milled soap is made in Provence using time-honoured recipes, plant oils, and traditional craftsmanship — a modern reimagining of what once moved through Amsterdam’s harbours.
Why This History Still Matters
Understanding how Amsterdam washed tells us a lot about how we think today:
That hygiene is cultural, not just personal.
That the ingredients we use come from systems of trade, exchange, and history.
That simple products — like a bar of soap — carry centuries of meaning.
From the potash-scented homes of the 1600s to today’s minimalist bathrooms, one thing hasn’t changed: the belief that clean spaces help create calm lives.
Discover Our Collection
Inspired by Europe’s soap-making traditions — from Marseille to the merchant ports — SOAPYARD creates soaps with integrity, designed for daily cleanliness with a hint of luxury. Explore our artisan soap collection here.
🧼 Soap, Cleanliness & Hygiene History
Amsterdam Museum – Civic Guard Gallery & Historical Cleanliness
https://www.amsterdammuseum.nl/en
(Includes exhibitions showing how personal hygiene, civic pride, and domestic rituals evolved in Amsterdam)
Geheugen van Nederland – Public Bathhouses and Hygiene in 19th/20th Century Amsterdam
https://geheugenvannederland.nl/
(Search for: “badhuizen Amsterdam” or “hygiene geschiedenis” – excellent Dutch archive with photos and records.)
Het Schip Museum (Amsterdam School architecture and bathhouse movement)
https://www.hetschip.nl/en/
(Features social housing projects with communal washhouses – ties into Dutch pride in modern hygiene.)
⚓ Amsterdam as a Trade Port (Soap & Commodities)
Scheepvaartmuseum / National Maritime Museum
https://www.hetscheepvaartmuseum.com/
(Excellent insight into how soap and other commodities arrived via VOC shipping routes.)
Dutch East India Company (VOC) Archives – Soap, Spices, and Raw Goods
https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/1.04.02
(Search for records including oils, ashes, or lye – crucial to early soap-making and trading.)
Amsterdam City Archives
https://www.amsterdam.nl/stadsarchief/english/
(Invaluable source for early civic rules, market records, and cleanliness edicts.)
🌊 Water Management, Canals & Clean City Reputation
Waternet – Amsterdam’s Water Authority
https://www.waternet.nl/english/
(Maintains canals, sewage, and water quality – ties into why Amsterdam is considered exceptionally clean.)
The Cleanest City in Europe? (BBC Travel)
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230509-why-this-is-europes-cleanest-city
(An engaging article on Dutch civic pride in cleanliness—great for forwarding or quoting.)
Canal Tours & Engineering of Amsterdam’s Waterways
https://www.lovers.nl/en/amsterdam/canals/
(Background on the city’s uniquely engineered approach to cleanliness through water control.)
🏛️ Social History & Daily Life
Museum Van Loon – Life of a Merchant Family
https://www.museumvanloon.nl/
(Displays 17th–18th century bathrooms, kitchens, soap trays, and more—real life of Amsterdam’s elite.)
DutchReview – Quirky Cultural Habits, Cleanliness & Biking Culture
https://dutchreview.com/featured/why-the-dutch-are-so-clean/
(Informal but informative summary of the Dutch attitude to soap, showers, and tidiness.)
Keywords:
Amsterdam soap history, traditional soap Europe, cleanliness culture Amsterdam, natural soap trade, Soapyard soap, artisan soap made in France, global soap traditions, clean living heritage, port city hygiene history