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Our History

Pure Ratbag is named after my precious yet mischievous daughter Indiana.

In fact my branching out into the world of handmade products, was all because of her. I had looked into all natural products before, but I didn’t really do any serious research until she was born back in 2007.
After doing some research into bath and body products, I was shocked to find out what some of the ingredients that were in some everyday products especially baby and children’s products. It was very eye opening to read about what they really were and what harm they could actually cause. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the only way I could be sure what was in my products was if I made them myself.

I have always been art and crafty and have worked in the manufacturing industry before developing and making candles, so I did a short course in soap making , bought lots of books and started experimenting.
One particular aspect I was also conscious of was the use of Palm Oil. From day one, I had decided that any soap I was going to make would be completely Palm Oil Free. Although Palm Oil is a natural oil, with great benefits, it does come at a great cost to the native Orangutan’s. There are companies who supply Palm Oil from sustainable sources, but I just decided that it wasn’t something I wanted to use. You can read more on our ‘Palm Oil Free’ page, or go to www.orangutans.com.au This decision did make it harder to formulate a bar that had the right hardness and it has made the production costs of each bar far higher. But at the end of the day I think it’s well worth it.

When I started making my own soap a couple of years ago, it was originally just something I thought I would make for me and my family. But it seems I was bitten by the Soap making bug, and the more I explored and made, the more I enjoyed it. People other than family started asking about it and wanting to get their hands on some. So I decided that maybe I could make a small business out of it. I spent a good 12 months experimenting and testing different formulas, using the best natural oils and ingredients I could find. Finally I came up with one I was really proud of, and with that Pure Ratbag was born.

Jodie x