Our Story

Proper soap was started by an English woman that was keen to add to the stories of NZ of ‘making a difference’ realising that dogs were not as catered to as humans, she quickly coined the idea of Fur Specific Dog Soap. Humans have all of their needs covered with curly hair shampoo, dandruff shampoo, dry hair shampoo. So what do we do for our dogs with their different fur types and skin needs?

Penny, the Founder of Proper is an Animal Biologist (Bsc 1stHons) and a qualified Aromatherapist, she soon turned the idea into products. The soaps were carefully designed as many oils are toxic to dogs (such as cocoa butter - a popular soap oil). More importantly, essential oils are not yet (in science) declared as safe (or unsafe) for dogs… why? because they have nose senses 100,000x greater than ours (that is a real fact)! Why even risk adding such strong oils or additional fragrances… can you image how irritating that would be!

Proper now has a range of products that are suited to all dogs (long fur, double fur, smooth fur, wooly fur and even the pampered pooch). The Proper dog range bars are specifically tailored to meet the needs of dogs with different fur and skin types and it is 100% safe (even to eat - but we would not recommend this!) without causing any unnecessary irritation. Soaps for dogs that are on the market are filled with detergents, artificial additives, dyes and other nasties that cause harm in the long term Essential oils are amazing - but they are an unnecessary irritant for dogs.

Join the revolution, healthy skin, less irritated skin, shiny and clean coat all whilst saving the environment from over use of precious water and no more plastic polluting the earth!

Get Proper! With Proper made soap.

How is it made?

Proper is made the Proper way. The old-fashioned way of making soap. Using only proper ingredients, 100% natural, no artificial colourants (or micas). Proper soap is made using the cold process soap. Where Lye is mixed with natural oils and butters. The chemical reaction (called saponification) that occurs, binds the lye to the oils resulting in lye free soap but leaves you with a beautiful bar of goodness that will cleanse away all dirt and grime but will also moisturise, nourish and feed the skin with natural goodness. Soap is a marvelous creation!​

Proper is animal friendly, palm oil free, plastic free and minimal water is used to make Proper soap. All products are high quality and purchased in New Zealand. The soap is made in small batches and individually cut. One thing to remember - all things natural differ so each bar is unique in texture, colour and smell (although we aim to keep it uniform!).

All Proper bars are long lasting - but they must be drained in between uses (using a draining soap dish - not a soap dish that allows the soap to sit in water). Depending on the size of your dog a bar will last for at least 30 washes*! and can last for up to 50 for small breeds. Now that is a LOT of Proper cleaning and worth every cent.

Additives, Colourants & Scents

We only use natural additives such as clays and ground roots (even spices). Soap ingredients soak into the skin of the user (dog or human), the skin is the largest organ of a mammal, it is therefore critically important that this organ is fed with natural ingredients. Dog soap take more planning and research as there are many oils/butters that are toxic to dogs - the Proper dog range is 100% safe for all dogs!

A Proper made bar of soap solves many skin issues and results in a superb clean. We promise never to use palm oil (even 'sustainable palm oil') because regardless of where it comes from, it is not an environmentally or animal friendly product.

Our commonly used additives in our dog range:

Clays

Kaolin clay - this clay is used in almost all of our dog range bar. The soap helps to create a creamy bar, it helps to retain scents (such as our farm dog and soap dog bar). More importantly, kaolin clay serves as a natural, gentle exfoliant and aids in the removal of oils (but gentle enough not to strip the skin) and impurities. Due to the silica naturally found in kaolin clay, the ingredient helps to retain moisture and strengthen hair/fur.

Ghassoul clay (Moroccan clay) - this clay is used in our long fur bar. This ingredient has the ability to nourish the skin and fur and most importantly it has selected for its ability to coat the hair in minerals and therefore locking in all those free floating conditioning oils (making the bar a 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner!).

Red Brazillion clay - this clay is used as a colourant. But with the added benefits of removing impurities and adding shine to your dogs coat.

Activated Charcoal

This powder of course creates a very good looking bar! But he benefits of activated charcoal make it somewhat super bar! It acts as a gentle exfoliator, removes impurities, deep cleaning (removing unnecessary oils and dirt) and whilst being deep cleaning, it helps aid sensitive skin issues!

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