Media Release - Hand Sanitizer Gel now available

Local company making a difference protecting Firefighters from workplace cancer, now helping with battle against COVID-19

(Port Hope - June 2020) Port Hope owned and operated Sootsoap Supply Co. Ltd. has made it their mission to help Firefighters decontaminate from workplace exposure to toxic chemicals and is now expanding that mission. From the development of personal decontamination products to now a Health Canada approved hand sanitizer for local citizens, SOOTSOAP is making its mark in the Canadian Health & Safety market.

K. Dee Howard, SOOTSOAP President & Co-Founder and Port Hope resident, realized the need for SOOTSOAP when her husband came home still smelling like the fire he had been battling. “Firefighters and their families are all-too-familiar with that ‘fire’ smell”, she says. You can wash and wash and nothing gets rid of it. And that really stayed with me - if that smell was so hard to wash away, what else
was being absorbed into his skin that we couldn't see? We needed an effective solution that wasn’t throwing more chemicals onto his body, and that just wasn’t available”.

As a result, Dee went about working to create SOOTSOAP, an all-natural, chemical-free line of products that would not only eliminate ‘that smell’, but that would also effectively target the underlying contaminates.

Studies show that Firefighters have a significantly increased risk of cancer and other serious illness compared to the general population, due in large part to their exposure to hazardous chemicals found in smoke, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals, and environmental pollutants. Cancer is the leading cause of death among Canadian Firefighters.

SOOTSOAP is an all-natural, 100% biodegradable, chemical-free line of personal care products lab-developed and manufactured in Canada designed to battle such toxins. SOOTSOAP uses the power of White Charcoal and other naturally derived ingredients to effectively 1) deep clean and detoxify and 2)
absorb and eliminate really tough odours.

And now the Company is helping battle COVID-19 with their Health Canada approved, pharmaceutical- grade Hand Sanitizer.

Dee explains: “We were hearing our customers’ frustrations with the availability of approved, high quality, well-priced Hand Sanitizer and, knowing we could be in the position to help, we worked quickly with our lab to switch gears and develop a Hand Sanitizer that could not only help solve availability issues, but also address complaints with other products on the market”.

The team wanted to address three common complaints – dry, cracked hands from excessive Hand Sanitizer use, ineffective consistency (too runny/too sticky), and of course the ever-present smell of alcohol.

SOOTSOAP Hand Sanitizer Gel not only kills bacteria with a 70% pharmaceutical-grade ethyl alcohol formula, it will leave your hands silky soft thanks to its smooth consistency and moisturizing aloe and will keep that alcohol smell at bay with just a hint of peppermint. SOOTSOAP Hand Sanitizer Gel is Health Canada approved for protection against COVID-19 (NPN 80100550).

“I’m thrilled we have been able to create another amazing product, but I’m even more excited to have found a way to help the cause in some small way” says Dee. “Health Canada has been recalling lower quality, industrial grade Hand Sanitizers recently, so it’s even more important now that our customers can rely on our high quality, effective products. SOOTSOAP was created out of the desire to keep people clean and safe, and our Hand Sanitizer is yet another way we are able to achieve that”.

SOOTSOAP is proving local entrepreneurs can make a big difference.