Henkel Ends Canadian Sales of Sunlight Pure Soap Bar After More Than 100 Years

Henkel Corporation discontinued much of the Sunlight soap line in Canada, ending official sales of the Sunlight Pure Soap bar that had been sold for over 100 years. The brand changed hands several times before Henkel acquired it. The company has not responded to CBC requests for comment on when or why the product was removed from Canadian shelves.

Thumlee Drybones-Foliot, Dënesųłiné from Yellowknives Dene First Nation and a land-based educator with the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning, said she noticed the bars were no longer available in stores some time ago. She found listings on Amazon and eBay for $45 after the product previously cost $3.

“It was kind of interesting to see the whole strife of people trying to get the Sunlight soap.

This bar went from $3 to $45, because people had reserved stashes [and were trying to sell] on Amazon and I think eBay,” Drybones-Foliot said. She called Henkel’s customer service line. The representative said the company would file a complaint on her behalf and added that if enough people responded, they would consider bringing Sunlight products back.

Drybones-Foliot tried substituting Fels-Naptha soap in her brain paste recipe. She also heard that some stores in Yellowknife were selling imported bars, but she is concerned the formulation differs from the Canadian version. Melaw Nakehk’o, Dene and Dënesųłı̨né from Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation, a hide tanner, multi-disciplinary artist and filmmaker, said the Sunlight bar soap is concentrated and comes in bar form rather than liquid.

“It’s much easier to transport than liquid,” Nakehk’o said. ” She said the soap had been integral to teaching hide tanning in communities across Canada. “This method of teaching has been widely practiced across many communities, so it is a big blow to people who are still learning the process and who have just learned this one way of doing things,” Nakehk’o said.