Black soap, ghassoul, kessa glove: the three tools of the hammam
Three names come up in every Moroccan hammam. They are very simple things.
Black soap
A dark olive-based paste that does not lather. It is spread on the skin and left while the steam does its work. Its job is to prepare, not to clean in the usual sense.
Ghassoul
A clay mined in the Atlas, used as a mask after the scrub. It goes on the skin or the hair, then is rinsed off.
The kessa glove
A glove with a coarse weave. This is what does the scrubbing: worked firmly, it takes off the dead skin the steam has loosened. Without the steam first it would do almost nothing.
The order
Steam, black soap, glove, then ghassoul if the ritual includes it, then the rinse. The order is not decorative: each step is preparing the next.
The Signature Hammam by Mawli runs the scrub, a ghassoul mask and a long rinse. The detail is on the menu.