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The Origin Of
Soap
& Soapmaking |
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Although no
one really knows who or when soap was discovered, there are various
legends surrounding it’s beginning. According to Roman legend, soap
was named after Mount Sapo, an ancient site of animal sacrifices.
After an animal sacrifice, rain would wash the animal fat and ash
that collected under the ceremonial altars down the slopes to the
banks of the Tiber River. Women washing clothes in the river noticed
that if they washed their clothes in certain parts of the river
after a heavy rain their clothes were much cleaner. Thus the
emergence of the first soap – or at least the first use.
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A
soap-like material found in clay cylinders during the excavation of
ancient Babylon is evidence that soapmaking was known as early as
2800 B.C. Inscriptions on the cylinders say that fats were boiled
with ashes, a soap-making method. |
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Moses
gave the Israelites detailed laws governing personal cleanliness. Biblical accounts suggest that the Israelites knew that mixing ashes
and oil produced a kind of hair gel. Soap is mentioned twice in the
Bible, but it is generally agreed that the Hebrew word “borith”,
which has been translated as soap, is a generic term for any
cleansing agent. |
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By the
second century A.D., the Greek physician, Galen, recommended soap
for both medicinal and cleansing purposes. |
Bathing habits all over Europe rose and declined with Roman
civilization. When Rome fell in 467 A.D., so did bathing. It’s said
that the lack of cleanliness and poor living conditions contributed
to the many plagues of the Middle Ages. |
Not until the seventh century did soapmakers appear in Spain and
Italy where soap was made with goat fat and Beech tree ashes.
During the same period, the French started using olive oil to make
soap. Eventually, fragrances were introduced and specialized soaps
for bathing, shaving, shampooing, and laundry began to appear. King
Louis XIV of France apparently guillotined three soapmakers for
making a bar that irritated his very sensitive Royal skin. |
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The English began making soap during the 12th century. In 1633 King
Charles I granted a 14
year monopoly to the Society of Soapmakers of Westminster.
In the reign
of Elizabeth I, soap consumption in England was greater than in any
other European country.
It seems that Queen Bess set the fashion herself, for it was
reported that the Queen took a bath every four weeks "whether it was
necessary or not." Just as the soap industry was gaining
momentum in England, it became the subject of a series of
restrictions and crippling taxation. It was not until 1853 that
Gladstone abolished the tax on soap. |
It wasn't until the 18th century that bathing came into fashion. In
1791, the French chemist Nicolas Leblanc discovered how to extract
soda from common salt. Around the same time, Louis Pasteur
proclaimed that good personal hygiene would reduce the spread of
diseases. |
By the beginning of the 19th century, soap making was one of the
fastest growing industries in the U.S. Rural Americans
made homemade soap using a process from the Colonial times.
They would save ashes from their fires for months. When they
had enough fat left over from butchering hogs they would make soap.
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Journey to
Forever
http://journeytoforever.org
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Old fashioned lye was made using hardwood ashes, a barrel or
ash hopper, and rainwater. Holes were drilled in the bottom
of a barrel. The barrel was placed on a grooved stone slab
which rested on a pile of rocks. A layer of gravel was placed
over the holes. Then a layer of straw, twigs, and sticks was
placed on top of the gravel as a filter to prevent the ashes
from getting in the solution. After filling a barrel with
hardwood ashes, rainwater was pored through the ashes to leach
out the brown lye liquid which would flow into the groove
around the stone slab and drip down into a container.
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Some soapmakers used an ash hopper for making lye instead of
the barrel method. Using the same basic process, the
lye dripped into a container located underneath the hopper.
The most difficult part of early soapmaking was determining
if the lye was the correct strength. The “lye water” was
considered the proper strength to make soap when an egg or
small potato placed in the solution floated about halfway
beneath the surface of the solution. If the egg or potato
floated on top, the lye was too strong. If it sank quickly,
the lye was too weak. Some early soapmakers used goose or
chicken feathers to test their lye. If a feather inserted in
the lye water began to dissolve in it, then the lye water was
at the right strength. |
Ash Hopper
Farming A Century Ago
www.rootsweb.com
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Since there was no accurate
way to measure the lye concentration, this old fashioned
method often resulted in harsh soap, which has given lye soaps an
undeserved bad reputation. Early soapmakers often had to make many
batches of soap before one was suitable to be used by their family.
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During World War I,
commercial soap, as we know it today, came into existence.
The injuries of war brought an increased need for cleaning agents.
However, at the same time, the ingredients needed to make soap were
scarce. German scientists created a new form of "soap" made with
various synthetic compounds and as a result detergents were born.
Many commercial soaps available today are actually detergents, which
are made with petroleum by-products. Since these "soaps" are
detergents, by law cannot be called soap. Chances are that when you
see a soap called a "body cleanser", it is not soap at all.
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After
the Great War and until the 1930's, soap was made by a method called
batch kettle boiling. Commercial soap makers had huge three story
kettles that produced thousands of pounds of soap over the course of
about a week. Shortly thereafter, an invention called continuous
process was introduced and refined by Procter & Gamble. This
process decreased soap making production time to less than a day.
Large commercial soap manufacturers still use continuous process.
Today
there is a heightened awareness of the possible adverse effects of
many of the synthetic additives and chemicals in commercial soap.
Educated consumers are turning to all natural products like ours. Even large companies are starting to advertise "natural ingredients"
in their products. BUT BEWARE! The addition of one or two natural
ingredients does not make a product "all natural.” It is virtually
impossible for large companies to create natural, handmade soaps.
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Ida’s Handcrafted soaps are made in small batches with all natural
ingredients. While Grandma used a raw egg to determine the amount
of lye needed, we work with specialized charts to determine the
correct proportions of ingredients to use in the soap making
process. In addition, we use accurate scales that allow us to
measure ingredients by the tenth of an ounce. The result – an all
natural, mild and carefully crafted handmade soap. |
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Click
here to learn more about how we make Ida's Handcrafted Soap.
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