History of Soap Making
Fact: All soap is made with Lye + Fat (or oils).
Lye comes from water running through wood ashes, stored in a wooden barrel. Fat comes from animals.
So how in the world did people ever figure out how to combine the two, to make soap??
Legend: Legend has it that in Ancient Rome there were animal sacrifices, made high up on a mountain top, or hill. During the rainy season, women would go to the streams near those places to wash their clothes. After a sacrifice, and a good rain, they noticed that their clothes always got cleaner.
Eventually they reasoned, it was the fat on the alter, which ran down to mix with the ashes, (soaked with water by the rain), which made soap. The rains carried the soap down into the streams where they were washing clothes. Their clothes got cleaner…and thus the discovery of “soap” was made!
History: Soap actually came upon the scene in France in the 1700’s, but it was a very expensive luxury product, and given only as a treasured gift, much like that of jewels to royalty. Only the very wealthy could afford it!
On the other hand, poorer people were often afraid of water, saying that it was the devil’s tool! So the idea of bathing at all was loathsome to them, let alone with such foolishness as a bar of soap.
When it did become more affordable, it was highly taxed, as it was still thought of as a luxury item, so few could experience it, even had they wanted to.
Pioneers: Oh those hardy, strong, determined pioneers! Anything they needed, they found a way to obtain! And nothing went to waste!!!
They hunted animals for their winter supply of meat…so there was fat to be had. They stored the meat for later use…they couldn’t let the fat go to waste! Making soap was as natural as eating and living. It was the responsible thing to do, and soon became a natural, necessary part of life!
Ashes from wood fires were also abundant. They stored them in wooden barrels until Fall, or any time there was a good hunt, and abundant fat…and made soap.
They poured water into the barrel, which had straw and tiny rocks layered on the bottom, with small holes in the barrel beneath, to filter the water. Sometimes it took 3 days of pouring and re-pouring water through the ashes before it was strong enough to float an egg. Then they knew it was ready for making soap.
They would scrape the fat off the animal hides, and dump it all into a large iron kettle in the yard, propped up, or hung on sticks, over a fire. They would melt it all down and remove the solid pieces that didn’t “render” out (melt down). Then they would slowly add the ash-water (lye) into the pot…and stir…and stir…and stir. When it reached the consistency of honey, they would pour it into wooden boxes, lined with fabric. They’d cover the box with blankets so it didn’t cool down too fast (and so little hands didn’t fall into the still caustic mixture)…and left it overnight. The next day they cut it into bars, and then saved it for several weeks, (or should have) before it was safe to use. (The lye needed to “cure” out of it, since their method of measuring was far from exact!)
Throughout the year they would use that soap for everything! They used it to wash their hair, their clothes, their bodies, their dishes, their teeth, the dog, the floor. It was often very harsh, because they didn’t the have precise recipes we have today. They just threw all of everything they had, into a pot, and hoped for the best.
Today we are much more careful about using exact amounts, with proper temperatures, and the best of ingredients! Vegetable oil soaps are convenient, because someone else has done the work of turning them into liquid for us. But it is still the tallow soaps (or lard) that are the most skin softening, silky soft, but very long lasting, bars ever!
