Table of Contents
How was soap made in pioneer times?
Pioneers needed two basic ingredients to make soap: lye (sodium hydroxide) and animal fat. When enough containers were deemed necessary to make soap, the contents were poured into a kettle and placed over a fire, where it was heated, boiling away the water and impurities and leaving a purer liquid.
How did they make soap in the 1800s?
They made it from animal fat, wood ashes, and water. The fat had to be boiled (refined) and the hardwood ashes leached for a weak lye solution.
What is the old fashioned way to make soap?
In the pioneer days, the women would make lye by gathering the wood ashes from their fireplace and putting them into a wooden hopper. Next, they would pour water over it to soak the ashes. The water that seeped out of the hopper and into the wooden bucket was lye water.
What did ancient humans use to make soap?
Ancient Mesopotamians were first to produce a kind of soap by cooking fatty acids – like the fat rendered from a slaughtered cow, sheep or goat – together with water and an alkaline like lye, a caustic substance derived from wood ashes. The result was a greasy and smelly goop that lifted away dirt.
How did they make lye soap in the old days?
Early American families made their own soap from lye and animal fats. They obtained their lye from wood ash, which contains the mineral potash, also known as lye, or more scientifically, potassium hydroxide. In early days, folks would put wood ashes in barrels, hollowed-out logs, or V-shaped troughs lined with hay.
How did the old timers make lye soap?
Usually made with leftover cooking fats and lye made from wood ashes, townspeople would gather on soap-making days, preparing large batches together. By using fats and oils such as lard, tallow, or sustainably-sourced, organic palm, lye soap can again find it’s place as a household staple.
Did the Romans use soap?
Not even the Greeks and Romans, who pioneered running water and public baths, used soap to clean their bodies. Instead, men and women immersed themselves in water baths and then smeared their bodies with scented olive oils. They used a metal or reed scraper called a strigil to remove any remaining oil or grime.
Can soap be made without lye?
In short the answer is no. Soap must be made using lye. Lye is the key ingredient in making soap. All products that are legally allowed to be called soap, must have gone through the process of saponification.
What was lye used for in the old days?
In making soap the first ingredient required was a liquid solution of potash commonly called lye. Some colonists used an ash hopper for the making of lye instead of the barrel method. The ash hopper was kept in a shed to protect the ashes from being leached accidentally by a rain fall.
Do you need immersion blender to make soap?
You can certainly make soap without an immersion blender. However, we recommend you use an immersion blender for making soap. Because making soap without an immersion blender is more time-consuming and harder than making it using an immersion blender.
How was lye traditionally made?
A lye is a metal hydroxide traditionally obtained by leaching wood ashes, or a strong alkali which is highly soluble in water producing caustic basic solutions. “Lye” most commonly refers to sodium hydroxide (NaOH), but historically has been used for potassium hydroxide (KOH).
Are bones used to make soap?
In 1786, the bodies were exhumed and the bones were moved to the Catacombs. Many bodies had incompletely decomposed and had reduced into deposits of fat. During the exhumation, this fat was collected and subsequently turned into candles and soap.
Who discovered soap making?
The first concrete evidence we have of soap-like substance is dated around 2800 BC., the first soap makers were Babylonians, Mesopotamians, Egyptians, as well as the ancient Greeks and Romans. All of them made soap by mixing fat, oils and salts.
What is the difference between toilet soap and bathing soap?
The main difference between toilet soap and a bathing bar is that the former comes with better cleansing and moisturising properties. There are also milled and homogenised soaps, usually offered by higher-end brands. The bathing bar is nothing but an entry-level soap with the cleansing ability and few of the benefits.
How did they make soap in the 1700s?
In the 18th century soap came in two forms: hard soap and soft soap. In colonial times, soap was made by leeching lye out of hardwood ashes. The lye was then mixed with a fatty acid, typically tallow, lard or oil. It was difficult to gauge the strength of lye.
How do you make natural lye?
To make lye in the kitchen, boil the ashes from a hardwood fire (soft woods are too resinous to mix with fat) in a little soft water, rainwater is best, for about half an hour. Allow the ashes to settle to the bottom of the pan and then skim the liquid lye off the top.
