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Soap Making History
The art of soap making has been around for centuries. As a matter of fact, evidence has been found dating back to ancient 2800 B.C. of clay cylinders coated with a soapy like matter left behind by the Mesopotamian civilization. These cylinders had inscriptions on them which led many archeologists on a quest to decipher the message. As it turns out, the inscriptions of these Mesopotamian cylinders were eventually interpreted to describe the use of fats and ashes boiled together, which consists of the basic soap making method still used today.
Many other artifacts were soon discovered by archeologists such as the Pharaonic artifacts and medical documents on Ebers Papyrus which went into great detail as to how to make soap. Such artifacts outlined a detailed soap making procedure which involved mixing vegetable fats in conjunction with animal fats. This mixture combined with alkaline salts would result in some really fascinating topical treatments to heal skin infections. The same soap like substance could be use for cleansing the body. The Israelites, the third civilization mentioned in the bible, were believed to have been able to produce a hair gel type of substance using ashes and vegetable oils. As civilizations grew and advanced, the use of soap became much more common which helped spread the art of soap making.
Soap making history continued to grew for generations to come. In Mediterranean civilizations such as Rome and Greece, the town folks at first would prefer to bathe without soap. However, as new colonies were joined, the art of soap making became more and more accepted. In fact, studies show that the ruins of Pompeii included a factory that produced soap oils. These soap oils were rubbed onto the skin and scrapped off with pumice stones.
The Ancient Germans and the Gauls also used to make their own soap out of animal fat and ashes. Not only would the soapy substance be used for bathing but these civilizations believed in styling and decorating their hair with it too.
During the Renaissance, the art of soap making became widely used amongst Europeans and soon spread throughtout America. The formula for making soap did not change and Americans adopted it as their own within the colonies. The soap making procedure involved dripping water through wood ashes and collecting the lye. Then the lye would be mixed with either animal or vegetable fat resulting in pure home made soap.
Today many soaps are a compound of either the potassium or sodium salts of fatty acids. These fatty acids are derived from other fats and oils such as beef fat or vegetable oil fat. By reacting them with an alkali (sodium or potassium hydroxide) the fats are then prone to react to water causing a foamy substance which can be used to bathing and cleansing.
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soap making book section of this website.