The white, olive-oil-based bar soap was a wildly popular toiletry item among European royals. Castile soap became a generic term for any hard soap of this type. The settlement of the American colonies coincided with an age ss when most Europeans, whether privileged or poor, had turned away from regular bathing out of fear that water actually spread disease.
Colonists used soap primarily for domestic cleaning, and soap-making was part of the seasonal domestic routine overseen by women. As one Connecticut woman described it in , women stored fat from butchering, grease from cooking and wood ashes over the winter months. In the spring, they made lye from the ashes and then boiled it with fat and grease in a giant kettle.
This produced a soft soap that women used to wash the linen shifts that colonists wore as undergarments. Middle-class Americans had resumed water bathing, but still shunned soap.
Soap-making remained an extension of the tallow trade that was closely allied with candle making. Soap itself was for laundry. The Civil War was the watershed. Here at Moon River Soap Company we define natural as being made from nature. We use all natural, organic or edible food grade vegetable oils, nurturing botanicals, and therapeutic essential oils. We do not use use synthetic fragrance, color, or preservatives.
What is the difference between synthetic store bought soap and natural cold processed soap? In general terms you can liken it to the difference between nylon and cotton. Cotton grows natural, nylon is made from chemicals in a factory. Synthetic detergent soap commercial store soap is made from Petro chemicals. Natural soap is biodegradable.
Natural Soap is safe for our earth and does not pollute rivers. Most detergent soap is made from animal fat tallow along with petroleum based chemicals that are not biodegradable and do pollute our water. We are now finding that the synthetic chemicals can build up in our bodies. Minimizing detergent use reduces the chemical load on you and the environment.
Does it seem like a good idea to bath in a product that actually pollutes our water? Both detergent soap and natural soap is made with lye. In natural soap the fats are hydrolyzed by the lye yielding natural soap and glycerin. Detergent soap retains no glycerin and is extracted because it would make the soap too soft so you are left with only the detergent.
Soap, by definition, is fat or oil mixed with an alkali. The oil is from an animal or plant, while the alkali is a chemical called lye. In bar soapmaking, the lye is sodium hydroxide. Liquid soap requires potassium hydroxide. When oil and lye are combined and heated, the result is soap. This chemical reaction is called saponification. The instructions below are for hot process soap. This method is beginner-friendly and has a fast turnaround.
It yields 30 ounces, or 7 to 10 bars, of custom bar soap. Later in the article, we look at different options and offer tips for choosing your own bar soap ingredients. A standard bar of soap is 3. The above recipe creates approximately 30 ounces. Hot process soap has a rustic look, giving it a homemade appearance. But if you prefer more refined bars, consider trying the cold process method.
Also, compared to traditional, store-bought soap, DIY soap has a lighter scent. You can use more essential oil for a stronger smell, but this can be costly. Most people prefer the fainter scent of homemade soap. The best fat or oil depends on your preferences. Traditionally, soap was made with animal fat, but today, plant oils are widely used.
Examples of fats and oils used in soapmaking include:.
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