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Colonial Soap Making
Colonial soap making was a difficult process compared to the soap making methods we use today. Our main advantage lies with the ingredients. We simply purchase them ready to use. I must admit, I am thankful for this convenience since I very much doubt I would ever have attempted any
homemade soap recipes otherwise. Lack of neccessity has made me spoiled!
Colonial Lye Hopper
Making Lye for Soft-soap Photograph circa 1911 by Clifton Johnson
Boiling the Lye
Photograph circa 1911 by Clifton Johnson
Here is a quote from Clifton Johnson's book Highways and Byways of the Mississippi Valley:
"I stopped at a farmhouse to talk with a sunbonneted white woman who was making soft soap in the yard. She had a fire with a great black kettle over it and said she was 'bilin' the lye. It has to bile slow all the morning,' she continued, 'till it's very strong. Then I put in the fat I've saved --- trimmin's of meat sich as we don't eat, pork rinds, and the cracklin's that we have left when we are trying out lard. After the fat is in I have to stir it every little while with a paddle and be careful not to have too big a fire, or it will bile over. So it simmers along till four or five o'clock and is done; and when it's stood to cool over night I dip it out into a flour barrel. If the soap is all right it's thick like jelly, and I'd much rather have it than the soap you buy. What I make in this kittle will run me a year."
Sources
Johnson, Clifton. Highways and Byways of the Mississippi Valley (New York: Macmillan,1913).
Colonial soap making required the ingredients to be created first.
Potash lye was created by collecting the wood ash from their fires and placing it in a hopper. Water would then be poured over the ashes to leach the lye out. Once enough lye solution was collected it was boiled until the strength of the lye was correct.
Leftover cooking fat and uncooked animal fats would be collected and then cleaned. This involved boiling the fat in an equal amount of water for hours until the fat was completely melted. Then the fat was left to cool and harden. All the impurities would fall to the bottom of the pot with the water and the fat would float on top and solidify. This process was done outside since the smell is said to be horrific and lingering. Doesn't that sound like an unpleasant undertaking?!
Once the colonists had their ingredients, they could begin the soap making process. The lye solution was placed in a large kettle with the cleaned fat and boiled for hours until it became thick and frothy.
The success of colonial soap making was dependent on obtaining the correct balance between the lye and the fats. The process did not involve precise measuring and it sometimes required several attempts before a suitable batch was made.
Today, the art of making homemade soap is usually done for pleasure and the desire to make more natural, healthy choices.
Though commercial soap is affordable and readily available, many people are finding it undesirable.
We are now aware that we are living in a world laden with chemicals and environmentally unsound products. As the website Natural Living For Women shows us, we can make natural choices that are beneficial to ourselves as well as the environment. Learning
how to make soap is one of them.
There are a few different methods of making soap and each produces a product with its own unique qualities.
Cold process soap making, the method used on this site, hot process soap making, glycerin soap making, and liquid soap making are some of the most common.
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