What is Soap? Where is the Lye in Soap? The Mystery of Soap Making

We have contemplated spring through the gloomy and cold days of winter.  But through that time much has been happening!

"Back in the day" we would have already used half of our yearly supply of soap made last fall. Fall was the time to slaughter animals, and use the tallow and lard for soap making.  Water was steeped through ashes to produce the alkali or lye water of an undetermined strength, which produced soap of an undetermined hardness.



Maria Making Soap in Modern Times



Making Soap From Lye in Colonial Days

What is soap?  What are the ingredients? 

Where did the Lye Go?



The term saponification is the name given to the chemical reaction that occurs when a vegetable oil or animal fat is mixed with a strong alkali. The products of the reaction are two: soap and glycerin. Water does not enter into the chemical reaction. The water is only a vehicle for the alkali, which is otherwise a dry powder.
The name saponification literally means "soap making". The root word, "sapo",
is Latin for soap. The Italian word for soap is sapone. Soap making as an art
has its origins in ancient Babylon around 2500 - 2800 BC.
The oils used in modern handmade soap are carefully chosen. Coconut oil creates lots of glycerin, makes big bubbly lather, and is very stable. Olive oil has natural antioxidants and its soap makes a creamier lather. Many other oils can be used,
each one for a specific reason.
The alkali used in modern soap is either potassium hydroxide, which is used to make soft soap or liquid soap because of its greater solubility, or sodium hydroxide, which is used to make bar soap. The common term for the alkali became simply "lye".
Soap made in cottages and on farms in earlier American times became known as "lye soap". That term now denotes a harsh soap with excessive amount of caustic. Weighing and measuring techniques were crude, and knowledge of soap chemistry
was elementary or non-existent.
The true fact is that modern handcrafted soap, though necessarily made with lye to get
true soap, has no lye in the final product. It has all been reacted with the oils to
form soap and glycerin.
 A fact about the most common massed-produced soap found in the grocery store does
 have a small amount of excess alkali in it. Also, all of its naturally-occurring glycerin
is removed to be sold as a separate commodity. Why? Greater profit. An important difference between most commercial soap and our Coastal Cottage Soaps is
that the glycerin is left in and thus it retains its natural
moisturizing property.

from Real Handmade Soap

COASTAL COTTAGES SOAPS MADE THIS WINTER

The soap shop has produced limited quantities of soap after the made holiday rush.  We are now whipping up popular and new varieties.



Pink Swirl Artsy Glycerin Soap

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     Restocking newly made "Castile Soap" for an online customer. Only 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil, no other vegetable or animal fats. First made in the Castile region of Spain in the 16th century and the 1st example of hard, white soap.
     Castile soap is moisturizing and gentle to the skin, containing no colors, dyes or detergents so it can be used on babies and people with sensitive skin. This batch is unscented, but smells like "Clean Linen." New large 5 oz size. I will be adding lavender, peppermint, and pomegranate to this product line called, Liberto's Castile Sopone.  Check out coastalcottagesoaps.com to purchase.

Liberto's Unscented Castile Sopone

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     As colorful as Easter Eggs! Here is my assortment of Coastal Cottage WOOL FELTED SOAPS, the latest craze by wool fiber artists and soap makers. Imagine soap wrapped with it's own wash cloth and lots of

 natural lather to cleanse your body.

     Colorful wool fibers are wrapped around each handmade bar of soap made by this soap maker

and then hand felted to the bar.

     As you use the sudsy soap the wool will shrink with the size of the bar. Sorry no selection of

fragrance, I send whatever is in stock.

2 Bar Set: $9.95 which includes all natural ingredients.

Go to coastalcottagesoaps.com to purchase!



Felted Wool Natural Soaps
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This is a rather new edition to the line up of soap.  Unscented Aloe Vera & Calendula, a great product for those with blemished and other problems.  The healing properties of Aloe and Calendula in a totally natural and unscented bar has been tested with positive results.  Just ask my grandsons!



Unscented Aloe Vera & Calendula Soap


Thanks for taking the soap making journey with me.  I continue to produce many varieties of natural and artsy designer soaps.  It is a satisfying and clean business. 
I am blessed to be on this journey.

My Best to all,

Maria Liberto Bessette



18th Century Floorcloths & Lye Soap - November 4, 2010

The Artful Life of Maria can be a little overwhelming even for Maria.  After a great trip to North Carolina to see my son and his family I was back on the artful track.  The next two days were spent at the Pen Women exhibit dismantling and awaiting artists who were to pick up their entries.  It was great talking with them and updating them on our future events.  I know I will see many of these great artists again.  Late yesterday I did squeeze in some time to create a batch of Heritage Market Lye Soap Bars.  Today I grated soap for my natural laundry soap and of course there is packaging and labeling yet to be done.

Delaware's 18th Century Market Fair, 1st State Heritage Park:  We are going  back to the 18th century this Saturday, Nov 6, to demonstrate creating floorcloths and peddling handmade soaps.  My husband and I will be dressed in period costumes of the working class mercantile folk.  Our town, Dover Delaware, has a central green area that forms a square with 17th & 18th century buildings, including the Old State House.  On one corner of the green is the Golden Fleece Tavern where it is said the Constitution was first ratified. This scene is also one of the Fall Market Fair that occurred in the 18th century.  Goods were sold and exchanged and entertainments of all sorts were offered on "The Green". 

http://www.destateparks.com/marketfair/trades.asp



Painted Floorcloths:  I was called on to participate in this event to demonstrate the 18th century art of making floorcloths.  That I will do using my own handmade stencil patterns and other various implements to show how these rugs were created using paints and methods of that time.  Basically the canvas cloths were stretched on a verticle frame, stiffened with starch and then ground smoother with pumice stone.  They were  painted to the edge of the fabric with many layers of oil based paints sometimes applied with a trowel.  The wealthy could import ground colors. Maple wood printing blocks were sometimes used with multiple colors. The final product was then varnished and would last at least 100 years.

Of course I will have a selection of my hand created floorcloths on display and one showing the steps I use to produce this work of art using current methods and paints.



Heritage Market Soaps:  Another 18th century product I will offer at the Market Fair is the natural lye soap, Heritage Market Lye Bar Soap (Anderson's Lye Bar Soap)  and Market Fair Laundry Soap.   The same natural lye soap is grated finely, washing soda and borax are added to make a low sudsing laundry soap.  Lye soap is still used and requested by many people today.  Said to be good for skin problems and poison ivy, it is all natural and unscented.

Soap making:  The basic differences in making today is the accurate scale to measure the fat (either vegetable shortening or lard)  and lye also called sodium hydroxide.  Until recent times a batch of ingredientes could result in soupy to hard soap because of pour calculations and the strength of the lye.  Lye was produced by steeping wood ashes and water, later straining out the ash.  Of course pigs and cows were slaughtered and their fat rendered and kept until there was  enough to use to make a large supply of soap.  The French and Italians conceived the idea of using olive oil to replace the rendered animal fat. 

4 Pence For Soap Bar:  That is what I will be selling my the 3 oz bars of Heritage Market Soap.  I thought it would be great to have all products in 18th century English prices.

I have also found that in the 18th century England a pound of perfumed soap cost 1 shilling.  Today 1 shilling would be equal to 6.7 pounds or $10.18 US dollars.  Consider the price of an average 3 oz bar of natural soap today cost at least  $5.00 without shipping. 

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Well I have lots more to do in my artful life before I go nighty, night.

Love to all!

Maria L B