Handmade Soap Darwin Romance

Soap Trivia: The English began making soap during the 12th century. In 1633 King Charles I granted a 14 year monopoly to the Society of Soapmakers of Westminster. In the reign of Elizabeth I, soap consumption in England was greater than in any other European country. It seems that Queen Bess set the fashion herself, for it was reported that the Queen took a bath every four weeks "whether it was necessary or not." Just as the soap industry was gaining momentum in England, it became the subject of a series of restrictions and crippling taxation. It was not until 1853 that Gladstone abolished the tax on soap.

By the beginning of the 19th century, soap making was one of the fastest growing industries in the U.S. Rural Americans made homemade soap using a process from the Colonial times. They would save ashes from their fires for months. When they had enough fat left over from butchering hogs they would make soap. Filling a barrel with ashes, with a layer of straw, twigs, and sticks at the bottom to filter, they would pour rainwater was through the ashes to leach out the lye and catch it in a bucket at the bottom.

The “lye water” solution was considered the proper strength to make soap when they could get an egg suspended near the surface of the solution. If the egg floated, the lye was too strong. If it sank quickly, the lye was too weak. The fat was then rendered and mixed with the lye solution to make a hard “lye soap.” This method often resulted in harsh soap, which has given lye soaps an undeserved bad reputation.

Soap making was an established craft in Europe by the seventh century. Soap maker guilds guarded their trade secrets closely. Vegetable and animal oils were used with ashes of plants, along with fragrance. Gradually more varieties of soap became available for shaving and shampooing, as well as bathing and laundering.

Italy, Spain and France were early centers of soap manufacturing, due to their ready supply of raw materials such as oil from olive trees. The English began making soap during the 12th century. The soap business was so good that in 1622, King James I granted a monopoly to a soap maker for $100,000 a year. Well into the 19th century, soap was heavily taxed as a luxury item in several countries. When the high tax was removed, soap became available to ordinary people, and cleanliness standards improved.