Soap Recipes From A Hundred Years Ago - Humblebee & Me

1 We are pleased to present these interesting natural soap Recipes fromyesteryear. Some are for purp oses needed only in bygone times; othersoaps are still used even to this day. Most soaps cont ain pure essentialoi ls, rather than synthe tic fragrances and harmful you look at these soap Recipes , you realize what hardypeople our ancestors were, and how much work went into makingeveryday needs. It makes you thankful to be to still obtain thesesoaps, which can be as gentle and free of harshness as a newbornbaby, and as easy to come by as a click of the computer mouse or atrip to a specialty of these soap ingredients might be hard to come by thesedays. For instance, where would we get a pound of ox gall today?

2 How much is adrachmor a minim? Can you find one of those inyour measuring instruments? And the huge batches that weremade would take a Hercules to pour the soaps from the hope you enjoy the information. It is intended forentertainment and historical glossary at the end helps explain some old words and you don t nee d to make these to get away from chemicals. Wethink that you will enjoy the soaps,creams and lotions etc. available , lotions, creams, lip balms, andbath salts and teas, like the ingredientsin some of thes e old soap Recipes , are allmade from natural ingredients and aregentle to the skin. Even the mechanics soap available there is made ofall-natural grease cutters .Soap Recipes From A Hundred Years AgoPage 1 TOILET SOAPS.

3 [For face, hands, and body. Not for washing your toilet!]The question as to the qualities of toilet soaps hasa high therapeutical significance. Impurity ofcomplexion and morbid anomalies of the skin areproduced by the use of poor and unsuitable latter, chemically regarded, are salts of fattyacids, and are prepared from fats and a lye, thetwo substances being mixed in a vessel andbrought to a boil, soda lye being used in thepreparation of toilet soaps. In boiling together afat and a lye, the former is resolved into itscomponent parts, a fatty acid unites with the soda lye, forming asalt, whichis regarded as soap. By the addition of sodiumchloride, this (the soap) is separated and swims onthe residual liquid as"kern,"or granulated soaps were formerly made only fromanimal fats, but some of the vegetable oils or fatshave been found to also make excellent them the best is cacao a hygienic standpoint it must be accepted asa law that a good toilet soap must contain no free(uncombined)alkali, every particle of it must bechemically bound up with fatty acid to thecondition of a salt, and the resultant soap shouldbe neutral in reaction.

4 Many of the soaps found incommerce today contain free alkali, and exert aharmful effect upon the skin of those who usethem. Such soaps may readily be detected bybringing them into contact with the tongue. If freealkali be present it will make itself known bycausing a burningsensation somethingthat agood toilet soap shouldnever efficiency of soap depends upon the fact thatin the presence of an abundance of water thesaponified fat is decomposed into acid and basicsalts, in which the impurities of the skin aredissolved and are washed away by the furtherapplication of water. Good soap exerts its effectson the outer layer of the skin, the so-called horny(epithelial) layer, which in soapy water swells upand is, in fact, partially dissolved in the mediumand washed away.

5 This fact, however, isunimportant, since the superficial skin cells arereproduced with extraordinary rapidity and a soap contains or carries free alkali, thecaustic effects of the latter are carried further anddeeper reaching below the epithelial cells andattacking the true skin, in which it causes minuterifts and splits and renders it sore and soap, on the contrary, makes the skinsmooth and the employment of poor soaps works soinjuriously upon the skin, many persons never, orrarely ever, use soap but wash the face in wateralone, or with a little almond bran added. Theirskins cannot bear the regular application of poorsoap. This, however, applies only to poor,free-alkali containing soaps. Any skin can bearwithout injury any amount of a good toilet soap,free fromuncombinedalkali and other habit of washing the face with water only,without the use of soap, must be regarded as onealtogether bad, since the deposits on the skin,mostly dustparticles and dead epithelial cells,mingling with the oily or greasy matter exudedfrom fat glands of the skin excellent nutrientmedia for colonies of' bacteria cannot be gotrid of by water alone.

6 Rubbing only forces themass into the openings in the skin (the sweatglands, fat glands, etc.), and stops them up. In thisway are produced the so called "black heads" andother spots and blotches on the skin usuallyreferred to by the uneducated, or partiallyeducated as "parasites." The complexion is in thismanner injured quite as much by the failure to usegood soap as by the use of a poor or bad of the skin troubles referred to may be totallyavoided by the daily use of a neutral, alkali-freesoap, and the complexion thus kept fresh andpure. Completely neutral soaps, however, aremore difficult to manufacture requiring more skilland care than those in which no attention is paidto excess of alkali and consequently cost morethan the general public are accustomed, or, in fact,care to pay for soaps.

7 While this is true, one mustnot judge the quality of a soap by the pricedemanded for Recipes From A Hundred Years AgoPage 2 Some of the manufacturers of miserable soapscharge the public some of the most outrageousprices. Neither can a soap be judged by its odor orits style of package and putting on the give a soap an agreeable odor themanufacturers add to it, just when it commencesto cool off, anethericoil (such as altar of rose, oilof violets, bergamot oil, etc.), or some balsamicmaterial (such as tincture ofbenzoin,forinstance). It should be known, however, that whilegrateful to the olfactory nerves [your sense ofsmell], these substances do not add one particle tothe value of the soap, either as a detergent or as apreserver of the skin or harmful to the skin are soapscontaining foreign substances, such, for instance,as the starches, gelatin, clay, chalk, gums, orrosins, potato flour, etc.

8 , which are generallyadded to increase the weight of soap. Such soapsare designated, very significantly, "filled soaps,"and, as a class, are to be avoided if for no otherreason, on account of their lack of true soapcontent. The use of these fillers should beregarded as a criminal falsification under the lawsregarding articles of domestic use, sincethey aresold at a relatively high price yet contain foreignmatter, harmful to FOR COLD-STIRRED by weightI. Cocoanutoil30 Castor oil3 Caustic soda lye (38 Be),17 1/2 PinkSoap. by weightPink No. 11410 Lemon oil60 Cedar-wood oil60 Citronella oil50 Wintergreen oil15 Pale-Yellow Soap. Parts by weightOrange No. oil60 Sassafras oil60 Lavender oil45 Wintergreen oil 15 Aniseed oil25 Toilet Soap Powder.

9 Marseilles soap, powdered 100 partsBran of almonds50 partsLavender oil5 partsThyme oil3 partsSpike oil2 partsCitronella oil2 partsSoft ToiletSoaps. Softtoilet soaps or creamsmay be prepared from fresh lard with a smalladdition ofcocoanutoil and caustic potashsolution, by the cold process or by boiling. Forthe cold process, 23 parts of fresh lard and 2 partsofCochincocoanutoil are warmed in a jacketedpan, and when the temperature reaches 113 treated with 9 parts of caustic potash and 21parts of caustic soda solution, both of 38 , the whole being stirred untilsaponification is complete. The soap is transferredto a large marble mortar and pounded along withthe following scenting ingredients: parts ofoil of bitter almonds and parts of oil ofgeranium rose, or part of the latter, and of lemon oil.

10 The warm process ispreferable, experience having shown that boilingis essential to the proper saponification of the this method, 80 parts of lard and 20 parts ofCochincocoanutoil are melted together in a largepan, 100 parts of potash lye (20 Be.) being thencrutched in by degrees, and the mass raised toboiling point. The combined influence of the heatandcrutchingvaporizes part of the water in thelye, and thesoap thickens. When the soaphascombined, the fire is made up, and another 80parts of the same potash lyeare crutched ingradually. The soap gets thicker and thicker as thewater is expelled and finally throws up "roses" onthe surface, indicating that it is nearly finished. Atthis stage it must be crutched vigorously, toprevent scorching against the bottom of the panand the resulting more or less dark evaporation period may be shortened byusing only 50 to 60 parts of lye at first, and fittingSoap Recipes From A Hundred Years AgoPage 3with lye of 25 to 30 strength.