The history of soap starts well before writing; at first, she was transmitted orally.
Already, around 2000 before JC, the Sumerians described on their clay tablets, bars of soap made with clay, vegetable oil and ash.
Later, Egyptians described on their papyrus recipes of soap. They used the soap primarily as a remedy against skin diseases.
They bathed in sweet-scented water and scrubbed up with “Natron” (a kind of baking soda that was found naturally in Egyptians lakes and which was used by Egyptians to preserve mummies.
The Celts invented ash of beech tree and tallow of goat based product
Very soon, this blend was adopted by the Romans and they used dye to bleach their hair. (It is the reason why Celts were often red hair.)
Later the Romans used it for its cleansing properties.
Thanks to Arabs we owe the contemporary recipe with soda based product contained in coastal plants.
The soaps were the object of booming market until the 12 centuries and were very expensive.
During the 16 century we talked afresh about soap, because during the Renaissance the body becomes visible, but with the recrudescence of epidemics and rudimentary knowledge of sciences, the magic coming closer to the medicine, that is the reason why the perfume replaces soap.
We must wait for the late of 18 Th. century to talk afresh about soap. At this time, scented soaps are in vogue. With the improvement of standard of living, running water, hygiene appearance and here soap takes its place.
In the early 19 Th century, some soaps were made at home with fat cooking and slaughter.
In 1916, with the shortage of fat due to the war, manufactured has developed synthetics soap from petroleum oil.
Handmade soaps contain glycerin; which is known to moisturize the skin naturally.
Industrial soaps don't contain glycerin because it takes out of soap to sell it separately.
What is soap? :
The soap comes from a chemical reaction between a base (soda) and an acid (grease) = soap + glycerine
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The fat can be animal or vegetal.
The base can be soda or potash.
The preparation of soap is a dangerous operation; it requires particular protective equipment because soda which is mixed with a liquid is highly reactive and can cause severe burns.
There are several methods for making soap and here are two:
The hot method:
Certainly the oldest method.
The soda is mixed gradually with fat; the mixture is cooked over a dozen hours to +/- 110 degrees C.
The cold method:
The soda is poured into water and must cool off until +/- 40 degrees C.
The soda is gradually poured into fats.
We blend mixture until the appearance of the trace.
The track is the time where the mixture begins to solidify for.
Then, we pour the preparation into forms and wait 24 hours.
Soaps have to dry between 4 to 6 weeks before being used.
This process retains the best qualities of used oils.
The PH
The PH measure the acidity or the base power of chemical solution
The PH 7 is neutrality
The skin PH is 5.5 to 6
The handcraft soap is 9 to 10
The industrial soap is 5.5 to 7 however it is not good for the skin because it sears the skin.
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