Ever wonder how soap is made?

An excavation of ancient Babylon revealed evidence that Babylonians were making soap around 2800 B.C. Babylonians were the first one to master the art of soap making. They made soap from fats boiled with ashes. Soap was used in cleaning wool and cotton used in textile manufacture and was used medicinally for at least 5000 years.

The Ebers papyrus (Egypt, 1550 BC) reveals that the ancient Egyptians mixed animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to produce a soap-like substance.

According the Pliny the Elder, the Phoenicians used goat's tallow and wood ashes to create soap in 600BC. Early Romans made soaps in the first century A.D. from urine and soap was widely known in the Roman Empire

The Celts made their soap from animal fat and plant ashes and they named the product saipo, from which the word soap is derived.

Soap making in its simplest form..

long long time ago - or even today!

put white ashes from a hardwood fire into your frying pan after dinner — the lye in the ash will combine with the fat from the cooking to make a crude soap.

Homemade lye

Boil ashes from a hardwood fire in a little soft water, rainwater is best, for about half an hour. Allow the ashes to settle to the bottom of the pan and then skim the liquid lye off the top.

Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)

Sodium hydroxide is sometimes called caustic soda or lye. It is a common ingredient in cleaners and soaps. Combining sodium hydroxide with oils is how soap is made! And is much easier than gathering ashes, boiling them down to create lye water! Safety first - lye is a dangerous chemical until it is neutralized by oil - but is essential in soap making!

Ever wonder how soap is made?

Soap making in its simplest form..

long long time ago - or even today!

Homemade lye

Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)

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