Soap Making 101

[krisac]

Me AGAIN I am still wondering about molds...Do silicone baking pans work? Someone mentioned the bottom of quart milk containers...how do you clean them? If I want to put the soap into tins to used I know it can be started there so I am thinking it would have to be a soap almost the consistency of a butter type product. Any thoughts on how that recipe might go? The shp keeper I talked to ( and this seemed really strange and made me wonder where she was getting her soap from) said she could keep the soap all season long because it would get rancid. I've bought home made soaps, natural soap, kept them forever and a day and have never seen that. Something I don't know about??? or was her soap supplier just whacked?
I really appreciate y'all putting up with all the questions. Since everything I make has to "mostly" look or at least look authentic enough to pass for 1863. I am really nailing things down before I start. Especially since I knw once I start there will be failures along the way and I'd like to keep that number unde oh100, 1000 somewhere in there.
Kristina

 

[savingdogs]

Perhaps someone has a recipe here for something similar to Fels Naptha soap. That gets anything off your hands.

 

[Farmfresh]

I appreciate all the responses. I guess I'm not being really clear. The soldier's "being men" are asking the shop keeper's for "lye" soap. What they are asking for is a heavy duty cleaning soap in a bar that will clean the soot, black powder etc off their hands. silmilar to what a mechanic might use at the end of the day. They don't care about any mositurizing, smells, lotions properties, I can add those, but the main property I want to give them is that is will clean ANYTHING off their hands. I hope to use a natural scrubbing agent as well so ideas on that would be helpful. If superfatting make is more moisturizing, i'm wondering if it would scrub off this grime as well. I need it in bar form or it could go into tins as well. it would have to be able to be carried in a soldiers haversack (like a crossbody leather purse. )
Thanks Kristina

Just as I was trying to explain (I guess we are just crossing wires) the soap you are describing IS a low super fatted (around 2-3%) soap. It will make a solid bar. It does not have to have any fancy oils or fragrances. It will clean ANYTHING clean and still not remove the skin (which even soldiers back in the day liked to keep).

Sounds like you want an OLD recipe, so here one is .. courtesy of The Complete Soapmaker by Norma Coney. (with adaptation to a 2% superfat recipe)

Homesteader's Soap

106 ounces of rendered fat - tallow or lard
14.8 ounces of lye
41 ounces of cold water

If you need more "tooth" to the soap for scrubbing hands you can add - 1/2 cup of finely ground sand and/or 1/2 cup finely ground pumice OR you could add 1 T of Borax powder to the mix.

All things a back in the day housewife would have access to.

I highly recommend the book above as well for any beginner soap maker.

BTW this is the basic soap that I make for using as my laundry bar - instead of Fels Naptha or other purchases soap (minus the sand and stuff of course! )

 

[Emerald]

Another thing that may make your soap more authentic for reenactments and would add scrubbing power is "scouring fern" or horsetail rushes.. you find them, usually around water. They used to dry them and powder them and use them for scrubbing the pots and pans.
The plant has silica and would probably do wonderful in your lye soap as an abrasive to help clean hands and other things.

 

[krisac]

Thank you for the suggestions. I will try that. It's not easy to re-create 1861 But we do our best. I do know the women will love have pretty soap and lotion and maybe some rose and lavender water as well.
Kristina
@0th Maine United States Sanitary Commission

 

[krisac]

Oh Lord I know it's me again I've been asked by the sutler's to make soap, but to make a soap that is a cream so it can be put in tins. Reasoning behind this no plastic or anything so a soldier would have little time for a bar of soap to dry out before he had to load it up into hia haversack before marching out for the day or going out into battle. a wet bar of soap would ruin many items in the sack, such as a precious last letter home if he were to be killed. For the ladies at the hospital or civilian areas it makes it nice to keep things neat, out of the children's way etc. Does anyone know any good sites for Cream soaps? They need to be really thick not like a liquid more like a body butter would be.
Kristina
PS wish me luck I'm trying the first batch tonight. have to run a get a few things I forgot first. y'all impress me with how easy you make this sound

 

[Farmfresh]

That does not sound very authentic to me.

When we are camping I simply wrap my wet soap in a corner of my towel and head out.

 

[Bettacreek]

I've never tried it, in making or using, but perhaps along the lines of "African black soap"? To recreate African black soap (a very soft soap), you could use some NaOH (sodium hydroxide) and some KOH (potassium hydroxide). I don't know the exact consistancy of it, but it might be closer to what you're looking for. Or maybe even straight KOH soap with a higher amount of water to dissolve the lye in and just don't add water to the cured soap to make it into liquid? That's pure theory though. I've never tried or researched the consistency!

ETA: It could be pretty authentic actually, since ash lye isn't straight up NaOH, it does produce POH as well... So it may be even more authentic than what you'd think.

 

[Gallina Vecchia]

That does not sound very authentic to me.

When we are camping I simply wrap my wet soap in a corner of my towel and head out.

I agree. Are these people really going to be using the soap anyway or is it just a play-acting thing? I thought war re-enactments were contrived and orchestrated like "professional" wrestling.

 

[Britesea]

some of them are very serious about trying to live the life. The "Rendezvousers" will camp for weeks at a time, using solely period techniques.