Soapmaking from Scratch part two: Soft-soap and Bar Soap
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- čas přidán 18. 04. 2024
- Following on from part one: Making Woodash Lye, this video uses potash lye that has been stored for a full year to make both soft and hard soap, taking inspiration from early Eighteenth Century documented recipes.
This is not modern soapmaking! It relies on a lot of manual testing which should only be attempted with caution once you are comfortable with the materials being used.
I now have a 'buy me a coffee' page which helps fund my ongoing research and the making of these free videos. If you'd like to support me, please visit ko-fi.com/sallypointer Thank you!
find Part One at: • Soapmaking from Scratc... - Jak na to + styl
Complaining about historical methods being used on a historical methods channel? Well, that's youtube for you. Lovely to see part 2, Sally!
Until the 1950s, doctor's were still tasting people's urine in order to diagnose some conditions and very very resistant to all the upstarts making nice clean lab equipment as an alternative. My dad could tell you the concentration, to quite some accuracy, of several acids by the colour they turned his skin. This skills we have lost 😂
These videos are wonderful, and teach us a lot about people of the past, and what their life would have been like. ❤
@@woofbarkyap That's a pisser🤣
Amazing
People complaining about you demonstrating historical procedures are watching the wrong channel.
It's possible they came for the soapmaking, and were unaware of the practical archaeology basis of your channel.
I'm just sorry you had to respond to them at all.
Thank you for this episode. Parts 1 and 2 have gone a long way to boosting my own confidence with soapmaking. Humans have managed this for thousands of years without technology aids. I should be able to manage as well!
Sure you can... but why would you risk lye burns when handing boiling hot lye when you could, oh I don't know, wear gloves and protect your eyes? It's possible to do both, you know. We used to mouth pipette too, but just because you can do that with benzene or a concentrated acid or base, doesn't mean you should. Wearing protective gear doesn't stop you from doing the techniques in the historical manner, if you so choose. Good grief.
@@JustAnotherBuckyLover No one has sugested not using modern protective devices if you wish to do so but knowing Sally Pointer's wisdom and historical accuracy is a delight to those of us old enough to have watched their grandmothers make soap without them .
@@cadileigh9948 You are missing the point - the OP was complaining about even having to acknowledge the people who mentioned it would be safer to use them in the comments on the previous video. So yes. They were. Context matters. It's possible to value Sally's incredible wealth of historical knowledge and demonstrations without also risking the damage of having literally boiling lye solution without using the most basic of protective gear.
And you know nothing about my age, so please try to avoid making assumptions about people. It makes an ass out of you, not me. As I stated, my MOTHER (not my grandmother) was old enough to be mouth-pipetting benzene and other carcinogenic, caustic and toxic chemicals. Didn't harm her despite years of doing so. But that doesn't mean that it's a good idea to still use your mouth to suck stuff into glass tubes when there are much safer options.
On top of that, not recommending to use correct safety equipment would also put Sally at risk of violating CZcams's TOS as well. So if nothing else, "acknowledging" the people who commented on the previous video is a good way to ensure that the video is less likely to be flagged and removed.
@@JustAnotherBuckyLover I'm unclear why you think your comment in any way pertains to mine.
And no, at no point did i "complain" about anything. I believe it was your ilk that did the complaining, thank you very much.
I am also unclear why you feel the need to be patronising and rude.
What I'm VERY clear about is your vastly unwarranted sense of superiority and need to voice superfluous opinions.
@@yetanotherentity Here's a hint; if you don't want people to comment on your ignorance, then don't post in a public comments section. If the truth is uncomfortable, perhaps sit with it and figure out why that is. You said Sally shouldn't have had to acknowledge the people who commented regarding safety concerns in the previous video and you should be able to manage too without using any modern equipment - which includes safety equipment. If you can't make a link between your saying that and my comment, then I don't know what to tell you.
Also, do try not to attribute emotions to words when you have no idea of the intent of the person posting them. It doesn't help your case. I could argue that your entire first paragraph was condescending, patronising, dismissive and ignorant toward the many people, including dozens of soap makers, raising valid safety concerns... but I didn't, because I was critiquing the content of your comment, and not your tone.
But hey - you do you, boo! 😂
Yay! The much-awaited soap follow-up! Thank you, Sally :-)
I used to make soap with modern lye and techniques, I knew it was different with woodash lye, but i had no idea how much different it actually is! Thank you for the video, top notch as usual :)
And aren't you glad we do have modern lye and techniques! I know I am.
@@AnnabelSmyth ahah totally!
Thank you Sally for this video. I have waited for it because I wanted to know how soap was made in the old days. Now I am wandering how people found out how to make soap?? - I have made cord from horseradish after watching one of your videos and I love to try some new (old) ways of making things. I live in Iceland and we don´t have wild bramles or nettles to use, so I will try some other plants this summer. I am a pensionist and just playing, enjoying and learning a lot from youtube channels from people around the world. Have a nice trip to Italy
I've got a paper coming out soon on the first discovery of true soap, and I also did an EXARC podcast recently that talks about it
What part of the horseradish do you use?
@@jennifergamble3272 czcams.com/video/ebYZidfmn-0/video.html
I use the stems like Sally teaches in her video@@jennifergamble3272
Sally I really love how your videos never seem canned or prebaked. When your result is a surprise to you, it's a surprise to us too. :) It comes off as very natural and sincere. Thank you.
Thank you Sally. Don’t listen to the haters. Your channel is amazing, I love learning from you
I AM interested in the soap making, but even more I'm just enjoying listening to your voice while knitting.
Yes, indeed. Getting a few rows in today because of your help!
This is great. I have a wood burning stove, so now I know what to do with the ash. I can heat and clean with no waste. I've been using ash to clean the glass of the stove so I'm truly grateful thanks
ashes are useful in so many ways, the primitive technology youtube channel does some crazy things with it
Make sure you burn hardwoods then.
Ruth Goodman's book " A domestic Revolution" describes getting oily dirt out of clothes with straight wood ash lye, in medieval times. I wish I had a wood stove, too, so I could try it!
Fellow archeologist here. Another brilliant video! I always look forward to your new videos. I know I'm going to learn something new and relax at the same time!👏
My only comment is that at some point people had a pretty good idea of how much lye to use for how much tallow. My grandmother made soap each autumn in a huge cauldron - as a 6 yo I could step inside and crouch down, so yeah, it was big. She didn't have any books or written recipes as such. What she had was her own grandmother's pot as a measure: this many pots of lye to this many pots of fat.
Yes, she would test it as she cooked it, but an experienced crafter wouldn't make too many adjustments.
She also never made soft soap. All her soap was salted to harden and cured for about a month before use.
About the use of historical methods : I would leave even the soft soap to cure a good long time before using it. For as long as it has moisture the unreacted lye and fats will continue to neutralize each other, although at a very slow pace since there's no stirring and the temp is too low.
The salted soap looks a bit like a well-aged runny cheese in the end, which kinda-sorta makes me want to taste-test it myself.
The Videos are wildy interesting, thank you, Sally!
Thanks for this video, Sally. Absolutely fascinating! I have been using traditional Black Soap from France for years so it is interesting the see the process behind it and it has whet my appetite to try this. (I already make basic soap using modern lye.)
The time this process takes and folks' squeamishness about the 'zap test' made me think of something my mum always said when I was growing up: "we don't know we are born..." If households still had to go to such efforts to achieve a basic cleaning product, maybe we would really appreciate what a luxury soap and being able to keep things clean actually are.
I love this video. You've been methodical, patient, and thorough. You can absolutely do a few things to refine the process within historical norms. However, you have definitely explored the gradients on the way.
So fascinating to see the process and learn how people in the old days did things. Excellent video.
Sally I just want to say you’ve been such a huge inspiration to my interest in history. I’ve always been incredibly interested in just the daily lives of ancient people and how we started creating things and you actually encouraged me to get a history degree. I would have gone into something I hated if it wasn’t for you inspiring me and showing just how amazing these things are and how happy studying history makes me. So thank you for genuinely changing my life.
That is so lovely to hear, thank you!
Good clean fun! Haha! This is brilliant though. Having just spent most of my week washing dishes as if it were 1924 (drain trouble and the plumber couldn't get here for AGES)... it was strangely nice to watch this video, and someone ELSE boiling huge pots of water!
You are exceptionally patient! And I suppose back then folks didn't feel a need to hurry through anything. Such a simple process but with such great results, very cool!
I felt my great grandmothers would have laughed at my whining when our hot water heater went out and I had to heat the dish water on an electric stove! But all my friends tried to commiserate with my "sufferings". Funny!
@@MMacNicol We really get used to our modern comforts don't we! It's surprising to me how difficult it really is, to imagine what life was like before all the things I grew up with.
I've been waiting for part 2 for *ages!* Thank you for the update! ❤ 👍
Excellent demo! I loved your demo of the historic way that soapmakers judged the quality and progress of their batch of soap.
Your presentations are really fascinating! I love the respect that you have for both our forbearers and for us. Passing down this know-how feels like a celebration of life that echoes through time to me. Thank you!!
I like watching ur vids!
Insane that I’ve only just now found your channel. It’s a goldmine and this is one of many things I’ve wondered about before! Thank you
IT'S PART TWO!!!!!
I’m Navajo and just dug up some narrow leaf yucca root for hair washing. Other tribes in the area have used it for millennia! A little maceration and water and you have shampoo or body wash. Very effective! Other tribes used soap lily.
This was fun to watch though. When I get a fire pit going I’ll try this! Axhe’hee.
Ooh that sounds so interesting! Thank you for sharing ☺️
Thanks Sally! I've been waiting for part 2.
in the middle east it was common and still is, to make soup from olive oil. I tried once to do soap with local olive oil and it was great!!
I really want to try this style of diy lye
Very interesting. I started making cold process soap so I could recognize the stages of making soap the old way.
this is a delightful video, THANK YOU!
and oooh, when you took the pot to the sink to add the water, it took me right back to my soapmaking days in the 90s. most of hte people i knew made cold process bc it's faster.
but i'm disabled and have horribly sensitive skin, so i always made hot process. a little more time to cook it til it was soap meant easy clean up + happy skin! 😻😻😻
I have always found hot process soap - which I have made in my time - doesn't come out as well as CP, but it does have its uses, for instance in making salt scrub for people's hard skin, or if one has an urgent request for soap....
I'm a real fan of hot process, I like it much better than cold process even when I'm making modern siaps
CP isn’t faster…..I can knock out a batch of HTHP(high temp hot process) in a comparable time to a batch of CP, and the curing time is much less for HP. It can be used right after cooking as it’s exhausted the lye. It’s best to give it some drying time to harden, but fresh HP won’t burn the skin like fresh CP can. And it’s possible to make fancy HP that’s just as pretty as CP bars, with swirls and pretty tops etc……it just takes a little planning and a good recipe to get the fluidity required. Most HP makers add yoghurt at the end of the cook to thin and loosen their batter.
Lye is used to strip the seasoning off cast iron when restoring.
This is very interesting! Thank you.
This was amazing and informative. Thank you.
Really want to try this! Thanks for sharing
Totally brilliant! I love seeing how this all came together ❤ Thank you!
Thanks for the Vid Sally , I've been waiting for part two 8)
Brilliant
Thank you for the great lesson. Just loved it!!!!
Thanks for this tutorial video. Greet from Slovakia. 😀🖖👍
Thank you so much!
As I know, the soap need to wait quite some time for aging. I don’t really know for what but I saw it in many videos about natural soap making.
Oh, and you forget to mention the most important ingredient for the historical soap-making! The Elbow Grease!😂
awesome. got to try it.
Dripping aka tallow, and lard make great soap. Soap making can be incredibly involved, and using modern materials and colourants, you can make GORGEOUS bars, however, it’s very simple to make a simple soap with a few commonsense safety precautions. Mainly respect the lye, cos it’s dangerous.
Having said that, “zap” testing IS a thing and was done for centuries(and yes I’ve DONE it…I’m still alive)……..today it’s anathema and folk make a big fuss about it, for good reason tbh. It’s takes that rare quality, common bloody sense, which appears to be in rather short supply, to not either poison yourself or burn your tongue. And tbh I wouldn’t do it with modern highly concentrated lye, which is an ENTIRELY different beast from home produced wood ash lye…….much MUCH stronger. The thing is , there are nuances to take into account when using things like home produced wood ash lye, and nuance seems to be something that is lost today. Oh, and btw, in HP (hot process)soap making, that boiling up is called “volcanoing” lol. It freaks beginners out 😂. The transparency you’re talking about is what we call the Vaseline stage, which is where the soap has “gelled” which is a pretty reliable sign it’s fully cooked. And yes we still add salt(sodium chloride) to soaps to assist with hardening.
I've certainly used the Zap test when making HP soap.
@@AnnabelSmyth Same here. Even like 10 years ago people on soaping groups were still recommending the zap test.
Waiting for this video is one of the reasons I subscribed to you. Thank you for this video! Your channel has been quite a mental treat for me :)
Brilliant Sally! I love your methods
Fascinating! Thank you!
Thank you for teaching about the old ways!
Such a good video thankyou so much🌿
I was wondering if you'd ever get back to the ash lye soap. Not that it mattered too much if you did or didn't, life is busy and all your videos are worth waiting for. This has lead me to wonder if I can make soap out of the old Crisco that lurks (almost malevolently) in the back of my pantry... Might need to try it for science, it's a little too far gone for cooking anyway....
I wonder if you could boil-purify it before starting to get rid of some of the old smell? Or if it is even wise to do something like that? Now I wonder if you could use rancid/old fats to make soap?
@@jjudy5869 Like, it doesn't stink, but it's been there for so long... I've lived here for 20 years and I don't remember it ever NOT just being in the back of the cupboard... you'll go look for something else and find it instead and be like "Oh right. That exists."
I too have the Cupboard Crisco, and want to know if I can put it to good use!
Using vinegar helps to create additional chemical reactions. You're better off rinsing very well with running water.
Also, you should use a spoon or at least more of a "mixing" motion as opposed to the "whisking". You were throwing drops of soap batter all over.
The EXARC talk is excellent.
YAY 🎉
It's truly an art :)
Nice
Thank You Sally.❤
Great video
Oh my goodness, I've just discovered and subscribed to your channel! It's my favourite now 😍 So many exciting videos, I'm thrilled to have found you. Thank you ♥️
I'm fascinated with soap. All kinds. I have a huge container that I squirrel away. Lol. IDK why.
I thought you're making bath soap but found out in the end it's laundry soap
You could bathe with it, but this wasn't my nicest ever batch so I'll use it for textiles. Generally I keep the nicer soap to use on the body, but there's no basic difference in process
I heard that if you get splashed wash it off for 15 minutes then if that doesnt work, seek medical attention. 😮
Could you give us an idea of the strength of these products relative to a modern usage? Like what volume would be used for a modern load of laundry or dish washup? Or is it similar cleaning strength to currently popular cleaning products?
Pretty similar once it's all finished
i've been looking a lot into historical and evolution of haircare, mainly hairwashing/hair hygene strategies. I am under the impression that using plain soap (soft soap and castille soap tend to come the most recomended) became common practice around the mid-late victorian era into the edwardian era when soap, skincare and hygiene became industrialised and commercialised. Haircare in the 18th century works in a totally different way but the very few sources i found for before the common use of hair powdering tend to recommend monthly-weekly use of vine ash in water, i tend to put it aside as a disparity between what was written down and what people actually did, but come to think of it, they probably had much better litteracy of what lye is safe than we do today ad using a weak lye would work pretty well as a stripping agent in a context where other products would be less practical to use.
When looking into what other cultures (mainly the diné people, historical han/chinese and the yao/red hmong women) traditionally do, haircare seems to work in a simiar way (hair tying and covering to prevent dirt and dust, frequent combing and rare use of a degreasing agent, mainly saponin heavy local plants with oiling as a styling and conditioning product). The fact i only see it being mentionned in the early 20th century (a belgian housekeeping manual from 1903 reprinted around 1919 mentions soap bark) makes me believe it was either not something that was worthy of mentioning earlier, not something that was done in europe before we took that up from other cultures or that we don't really have that many plants with the same properties... but the saponaria was use as a detergent in roman era but i havent seen it mentioned as a possibility for haircare purposes. Which makes the curiosity of ancient roman haircare even more baffling :
i believe they didn't use lye based product because the alledged use of lime by gaulish people is regarded as different and striking, i guessed that hair combing would have been enough as it is quite similar to the oil scrapping they were famous for doing (and mosaic and statues don't really translate the greasiness of the hair the same way it's easy to see if hair was pomaded or powdered in the 17th - 19th century portraiture) but hair washing with water was part of their culture, if the mention i have found online is to be believed (still haven't found the source sadly, i'm grasping at straws) they had a ritual of washing the hair in a lake concecrated to diana on her special day in august. Soap would be adequate enough but it was really expensive to make so wouldn't have been able to everyone (so what did commonfolk do then) and it's terribly uncommon later on, wasn't seemed to be used regularly for anything outside of textile production so even if plausible it's a highly unsatisfactory option to me. Saponaria was common in laundering so i believe it would have been the easiest cleansing agent available to them , maybe is was ubiquitous enough to just not be mentioned in texts (i tried extracting saponin from nettles last august and it worked surprsingly well as a mild hair wash) but then why was lye preferred a millenium later? why was saponaria not more synonimous with cleanliness like lavender became? was it just easier further north to make our own lye? or maybe lye being more astringent required less frequent washing? i had in mind to give a shot at all of my hypotheses but life got in the way, i guess it's now time to resume
You might want to read Ruth Goodman's book "A Domestic Revolution" for historical data on these points.She covers it all.
@@MMacNicol i didn't think of looking more into her work, her passion for the evolution of how we approach hygien really influenced my practice and i didn't think to look at what she has to say about it, thanks for the tip :)
@@TheGabygael You're very welcome! This is all so cool.
in soap making groups when i first started making soap one question kept coming up - how do you clean up afterward? - i would just shake my head.
🤣that was like a friend of mine. I taught her to make caramel and she was all “but now I’ve ruined my pan”……yes she was talking about the sugar set on the pan…….”Le sigh”
@@paulinemegson8519 i once heard that we only use 10% of our brain, im beginning to think that was generous
Thank you for that. I think I'll stick to modern methods using commercial sodium hydroxide! Fascinating, though.
😄👍
ive tried and sort of worked, but i did get soap - so thnzz sooo very much!!!! ps i did not die of tasteing it lol
Thank you very much for this tutorial. It makes me want to try it. You sad about washing fleeces with it. How does your wool turn out with it? I use french black soap with a pinch of dish soap, since the addition of soda dryed the wool out. Well I'm still looking for the right fleece washing method. Have you tried the suint fermentation method yet? If so, did you like the procede and the result of it? Thank you again for this great video and this pragmatic approach.
I like soft soap for wool prep, a little vinegar in the rinse water can be useful if you feel your water and soap combination is risking any residue, but I don't always do that
I enjoyed the process, the tasting, but I prefer a faster method and no animal fat in my 600 years old recipe soap.- not hot method either. Why do people think that bubbles are so important? they have no cleaning properties
Which recipe do you use?
Perfect video for a stormy Texas morning! You may mention it in the video, but I'll ask just in case I miss it: are the wash balls safe for modern appliances, or strictly hand washing? How might I use it in a modern off-grid home with a bucket and plunger type of wash machine?
Washballs are best for washing hands or as a kitchen sink hand soap, the herbs and similar help make the soap go further and add fragrance and texture, but for laundry stick to plain soap
Well worth the wait. I'm going to have a go. I was wondering if we know when we first started making soap? Is it a pre or post metal thing? I was just thinking that you could do it with pottery and the coals of the cooking fire, so maybe it could be a Stone Age thing. (Sorry, don't know all the proper names for relevant time frames)
Have a listen to the recent Exarc podcast I did on the origins of soap!
This is so interesting! Out of curiosity, do you know of other ways to test the consistency without touching or tasting?
When, at what stage, could you add lavender or other flowers/herbs for scent.
At the very last moment
@@SallyPointer thanks!
Seems like a really great soap, hope I can have a go at trying all this at some point.
According to Fight Club, human fat is best! Talking of which, I thought it said to put vinegar straight on lye burn, not water?
Is there an ideal temp it needs to be held at?
The important thing is to remove lye splashes straight away, so water is a good start to rinse it away, but vinegar will more actively neutralise.
Fight Club is, ahem, . . . FICTION. They likely put that imaginary factoid in for shock value, to sell the movie.
The cadaver lab after the semester, and seven cadavers, had human fat residue we cleaned; it's the same as any other mammal. I helped clean it with two friends. The human body grease was the grossest part for them.
Or you could consult the German WW2 archives because the Nazi government DID do that, specifically that. Which is the grossest part for me.
Thank you Sally. In your first soap video you mentioned doing you were doing your PHD. How'd it go? I remember watching that video and being excited about what you'd have to say about the history/origin of soap.
Many thanks for all the wonderful videos and information 😊
There should be a paper coming out fairly soon based on some of my recent research.
@@SallyPointer exciting 😊
Hey is It alright if some dirt gets mixed in with my woodash?
You'll get clearer lye if the ash is as clean as possible, the best is made from sifted ash so even the bits of charcoal are removed
How can I support this channel? Do you have a subscription model? Happy to support great content makers like yourself. I adore your videos.
That's very kind of you. There is a link to a 'buy me a coffee ' type page in the video description. Thank you
did Meaningfulmakings buy one?
*Can you make soap using beeswax as the primary fat?*
Technically I think it's possible as beeswax will saponify, but it's more usual to just use a little to increase the hardness and add texture to a softer soap. I suspect as well as wasting beeswax the end soap would disappoint if it was used instead of fat
Would the soft soap be suitable for washing dishes?
Yes definitely
@@SallyPointer Thank you.
Would you also include the old-fashioned step of vinegar in the rinse water?
21:00 Now I know how roadside cafés make such awful tea.
What do you use this soap for? what's the PH? Can it be a hand and body wash?
It's a general purpose soap,and if made well is mild enough for hair and body. This batch isn't my best ever so it will be used for laundry and textile processing.
❤🎉❤
@@SallyPointer
yo lo hago✨️💕✨️
Quita manchas de la piel, espinillas, acné, caspa, dermatitis comprobado!
y he leído que puede curar la psoriasis!!
Gracias por tu tiempo!
e instruirme más con tu sapiencia!!
abrazo grande desde Tijuana Baja California México 🇲🇽
I am Jack's soap tutorial on youtube
and if it eats your wire whisk then you have to much lye LOL no noNO! I am the comedian.
nothing that dangerous there,to be honest its the safest procdure ever,you can taste and all
1:40 Smegma.
Borrowed from Ancient Greek σμῆγμα (smêgma), alternative form of σμῆμα (smêma, “soap, detergent”), from σμάω (smáō, “I wipe, clean”)
@@josequins9099 This is so helpful! Thank you.
That word has a very different contemporary definition
@@kitkat8231 Of course. Which is why the etymology is so helpful.
@@MMacNicol yup I just wanted people to be aware. It would make for an awkward conversation to bring that word up in a conversation with someone who doesn't know the etymology.
Don't let people being booty bothered and unable to scroll from what they don't agree with get you down, Sally. 🤍 Glad to see the part two!! I have yet again been given knowledge that will exasperate my roommates 😂 I will not use this responsibly (joking tone)
lol