Soaps from Around the World

Once upon a time………..

The first evidence of a soap-like substance is dated around 2800 BC. the first soap makers that documented the process and the oils used were the Babylonians. Etched into clay cylinders they described a process by which fats could be combined with wood ash and water to create a substance capable of cleaning. It is thought by some scholars that it was used to clean wool and textiles.

Not far behind the Babylonians were the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, the ancient Greeks and the Romans. each making their own version of soap using local fats and oils. The Ebers papyrus (Egypt, 1550 BC) refers to medicinal soap making, where both animal and plant oils were combined with alkaline salts to create a substance used for treatening sores, skin aliments as well as washing. If you have time the video opposite talks about these first soap makers in more detail.

Aleppo Soap

Aleppo soap, known as ghar in Arabic, or Savon d’Alep, is revered by aficionados around the world. It is considered by Many historians to be the world’s first modern soap bar—solid, rectangular, and used both for bathing and personal hygiene. It originates from the famous Silk Road city of Aleppo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Only soap made within the city walls using this traditional olive oil recipe can be called Aleppo soap. Very much like only the region of Champagne can produce Champagne.

Mixed in huge vats the Aleppo soap is poured onto a tiled floor where it is allowed to set. It is then cut into cubes, stamped and stored in cellars for at least 9mths to ‘cure’. The outside of the soap takes on a yellow/brown colour whilst inside the soap remains olive green due to the added Laurel oil. It is then ready to be shipped around the world.

There is a wonderful website that has a video about how Aleppo soap is made. https://www.najel.net/en/aleppo-soaps

Castille Soap

It is possible that aleppo soap travelled the great silk road finding favour in asia and the middle east. From here is came accross to europe, through new trade routes or brought home during the crusades in the 11th century. It was During the 12th century that the Spanish cities of Castile , carthagene and Alicante along with the italian cities of Savone and Naples became soap exporters to the whole of europe. One soap stood out amongst its contemporaries…. Castile. The popularity of Castile soap may have been due to the abundance of olive oil in the region. This produced a pure white soap that was mild and very effective. It was even used in royal households accross europe and by the 15oo’s Castille soap reached Britain. It remains to this day one of the best natural and bio-degradable soaps still manufactured by hand; used for washing bady, hair, children and laundry accross the world.

Black Soap

This soap originated in west africa. It is also called anago, alata simena [in Ghana] and dudu-osen [in Nigeria]. But if you want to try some yourself it is usually found under the name ‘ black soap’. This soap is made from the ash of local west african plants and produces the rich black colour from which this soap is named. Each region guards its recipe well and these soaps often still made by women are now fair traded around the world.

The black soap is usually made from cocoa pods or palm tree leaves or plantain skins. These are sun dried and burnt to an ash. water is added the following day along with palm oil, shea butter and coconut oil and cooked for 24hrs stirring by hand throughout. The resulting mix is poured out and cured for two weeks before being used. As you can see from this picture on the right The soap can be very rough and should be lathered in the hands before applying to the body.

It is said that black soap eliminates blemishes and can evens out dark spots. It is used on rashes, to remove body odour and to help skin conditions such as eczema. it can be used on all skin types and is said to contain a lot of vitamin A and E due to the plantains used [not sure if the vitamin levels are affected or reduced during the saponification process]. it also has a lot of iron and due to the volume of shea butter in the soap it is claimed to offer high levels of UV protection. On the downside it also contains a great deal of caffine which may not be suitable for those with a sensitivity to caffine.

The soap we know today

During Georgian times money had to be raised to fund …. well…. everything. The georgians taxed anything they thought would bring in money. They taxed bricks, candles, clocks, watches, glass, gin, playing cards, hats, medicine, wallpaper and windows. Non of the taxes lasted long as manufacturers worked ways around the taxes, often moving their businesses to ireland where the taxes did not apply. In 1712 England introduced the soap tax. The tax was unpopular with the poor as it tripled the price of basic soap, making it a luxury item and therefore unaffordable. Records show that soap tax raised the equivalent of £6 Billion in todays money over the 141 years it was in place.

Due to the rise in black market soap makers, soap manufacturing was closely supervised by revenue officials who ensured that the soap makers equipment was kept under lock and key when not being used. In addition, the legislation required that soap boilers must manufacture a minimum quantity of one imperial ton at each boiling. Many makers went out of business and others moved to ireland where this rule and the tax did not apply. The soap tax was repealed in 1853.

Early soap makers simply boiled a mixture of wood ash and animal fat. Around 1790, French chemist Nicolas Leblanc patented a method of making lye from an ordinary salt, replacing the wood ash as an element of soap. The new age of soap production was born.

Whilst people in rural areas continued to make soap at home those living in towns and cities now bought their soap from soap manufacturers. By 1890 there were five major soap companies; Colgate, Morse Taylor, Albert, Pears, and Bailey. In 1933 the first household synthetic detergent was introduced by Procter and Gamble, and the first non-soap heavy-duty laundry product was invented in 1947 by Tide. Now in the 21st century, most mass manufactured soap bars found are actually made using synthetic detergents. thankfully people have begun to seek out natural soaps again and this has seen a rise in the cottage industry where traditional soap making methods have been reborn.