A few weeks ago, after spending quite a few dollars on some lovely soaps, I realized how happy something so simple could make me. It's a great feeling, looking at the lovely shapes and smelling the lovely scents.
Shortly after, I happened to be browsing around my favorite newsgroup and just for giggles, did a search for "soapmaking." Before I could say "Lye," a pdf appeared of a book published in 1946 on soapmaking. Well, my curiosity was certainly aroused, so I downloaded the thing and began perusing those pages. Reading about what our grandmothers and great grandmothers had to go to just to get a bar of soap was enough to curl my hair. By the time I got through the section on the hazards of Lye and what happens when it mixes with grease, not to mention they had to "cook" that stuff in pots outside to keep from being overcome by the fumes. You can imagine the new appreciation I had for those gals. Geez! The fat had to be rendered from animals (now THAT had to be a job)or in many households, the ladies just saved their old cooking grease until they had enough to make a batch of soap. A thought occurred to me... "Gads! That stuff sounds serious. Betcha those gals didn't have body hair issues!"
I'm a firm believer in the Internet as a very powerful research tool, so after having my curiosity sent to a raving lunacy of heights, determined to find out more about how soapmaking has evolved. I just knew someone out there has to be making these beautiful, "all natural, good for the skin" bars. Perhaps I could find some real "how to's" in my quest.
Good old Google... My first search used the term "soapmaking" and that was all I needed to begin what has become a wonderfully fun quest!
