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Author Topic: Clean question Woodcrafter Member Member # 197 posted 06-18-2003 08:32 PM                   Is there a known recipe for making soap in the 14th century? I would be happy with an earlier recipe, but I understand they were more of a liquid than a bar soap. -------------------- Woodcrafter 14th c. Woodworking Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged Karen Larsdatter Member Member # 382 posted 06-19-2003 10:19 AM                   There are soap recipes in the Mappae Clavicula dated to the 12th century (but I think was translated from Latin into English in the 14th century, though I may be mistaken on that) -- look for Smith & Hawthorne's translation, published as "Mappae Clavicula: A Little Key to the World of Medieval Techniques" in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society published in 1974. From what I can tell, it looks like they would have been hard (non-liquid) soaps. The two soap recipes from the Mappae Clavicula are both quoted in this article on lye soap. Another interesting article (though probably not as closely related to what you're interested in finding): Description of Soap Making From a Thirteenth Century Treatise by King Al-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn `Umar ibn `Ali ibn Rasul. Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged Woodcrafter Member Member # 197 posted 06-19-2003 11:42 PM                   Thank you! So basically a deep brown coloured oak lye and sheep tallow bar would be produced. The process would be nice to do some long event, but I wont have the time for this upcoming Fort Rodd Hill event. I shall just have to find a look-alike product. -------------------- Woodcrafter 14th c. Woodworking Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged Reisläufer Member Member # 475 posted 06-20-2003 02:55 PM                You know you could always go without, keep away those nasty demons that would otherwise corrupt your soul! -------------------- Me oportet propter praeceptum te nocere Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged Woodcrafter Member Member # 197 posted 07-07-2003 02:09 PM                   Ok, I bought some lye soap. I kept away from coco nut additives, etc. However after much discussion with people who are locally crafting soap, it would appear that lye soap is not dark at all. Ash is indeed grey, but the water is filtered a number of times, so it is basically clear. Tallow is a creamy white and can have some colouration if you use bacon grease. So really you are looking for an off-white bar. The lye soap I bought worked well on my hands, dishes and doing the laundry. I was shown how to crochet a pot scrubber out of hemp cord. It worked well even in other types of cords that we had on hand. -------------------- Woodcrafter 14th c. Woodworking Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged Ulfgar Member Member # 225 posted 07-09-2003 12:07 AM                I read of an old method used in england for making lye. -Take a barrel and peirce the bottom with a few very small holes so that water may just drip through, and place it above a container to catch the lye. Fill the barrel with fine white wood-ash and add enough water to just soak the ash. The water will now slowly percolate down through the ash, becoming a lye solution, and run into the container below. More water can be added day by day until the ashes are exhausted. Ulfgar -------------------- Yes, these are bruises from fighting.That's right, I'm enlightened! Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged

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