[Ansteorra] soap making supplies (was: need source for real lye soap)

[Coblaith Muimnech]

Michael Fenwick wrote:
> Probably the best way to get some lye soap with certainty that it  
> is the real, old-fashioned thing, is to make it yourself: lye plus  
> fat, using a slight surplus of fat to make sure that all the lye  
> reacts. There are recipes out on the web, searchable through Google.

Stephanie commented:
> . . .the problem is you need fire, ashes, lye, a large kettle, and  
> all day to make it.

Thomas Smith answered:
> Not unless you are doing this as an Arts and Sciences project and  
> trying to be super authentic.  You can go to the store and get a  
> can of Red Devil Lye - its usually right next to the Draino and  
> other drain cleaning products.

Red Devil Lye hasn't been manufactured for about 5 years <http:// 
candleandsoap.about.com/b/2005/09/19/its-not-a-lye.htm>.  Somebody,  
somewhere probably has a stash, but I wouldn't count on being able to  
find it at your local grocery store any more.

However, there are multiple online sources for sodium hydroxide  
(which is the alkali typically used in modern soapmaking and that  
most commonly sold today as "lye"), potassium hydroxide (which is the  
alkali typically used in medieval soapmaking and is often sold as  
"potash"), and potassium carbonate (which is an alkali sometimes used  
in medieval soapmaking and is often sold as "pearlash").  Many of  
them are specialist soap-makers' supply shops, and could provide  
other materials and tools one would need to make a batch of soap.

Incidentally, the online Medieval English Dictionary entry on "sope"  
<http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?type=id&id=MED41595>  
includes quotes from some documents that might be of interest to  
anyone researching the topic.  For instance, from an early-15th- 
century English translation of Guy de Chauliac's _Cyrurgie_ comes,  
"Sope forsothe is double: sope of Sarracenes, þe whiche is softe, and  
þe Frensche sope, þat is harde. The Sarracenes sope is made of two  
parties of lye and the þridde parte of oyle dolyf. Þe Frensche sope  
is made of þe two partyes of lye and of oon parte of schepes  
talowh."  ("Lye", in this case, probably means "potassium  
hydroxide".  It was the usual choice for soap making before 1791,  
when Nicolas Leblanc invented a process that made the commercial  
production of sodium hydroxide viable.)  If you could get your hands  
on a copy of that translation (a transcription of which was published  
by the Early English Texts Society in 1971), you might find more  
details on how soap was made and/or used in the 14th century (when  
the _Cyrurgie_ was written).


Coblaith Muimnech
<mailto:Coblaith at sbcglobal.net>
<http://coblaith.net>