HERB - french milled soap

[Gaylin J. Walli]

Joni asks a good question when she writes

>What makes regular soap ~French Milled Soap~?
>Is it ingredients or a process?

I'll try to give you some simple answers, Joni,
and I'm going to answer to a wider audience so
please forgive me if I've hit too low from the mark.

Let's break this apart into two answers. First,
what is "milled soap" and the subquestion "how
is it different from other soap"?

Milled soap is made in a two-step process. Like
most soap, it is created when you bring two mixtures
to very similar temperatures. The first mixture is
usually some combination of fats/oils. The second mixture
is an alkali in water. In most cases the alkali is
sodium hydroxide; you might be most familiar with
it in it's form as a drain opener labeled "Red Devil."

When the two mixtures are combined at the right
similar temperatures, the alkali works with the
molecules of fat. The fat molecules get broken
down in such a way that it results in two pieces
(in essence): the fatty acid and the glycerine.
All the ingredients you use-the fat, the water, the
oils-combine and break down their molecules so
that you're left with soap. The process is called
"saponification" and it's one that generates a lot
of heat. At the end of the saponification process,
you should be left with a reasonably solid bar of
soap with all of the original alkali completely
changed into soap and sometimes a little of the
fat left over and unreacted (to allow the soap to
be a little more moisturizing).

Now, when you make a milled soap, you're simply
grating the soap and re-melting it so that it can be
liquified and then re-solidified into a bar of soap.
Some people call this "hand-milling" when you do
the grating by hand and some people simply call
this "grating." Still others might call this method
of making soap "rebatching" because you are taking
a batch of soap and remaking it into a new batch.

People use this "hand-milling" or "grating" process
for two reasons. First, you can often use this stage
to add oils and ingredients that wouldn't otherwise
survive the intense heat of saponification. Delicate
oils, like some of the roses can be used. Flower
petals that would otherwise crisp or brown in the
heat of the saponification process can be added. Some
people also use it to create fancier soaps that are
layered, have toys in it, or that have special shapes
from molds that couldn't otherwise survive the high
heat of saponification.

Second, you can *sometimes* use the milling process
to rescue an otherwise failed batch of soap. It doesn't
always work, but sometimes it does.

So...where are we? We know what soap is and how it's
made. We know what milling is and why we might use
it. But the key word of your question is "French", right?
What makes a hand-milled soap a "French-milled" soap.
it.

There's no one correct answer to this. You'll actually
get a bunch of different answers.

Some people say the term "French-milled" comes from
the early French production centers of soap making. In
essence, these people claim that while the soap milling
process was not invented by the French, it was *perfected*
by them. Think of the term "Kleenex" which really is a
brand name for "facial tissue." Kleenex perfected the
tissue and many people call the product by that brand
name now regardless of the company that makes it.

Some people say the term "French-milled" comes from
the strict practice of the French using only a very
specific combination of olive oil and sodium hydroxide.
I can't find anything that lends credence to this claim
and in fact would suspect that it would be the Spanish
who have a better claim on it considering their oild
production was much better and their efforts were often
mimicked by or prohibited by the English soap-making
guilds.

I hope this answers your question, Joni. Someone else
on the list may have more information. I am currently
at work, so I don't have any access to my history books
to look this up for you more specifically. If you have any
questions beyond this, though, please feel free to ask.
I'm sure many people have answers for you.

jasmine
Iasmin de Cordoba
iasmin at home.com or gwalli at ptc.com
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