By medieval ingredients I mean ones known to western Europeans before 1600. The three parts of soap are fats, alkalis and scents.
Olive oil and animal fats were best known sources of fat, whereas palm oil, coconut oil, shea butter and others available to us now were unknown, or difficult to obtain.
Potash was extracted by mixing water with wood ash, and it takes an awful lot of ash to wash through the ash to generate the alkali http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potash So in that regard, we can buy a high-quality, pure chemical very cheaply, compared to the work-intensive process of extracting alkali from ash.
We also have access to a wide range of scents, in convenient forms, many of which weren't known to western Europe. I can buy ready-made rosewater or orange water without having to make it myself.
Recipes: I have a modern book about historic cosmetics with a conjectural recipe for 17th c soap, so far. Actual medieval recipes are pretty rare.
Recipes for other cosmetics I've tried so far, from mid-1500s: http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/treasurie.pdf
So what I'd likely be making is castile soap (olive-oil base) with some scent combination described in a Renaissance source.
Are you interested in medieval stuff, or in soap, or both?
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-11-15 10:38 am (UTC)Olive oil and animal fats were best known sources of fat, whereas palm oil, coconut oil, shea butter and others available to us now were unknown, or difficult to obtain.
Potash was extracted by mixing water with wood ash, and it takes an awful lot of ash to wash through the ash to generate the alkali
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potash
So in that regard, we can buy a high-quality, pure chemical very cheaply, compared to the work-intensive process of extracting alkali from ash.
We also have access to a wide range of scents, in convenient forms, many of which weren't known to western Europe. I can buy ready-made rosewater or orange water without having to make it myself.
Recipes: I have a modern book about historic cosmetics with a conjectural recipe for 17th c soap, so far. Actual medieval recipes are pretty rare.
Recipes for other cosmetics I've tried so far, from mid-1500s:
http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/treasurie.pdf
So what I'd likely be making is castile soap (olive-oil base) with some scent combination described in a Renaissance source.
Are you interested in medieval stuff, or in soap, or both?