Goats, Olives, & Napoleon's Buttons

Certainly my title is intriguing. After all what in the world do these things have in common and how could they possibly relate to soap? First a Bible lesson since it is Sunday.

What does the Bible say about beauty and cleanliness? God's laws were very specific on cleanliness. I believe God was taking care of his people and ensuring their survival by insisting on certain laws regarding disease and it's exposure to the tribe. They were instructed to go outside the camp and wait. Upon being deemed clean by the priest they were to wash their body and clothing before returning to the tribe. There have been soap making instructions found in ancient Babylonian times so it is not far fetched to assume the Jews had soap too.

Beauty is a gift from God. Not outward beauty, but the beauty of our spirit. He made us and we are beautifully and wonderfully made. Have you ever noticed that when you get to know someone they either become more attractive or less attractive. It is their personality, their heart, and their spirit that makes them truly beautiful. A friend brought a book to my attention that is a delightful book that I think all women should read. It is Beauty Secrets of the Bible by Ginger Garrett. She talks about beauty and gives some great beauty tips that are cheap and effective. It also contains a months worth of great devotionals. My favorite tip is the oatmeal and goat milk face scrub. Mix equal parts oatmeal and powdered goat milk in a blender and blend until fine. Mix it with a little water and scrub your face. I was a little skeptical at first but it did improve my skin. It also did wonders for my pre-teen daughter's oily complexion. The second skin care product that Ginger recommends is olive oil. It has been used for thousands of years in all sorts of beauty products. It was in the 8th century that Spain began making its Castile Soap. By the 13th century the soaps of Spain and France were famous for this luxury item (Napoleon's Buttons). Olive oil by itself is a wonderful moisturizer that does not inhibit the skins natural exfoliation or clog pores. Use it around your eyes especially to smooth away fine lines and wrinkles.

So goats refers to goat milk, olives to olive oil and Napoleon's Buttons, other than a previous reference, seems rather obscure. There is a great book called Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson. I read this book some time ago and it made me think about the molecules (foods) we put into our bodies. A slight change can mean the difference between something healthy and something deadly. Add another OCH3 to a common ingredient found in nutmeg, cloves, dill, and carrots and you get the drug Ecstasy. I believe this book spurred me on to find healthy foods, naturally grown, and without pesticides. Interestingly enough, this book also talks about soap. It details the taxation on salt which lead to a decreased use of soap because of the increased cost. Apparently Britain did not drop the salt tax until the industrial revolution. Without reasonably priced salt, mass production of necessities was impossible (p 306). Additionally there is an entire chapter on oleic acid found in abundance in olive oil. I will not ruin the book though and will leave the reading up to you.

No Lye, I've Been Reading

I am in research mode at the moment. The lack of lye has slowed my soapmaking process considerably so I am left with my books and a cup of tea. It's raining and raining here, so no better time to read and re-read the soap books. They are actually very interesting and I have read 90% of them. Of course if you have no interest in making soap, you might find the chemistry behind soap dreadfully boring. Just like if you have no interest in sewing, reading my beloved Ottobre Magazines would be equally boring.

So here are a few interesting facts I've learned about soap. The big scary word in soapmaking is saponification. The definition is: a process by which triglycerides (oils or fats) are reacted with sodium hydroxide (lye) to produce glycerol (AKA glycerin) and a fatty acid "soap". Soap works by trapping dirt and allowing water to wash it away. It is both hydrophilic and hydrophobic meaning it will dissolve in both water and oil which allows it to clean. It dates back to at least 600 BC and was likely discovered by accident. Lye was originally produced by running water through wood ashes. Sacrificing animals in a fire would have combined just the right ingredients to make naturally occurring soap when it rained. Because of the inconsistent nature of lye, the soaps made in the recent past were notoriously unpredictable. I'm sure we have all heard the jokes about Grandma's lye soap that would take your skin off. Today the lye is predictable and the measurements precise enough to make wonderful soaps, not that I have been able to try it yet.

So why do we use sodium laureth sulfate in most of our cleaning products? Blame it on the war! Fats were in short supply back in World War I in Germany so an alternative had to be found for soap. Enter some synthetic cleaners that were cheaper and did the job. Add a few whiteners and water softeners (more chemicals) and you had a cheaper cleaning product that preserved precious fats. The US jumped on board and converted airplane fuel factories into detergent production and the use of detergents became widely acceptable by the 1940's. They are also made from petroleum byproducts. Again, I am not a scientist but there is a raging debate over whether they are carcinogenic or not. The problem is that some of these detergents clean too well. They remove the oil that protects our skin and leaves us dry and scaly.

Another tidbit, just as the peanut oil is removed from mainstream peanut butters, replaced with cheaper oils, and sold for more money elsewhere, glycerin is removed from mass produced soaps decreasing the moisturizing properties inherent in natural soap. Did you know that glycerin is hygroscopic meaning that it attracts water?

Now that I've taught you all a bit of history, some big words, and a little chemistry to boot, don't you want to take the soapmaking plunge with me?