[neilep (OP)]

Dear Soaperstars !!

This is Soap:



Notice how smooth and stolen from a hotel bathroom it is ? (well I do...don't you ?)



I have a few questions about soap .

What are soap (soap bars) made from ?

Has the recipe changed dramatically since the first bars were made ? (when ever that was ?)

Before soap...what did people use to wash with ?

Was soap an invention of necessity or was it another accident ? (like my last two kids !)

I don't use the stuff myself because I never wash !!....but I do have an interest !

THANK YOU very much

Neil

[another_someone]

Many chemicals used for past soaps would now be considered unsafe for modern use (coal tar products come to mind).

[paul.fr]

i thought i posted a thing on how to make soap in the "what's your..." topic, may be i will post another later.

i too don't use soap, even those nick..borrowed from hotels.

Now back on topic. i thought you could still but coal tar soap? that orangey coloured bar that smells so nice. is not not the "real" thing now?

early soap was made from fats boiled with ash. thats all i know.

[neilep (OP)]

THANK YOU GEORGE AND THANK YOU PAUL..

does that mean soap was probably discovered when someone put their hand in a pot of fat(presumably not boiling fat !!)...... to retrieve something dropped in only to discover that their hand was then clean afterwards ?

...or ..is that a long shot ?

[Karen W.]

You take your wood ash put it in a bucket with small hole then you fill with water to leach the lye from the ashes, I believe this makes lye and then the lard comes into it, to mix and make soap.. there are a couple steps I am missing. my sisters grandmother in law always made and still makes her own soap!

[neilep (OP)]

Karen !!..LOL!!..isn't there anything you don't know how to do ?

First you make cement now you make soap !!...lets hope you don't get the two mixed up as it could make for a sore bot bot !!

[Karen W.]

I told you guys I am a jack of all trades but that doesn't mean I want to it all just that I have made it a point to try to learn. If I am stranded somewhere I hope I could at least not die the first week I was stranded for crying out loud! LOL

Concrete is really harsh on your skin so if you make a print wash immediately and lotion up. concrete sucks the moisture right out of your hands and makes them icky really icky really fast. I would suggest gloves as the chemicals are not safe either for long exposure to skin. it sets up fast.. so the only thing you might want to use EWESE it on would be Sheepy's backside.. It would be a good exfolliant!

[another_someone]

Now back on topic. i thought you could still but coal tar soap? that orangey coloured bar that smells so nice. is not not the "real" thing now?

I don't have any to hand, but my recollection was that the last time I looked, it was not the real thing, it was only pretend.

[another_someone]

Actually, my apologies, I have found a bottle of polytar scalp treatment, and that claims to include in its ingredients some coal tar (although the list of ingredients is long, so coal tar will only form a small part of it, but is does include some).

[another_someone]

http://www.health-report.co.uk/psoriasis_cancer_warnings.html

Following settlement of a lawsuit in California that pitted the state against coal tar product manufacturers, most companies that make coal tar products will place the following statement on their products: "Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer."

The lawsuit was filed under California's Proposition 65, a state law passed by voters in 1986 requiring products that contain certain chemicals to include the cancer warning. While the law affects only products in California, most manufacturers are implementing the change nationwide.

Affected companies and their products (in parentheses) are: Alva-Amco (Psoriasin Gel); Baker Cummins (X-Seb T Plus Shampoo and X-Seb T Shampoo); Healthpoint (Ionil T Plus Shampoo and Ionil T Shampoo); Neutrogena (T/Gel Extra Strength Shampoo); Stiefel (Polytar Shampoo and Polytar Soap); Summers (Cutar Bath Oil Liquid Emulsion); and Triton (MG 217 Lotion, Ointment and Soap).

So far, no companies have decided to pull their products from the market nationwide. However, at least one company, Dermik, makers of Zetar (coal tar 1%), has decided to stop selling its products in California. The company must obtain written agreements from its wholesalers not to distribute Zetar in California.

Reedco, the manufacturer of Tegrin shampoo, is currently negotiating a settlement that would require it to reduce the concentration of coal tar in the product from 1.1% to 0.5%. Jose Allen, Reedco's lawyer, said the company is choosing that option rather than placing the warning on the product because the warning is "alarmist

[another_someone]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrights_Coal_Tar_Soap

The soap is now made by Accantia and is called Wright’s Traditional Soap. As European Union directives on cosmetics have banned the use of coal-tar in non-prescription products, the coal tar derivates have been removed from the formula, leaving the soap somewhat like of a shadow of its former self.

[neilep (OP)]

THANK YOU for the updates George.

[Karen W.]

cool I had never heard of coal Tar before especially in regards to soap.