Soap may have originated with the early Egyptians and Romans who believed that the body was a gift from the gods and should be taken care of. Early Europeans, however, did not have this belief. They believed that the body was only a temporary vessel and as such should not have much thought given to it. During the Middle Ages in Europe, it was thought that devoting too much attention to the body would be a detriment to the spirit. It wasn't until after the discovery of bacteria that people realized cleaning was healthy and a practice to be encouraged. The scientific community was the first to believe in the benefits of soap, with the rest of the population following slowly.

In North America, soap was primarily made at home because of the cost and the lack of commercial soap manufacturers. Women would make the soap in their kitchens, and in the very same pots used for cooking.

The main ingredients in homemade soap are tallow and lye. Tallow, rendered beef fat, is the best fat for making soap. Other fats are either too soft or too brittle. To achieve the whitest soap the fat must be fresh and free from any meat or other non-fat material. The fat is heated and strained through cheesecloth to ensure purity.

Lye is leached from wood ashes by placing the ashes in a bucket with a cloth in the bottom and then pouring water through the ashes and catching the water that runs out. Lye is very caustic and can easily burn skin. This is why leach barrels do not last long.

Once both the tallow and lye are prepared, they are combined in a pot and simmered for approximately three hours. About one pint of lye is needed for two pounds of tallow. A pound of salt is also added to this mixture to help the soap become hard. The salt settles to the bottom of the pot and is not actually put into the soap. Once the salt settles, the mixture can be poured into moulds and left to harden.

Here at Sherbrooke Village we still make soap the traditional way. Visitors are welcome to watch soap making take place at the Cumminger House. Our homemade soap is also available for sale at the Company Store.

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