Soapmaking

Redacted recipe for Castille soap based on a description in the Mappae Clavicula.

Ingredients and recipes for making Castile soaps, as well as links to information on procedures.

The book these recipes were transcribed from is in the National Art Library in England. The volume is cobbled together from various chapters/volumes of the 16th c. bestselling work, the Secretes of Alexis of Piedmont. Originally published by Ruscelli in Italian, it was quickly translated into French, German and English. A number of different books and chapters on a number of different topics were printed. This document is a transcription of all of the recipes related to cleaning of fabric & textiles and dyeing of fabric, leather & other materials.

The earliest copy of the Mappae Clavicula was a manuscript in the Benedictine monestary of Reichenau, dated to 821-822, which is no longer in existence. The translation below is based on the Phillipps-Corning Mappae Clavicula manuscript, currently in the Corning Museum of Glass at Corning, NY. This manuscript was translated by Sir Thomas Phillips and printed in the 1847 edition of Archaeologia. This manuscript is primarily concerned with metalworking and making of pigments, but scattered among the recipes are several that deal with creating "dye" liquids (used either to paint or dye fabric) and instructions for dyeing fabric and leather.

This group hopes to explore perfume, cosmetics and soap from a historical perspective. Whether your interest lies in accurately reconstructing an early recipe, or interpreting period scents through the use of modern materials, this group allows a forum to discuss difficulties, swap recipes and suppliers and help educate about changing trends.

The history of and how to make lye based soap.

An outline for a modern procedure for making soap, with notes on medieval techniques.

Links to related articles.