History of Shave Soap

[Tribe816]

Does anyone know the history of the first shave soaps ? What were the first brands and first ingredients ?

I am thinking of making my own shave soap ( I am Vegan & Use only organic products when possible ... Difficult to find a ' Great ' shave soap that is orgnaic or does not contain many ingredients, & gives a great shave ).

Thanks.

 

[Spatterdash]

Try this on for size...

"From the beginning of the 7th century soap was produced in Nablus (Palestine), Kufa (Iraq) and Basra (Iraq). Soaps, as we know them today, are descendants of historical Arabian Soaps. Arabian Soap was perfumed and colored, while some of the soaps were liquid and others were solid. They also had special shaving soap for shaving. It was commercially sold for 3 Dirhams (0.3 Dinars) a piece in 981 AD. A manuscript of Al-Razi (Rhazes) contains various modern recipes for soap. A recently discovered manuscript from the 13th century details more recipes for soap making, e.g. take some sesame oil, a sprinkle of potash, alkali and some lime, mix them all together, and boil. When cooked, they are poured into molds and left to set, leaving hard soap (soap bar).[67]


Found that in Wikipedia, under alchemy in Medieval Islam. Google rules. You'll note the date, 981 AD. Just to give you an idea of the the world outlook at the time, Europe is suffering the Dark Ages, Christianity is at the height of it's Monastic phase as hermits and teachers flee the influence of the Mediterranean power bases of the Church, Nordic and Danish Warriors are ravaging the coasts (going viking, which is a verb, not a noun or an adjective) of Europe and the Isles, and it will be another 85 years before the Normans conquer England and declare victory at the Battle of Hastings.

You really don't see soaps marketed to the West specifically for shaving until after the Industrial Revolution, when plants, oils and spices were affordable to the working and middle classes. One of the oldest?
Yep. Williams shaving soap. It was available during the Civil War.

 

[Spatterdash]

Side note - if you want organic soap that really works, have you tried Mama Bear soaps? She has a number that use essential oils and her ingredients are listed at her website - www.bear-haven.com

 

[Dubbya]

If I recall the recipe I read years ago, palm oil and lye were boiled together and the rendered glycerine was mostly skimmed. For a non-foaming soap(for shaving, laundry, etc.), castor oil was then added and the liquid soap would be salted to cause it to harden into cakes.

 

[SRock]

Try this on for size...

"From the beginning of the 7th century soap was produced in Nablus (Palestine), Kufa (Iraq) and Basra (Iraq). Soaps, as we know them today, are descendants of historical Arabian Soaps. Arabian Soap was perfumed and colored, while some of the soaps were liquid and others were solid. They also had special shaving soap for shaving. It was commercially sold for 3 Dirhams (0.3 Dinars) a piece in 981 AD. A manuscript of Al-Razi (Rhazes) contains various modern recipes for soap. A recently discovered manuscript from the 13th century details more recipes for soap making, e.g. take some sesame oil, a sprinkle of potash, alkali and some lime, mix them all together, and boil. When cooked, they are poured into molds and left to set, leaving hard soap (soap bar).[67]


Found that in Wikipedia, under alchemy in Medieval Islam. Google rules. You'll note the date, 981 AD. Just to give you an idea of the the world outlook at the time, Europe is suffering the Dark Ages, Christianity is at the height of it's Monastic phase as hermits and teachers flee the influence of the Mediterranean power bases of the Church, Nordic and Danish Warriors are ravaging the coasts (going viking, which is a verb, not a noun or an adjective) of Europe and the Isles, and it will be another 85 years before the Normans conquer England and declare victory at the Battle of Hastings.

You really don't see soaps marketed to the West specifically for shaving until after the Industrial Revolution, when plants, oils and spices were affordable to the working and middle classes. One of the oldest?
Yep. Williams shaving soap. It was available during the Civil War.

That's a good start, now if we can get Sue, Sue, Irena and the other soap juggernauts to chime in...

 

[back_to_shaving]

Very interesting. Are there any Middle Eastern soaps of note besides Arko?

 

[Extrawurst]

@back_to_shaving Derby. Also from Turkey. Performance, scent and price range are similar to Arko, maybe even a little bit better. But that's just my personal opinion.

 

[back_to_shaving]

@back_to_shaving Derby. Also from Turkey. Performance, scent and price range are similar to Arko, maybe even a little bit better. But that's just my personal opinion.

I'm must be really weird since I like the scent of Arko. I also like the funkiness of boar brushes and kind of wish it didn't go away.

 

[Extrawurst]

@back_to_shaving If you like the scent of Arko you will probably like the scent of Derby too. They're pretty similar, but Derby doesn't get as much attention here as Arko.

 

[Alohawyatt]

How would you guys compare the scent of Cella? Is it like Arko?

 

[RepeatPete]

How would you guys compare the scent of Cella? Is it like Arko?

Cella is almond cented. Think Christmas cookies. Arko smells like strong Ivory soap.

 

[BigJ]

Try this on for size...

"From the beginning of the 7th century soap was produced in Nablus (Palestine), Kufa (Iraq) and Basra (Iraq). Soaps, as we know them today, are descendants of historical Arabian Soaps. Arabian Soap was perfumed and colored, while some of the soaps were liquid and others were solid. They also had special shaving soap for shaving. It was commercially sold for 3 Dirhams (0.3 Dinars) a piece in 981 AD. A manuscript of Al-Razi (Rhazes) contains various modern recipes for soap. A recently discovered manuscript from the 13th century details more recipes for soap making, e.g. take some sesame oil, a sprinkle of potash, alkali and some lime, mix them all together, and boil. When cooked, they are poured into molds and left to set, leaving hard soap (soap bar).[67]


Found that in Wikipedia, under alchemy in Medieval Islam. Google rules. You'll note the date, 981 AD. Just to give you an idea of the the world outlook at the time, Europe is suffering the Dark Ages, Christianity is at the height of it's Monastic phase as hermits and teachers flee the influence of the Mediterranean power bases of the Church, Nordic and Danish Warriors are ravaging the coasts (going viking, which is a verb, not a noun or an adjective) of Europe and the Isles, and it will be another 85 years before the Normans conquer England and declare victory at the Battle of Hastings.

You really don't see soaps marketed to the West specifically for shaving until after the Industrial Revolution, when plants, oils and spices were affordable to the working and middle classes. One of the oldest?
Yep. Williams shaving soap. It was available during the Civil War.

Great history!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[macintoshBR]

How would you guys compare the scent of Cella? Is it like Arko?

Nothing similar. Arko has the smell of the traditional hammam (Turkish bath) soaps. Think fresh, clean. Cella is bitter almond / marzipan / cherry

 

[Alohawyatt]

Ok, how about the consistency of Cella. Is it somewhat soft like Arko? Is croap a good way to describe it?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk