Home remedies

I’m thinking we all take it for granted when we meander down the aisle of a store, choosing a hand soap or bar or gel of soap for the shower. We sniff, appreciating this scent, quickly putting that one up, and deciding which one we like the best. 

But it wasn’t always that way! In fact, back in the 1800s, most soaps didn’t smell that great. While people didn’t bathe nearly as often as we do now, they still used this soap to wash hands and faces, giving the appearance of being clean. While soap was available in stores, and there were several popular brands in the 1800s, such as Pears or Ivorine, or even Wrights tar-coal soap, it was still something made at home by the working class. 

The process of making soap, while dangerous and hard work, could be done by using items already on hand,as it’s a chemical reaction that makes the (basically) two very different ingredients create soap. (In fact, you can make soap yourself!) So, for the thrifty-minded individual, that’s just what they did. To make soap, one needed two main ingredients, lye and a fat. Lye could be made by pouring water over ashes from a fireplace and letting it sit a while, something that was easy to do. The fat could be from cooking or left over from butchering an animal. Also something that was in easy supply. 

Soap was made outside, both because of the heat and the smell. It was incredibly dangerous too, as lye, concentrated down in order to make the soap, is corrosive and it all had to boil for a while, and be stirred. Once it was cooled and molded, it was ready to be used for household or human use. 

But what about the individual who longed to smell like something nice? Not bacon? 

Since a good number of the working class individuals bathed with water alone, (be it in a tub of shared water or by sponging off) due to the harshness of lye soap, and not very often, scented soap was a luxury if they had such a thing. It was used sparingly for the face and hands. Scented soap could be made much the same as our every day soap, but with the addition of herbs and flowers. However, the soap still wouldn’t have smelled quite like what we’d imagined scented soap to smell like. For a good quality luxury bar, it would have been bought at a store, likely imported, such as the Yardley brand, which had been creating scented soap since 1770. 

As the 1800s progressed, more companies began to make soap, and it became more affordable. In the US, Ivory soap was developed in 1879, and in 1884, Sunlight soap was created by the man who would later form the company called Unilever. After a time, especially as manufacturing saved time and money for many, and because larger numbers now lived near cities, buying soap became the way to go. With a mid to late push in the 1800s for cleanliness and the understanding of bacteria and microbes on skin surfaces, a lot of advertising focused on being clean for health. 

Next time you wander the aisles, take a moment to appreciate all of the wonderful scents available to us! Maybe you can even find a bar of Yardley, and join me in marveling how inexpensive it is, compared to how much it likely cost back in the 1800s!

Now, how about a giveaway?

In celebration of a book announcement this fall, with a story taking place in the Blue Ridge Mountains, one random commenter will receive a free ebook copy of my other novella, Frances, that takes place in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and is based on a true story in the 1940s.  

Just tell me…When I was a child, I remember my grandparents only used bar soap. I asked once, and was told that’s what their parents used, and theirs. There was a bar in the bath, by the sink, even in the laundry room for stains. I’m not sure if it’s as common now? Growing up, at home, we had liquid hand soap, and liquid bath soap. A bar of Yardley’s scented soap was a thing to tuck into a dresser door with your unmentionables. Perhaps because it was still considered special?

What was it like for you growing up? Were you a bar or liquid family?