Old Fashioned Soap?

So there's plenty of articles and sites about history of razors, and there's even a bit about brushes and mugs. And in general all the hardware ppl used to use 100-200 years ago. My question is then about Soap!

Basically: What kind of soap/cream did people used to use in the 1800s?

I know there are few companies that are over 100 years old that still produce soap today (Pears, D R Harris) and I've seen enough to know that shave sticks were a thing back then. How far back did they have creams? I actually want to try and re-create an 'old fashioned shave' as much as possible, obviously I don't think I'll use a 100 year old soap even if I found one, are there any shaving soaps/creams out there that have existed since 1800s or early 1900s that haven't changed their formula or form?

Mitchell's Wool Fat. On the carton it says "ORIGINAL 1893 FORMULA". It's good stuff.

Lye and lard soap has been around since at least 600 BC. The Babylonians made soaps well before that (since circa 2800 BC) Arguably a kind of fat and some kind of alkaline salt gas been around for at least 5000- 6000 years. People have been shaving for about that long also as far as we know. One only has to shave without some sort of emulcifying preparation once to know that soap of some sort has been used for probably nearly as long. My guess is some kind of fat and an ash derivative.

When I was much younger, my neighbourhood Italian barber used to square off the back neck line with a straight razor. I recall he made a thin lather by sprinkling some kind of soap powder into a mug and then added a spritz of very hot water before working the lather with his brush. It had that typical barber shop aroma, but seemed very watery and thin with almost no glide. I never had him shave me as I got older, so I don’t know if he used the same lather for face shaving. I hope not.

Despite any claims I doubt you would find any soap that is both an old brand and the same exact formula. Even old names are just that having been defunct and bought and again used. Of course many ingredients are simply not used anymore for a variety of reasons.

I would be skeptical of any claims. I'll bet Mitchell's has no relation to the original maker. You would have to compare the formula to determine how true it is to the original.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Despite any claims I doubt you would find any soap that is both an old brand and the same exact formula. Even old names are just that having been defunct and bought and again used. Of course many ingredients are simply not used anymore for a variety of reasons.

I would be skeptical of any claims. I'll bet Mitchell's has no relation to the original maker. You would have to compare the formula to determine how true it is to the original.

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That not withstanding, Mitchell's Wool Fat is some good stuff.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Despite any claims I doubt you would find any soap that is both an old brand and the same exact formula. Even old names are just that having been defunct and bought and again used. Of course many ingredients are simply not used anymore for a variety of reasons.

I would be skeptical of any claims. I'll bet Mitchell's has no relation to the original maker. You would have to compare the formula to determine how true it is to the original.

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In other words no current soap would meet the OP's requirement. Seems reasonable but why not make life simple and pretend MWF fits the bill.

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

In other words no current soap would meet the OP's requirement. Seems reasonable but why not make life simple and pretend MWF fits the bill.

Bob

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Perception is 90% of reality

I suspect most modern soaps are far better than soaps from around 100 years ago.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I suspect most modern soaps are far better than soaps from around 100 years ago.

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Likely truer words were never spoke. Another point infavour of MWF.

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

In other words no current soap would meet the OP's requirement. Seems reasonable but why not make life simple and pretend MWF fits the bill.

Bob

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MWF is looking like a good candidate here.

Honestly it's more about getting a similar experience than anything else. Even if it's not the same formula, but is created in a similar way. Or perhaps even created in such a way as to imitate older soaps E.g: less of "modern industrial processes" and "modern scents"...iirc 18th and 19th cent. scents used to be much more subtle than they are now. It's interesting to note though, that basically no soap recipe has survived more than 100-150 years?

At the Wisconsin meet two years ago a couple of people took the lye soap challenge as a lark. Both reported much better shaves than they expected though neither were going to make the switch.

https://sharprazorpalace.com/get-tog...ml#post1782047

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Originally Posted by Tathra11

Mitchell's Wool Fat. On the carton it says "ORIGINAL 1893 FORMULA". It's good stuff.

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Ok, that changes my opinion a bit about The Fat.

Maybe older soaps were simpler and could be made today. Here’s an excerpt from the American Druggist and Pharmaceutical Record vol 22 from 1892-1893 (pretty sure, you can find it on Google Books). My image of the 2 pages is disjointed and contains other non-related material, but here’s a transcription.

‘Almond Oil Shaving Soap by the Cold Process

Saponify 85 parts tallow and 15 parts sweet almond oil at a temperature of 45-46 degrees C with 25 parts soda lye and 25 parts potash lye (without cocoanut oil).

Saponification takes place early. The soap gives a brilliant creamy lather, possesses a beautiful white color, and bars do not shrink but preserve their straight edges. The soap cuts beautifully.’

This is the only reference to really old shaving soap that I’ve seen, but I suspect other formulas may exist. Finding them seems to be a problem.

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Originally Posted by bluesman7

At the Wisconsin meet two years ago a couple of people took the lye soap challenge as a lark. Both reported much better shaves than they expected though neither were going to make the switch.

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I still have some if anyone coming to the meet wants to give it a try

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Originally Posted by rolodave

I still have some if anyone coming to the meet wants to give it a try

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Ben there done that...............:rofl2:

Well, the famous Dutch brand "De Vergulde Hand" has been around since 1554.

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Originally Posted by Pithor

Well, the famous Dutch brand "De Vergulde Hand" has been around since 1554.

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This sounded so compelling that I now have a tub on the way.

Pete <:-}

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Originally Posted by petercp4e

This sounded so compelling that I now have a tub on the way.

Pete <:-}

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Really like the their shave stick. You won't regret it.

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

Really like the their shave stick. You won't regret it.

Bob

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Well, it got some great reviews.
They say that the scent is absolutely awesome.
It was around eight bucks.
Win, win, win.

Pete <:-}

Technically, all true soaps are lye soaps produced by the saponification of some form of fatty acids with either sodium and/or potassium hydroxide, either of which can be called lye. A variety of fatty acids can be used from either animal or vegetable sources.

In the early days of soapmaking, there were no good ways of measuring the exact quantities of fatty acids and lye being used, so in many cases, excess lye was added and the soap produced was highly alkaline. When used, the excess lye will saponify any fats with which it comes in contact. If you are trying to remove grease from clothing, the excess lye is ideal. If you are using the soap for shaving, the lye will gladly saponify the fats in your skin...ouch.


The first soaps were likely produced by someone roasting their meat over an open fire. Any fats dripping from the meat onto the ashes of the fire would produce soap. Somewhere along the way, someone realized that the soap had utility as a cleansing agent.

One of the earliest recorded instances of soap being produced commercially was jabón de Castilla. Although named after the Castile region of Spain, the origin of the soap appears to have been Aleppo, Syria where soap was made from laurel oil and soda ash, a crude form of sodium carbonate formed from the ashes of burned plants. Sodium carbonate is a weak form of lye. It is also called washing soda (in contrast to baking soda sodium bicarbonate) because it is good at removing grease from clothing.

In Spain, olive oil was more available than laurel oil, so today Castile soap is produced primarily from olive oil and lye. However, in some formulations, other vegetable oils are also used: laurel oil, coconut oil, etc. Since it does not contain tallow or other animal fats, Castile soap is classified as a vegan soap.

Unfortunately, as you probably know, olive oil does not produce the most stable shaving lather. However, in the interest of science, I have shaved with Castile soap. Compared to most shaving soaps, both traditional and modern, the lather is fairly slick, but cushion is lacking, so I would not want to shave regularly with Castile soap. However, I have also tried shaving with some tallow based bath soaps such as Yardley of London Cocoa Butter soap and find it to be as good or better than some inexpensive, traditional shaving soaps like Williams and Arko. Again. The cushion is not great, but the cocoa butter leaves a nice post shave feel. If I could not afford to purchase better quality shaving soaps, I would use Yardley.