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Soap Making
by Meam Wye
The soap, in medieval Islamic world, was mainly made from vegetable oil, aromatic oil and lye. Sodium Lye (Al-Soda Al-Kawia) was used for the first time in soap and this basic formula invented by muslim chemists is still used today.
From the beginning of the 7th century, soap was manufactured in Nablus (Palestine), Kufa (Iraq) Basra (Iraq), Syria, Spain & Fez(Morocco). In Fez there were 27 soap manufactureres in 1200 AD. In 981 AD soap was sold for 3 Dirhams. Both liquid and solid soaps were made. In the thirteenth century hard soap was exported to Europe from Arab land.
Recipes for soap making are mentioned in the work of persian chemist Ar-Razi (865 - 925). Recently a thirteenth century manuscript ' Al-mukhtara` fi funun min al- suna` '(Inventions from the Various Industrial Arts) by King al-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn `Umar ibn `Ali ibn Rasul (d. 694/1295) of Yemen has veen discovered. It gives the recepie of soap making as follows: "Take two thirds from alkali(al-qily) and one third of un-slaked lime (nura dhakar). Break the lime into small pieces the size of faufal or chestnut. Take a mirkan (large vessel) of pottery and cut an outlet (manzil) at its bottom. And seal this outlet tightly with a rag. Take bricks and break them into small pieces, not quite small, and pack them inside the middle of the mirkan. Place on the broken bricks a piece of khsaf. Throw on the khasafa the alkali and the un-slaked lime. And pour on them an amount of water equal to four or five times the submersion volume. The mirkan should be placed on a high position, and we place under the outlet another empty mirkan so that the liquid will flow into it. If there is no high place you will dig a cavity in the ground at a depth equal to that of the empty mirkan, and it is lowered down the cavity so that it is below the outlet. Leave it for one day and one night then open the outlet on the second day so that the filtered water of alkali and lime will pour into it. When all the liquid is emptied, return again and pour it above the alkali and lime and leave it for one day and one night. Open the outlet the next morning and empty the whole clear liquid. When the whole liquid ceases flowing divide it into two halves. Put one half aside. Pour [onto the remaining half] an equal amount of sesame oil (shiraj) and beat (agitate) the mixture strongly and repetitively with a wooden beater for one hour until it hardens and thickens. Leave it for the rest of the day and overnight if you are in a hurry, otherwise leave it for two or three days if you are not in a hurry because the longer it stays the better it ferments. Cool it down and put it in a copper cauldron and set under it a strong fire. Each time it thickens water it with the sharp water from the one half that was put aside as mentioned above. You will continue kindling the fire and watering with the sharp water until it becomes grainy and ripens. Continue beating (mixing) it so that it will not burn. Put it down and pour it into a mirkan (a large vessel) and beat it and water it little by little, then pour it again into the cauldron and place it on fire, let it be a strong fire, and whenever it tends to become dry, water it with the sharp water little by little while you are stirring so that it will not burn. Continue like this until the water is consumed and the soap is well cooked and its consistency becomes like that of the shoemakers glue, known as ashras. Make a milban(mould) from wood, similar to the milban of bricks, but larger. Spread a kham cloth(coarse cotton cloth) or a piece of khasf and place the milban (the mould) over it. Pour the soap into the milban. The purpose of the milban (the mould) is to prevent the soap from flowing until it thickens. Leave it for one night and one day until it solidifies. Then cut it with a knife as is usual. If you want the soap to be perfumed add to it, on the last cooking on fire, choice perfumes and saffron and whatever scents you like then pour it as above mentioned, if God wills."
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