Teach Soap

A family member said they got this for me from a vendor who had crate after crate of this soap. She told me the vendor said it was from WW2. It is very dry to the touch and has no scent at all. It looks like a 20 year old slab of Grandma's banana bread. What are your thoughts on this?


Bruce

Well, I'd say that it has had enough time to cure!
(sorry couldn't resist).

Just out of curiosity, did you try and test the PH??

How cool is that!!??!!

I would say that it is probably a lard/cooking grease soap made with wood ashes, and even after all these years would be similar to a 'Fels Naptha' type brown soap that is used for cleaning.

But...who knows...after all these years...it could be the best soap you've ever bathed with. Are you going to try it? I would just have to cut a sliver off to try and save the rest.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Keep us posted on if you soap with it - especially how your skin feels. I'm very curious.

_________________
Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

^^^Me, too!!!

Here is an update on that old soap. I tested the PH and that came out to 8.4. Before that I gave it the tounge test. Nothing but a bad taste there. I cut, well I mean chipped off a piece and tried it in the shower. It is not a very good one if you like lather, that was light. Also the lather was a light gold in color which was strange. Mabye it was to be expected givin the color of it. I waited to put any lotion on to see if it would have me scratching like some wild animal in the woods and so far all is well. Overall it is a lousy soap but it is still kind of neat.

Bruce

Actually I know a little about this:

What you have is from Africa and during WWII soap, like many supplies, was scarce. Many of the US servicemen who severed in Africa later went on into the invasion of Sicily and France the through the rest of Europe where they took bundles of this stuff. Old WWII vets affectionately referred to this as n*gg*r soap; now what we refer to as "Black African". It's made from tree sap and while the current Black African soap is it's successor, the original stuff was quite harsh and a little caustic and was made from pot ash. GI's used this stuff to wash clothes and themselves. The current Black African soap is significantly milder with more generous lather and isn't as caustic.

My father is a WWII veteran and married my mother in Italy after coming from Africa to the Italian occupation. He had some of this stuff with his other war belongings....but sadly, and along with some other memorabilia, it's long gone. I'm a bit of a WWII historian as a result.

Hope this helps with the soaps history. What you have is a nice treasure that you should keep and possibly display at craft shows to show the evolution of soap. It was a good find and makes a great gift for a soaper.

That is sooo cool!