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Soapmaking conjures up images of pioneers, log cabins and big iron pots simmering up a mixture of ashes from the fireplace and fat from a recently slaughtered animal.
For pioneer women, soapmaking was hard, solitary work. But in our hectic, modern times, making things like soap and candles and bread can provide an important respite from the mad rush to convenience.
People have been making soap for thousands of years. It is recorded that the Babylonians were making soap around 2800 B.C. and that it was known to the Phoenicians around 600 B.C. Somebody cooking their meat over a fire probably noticed after a rainstorm there was a strange foam around the remains of the...