Castile soap is a name used in English-speaking countries for soap made exclusively from vegetable oil, as opposed to animal fat. Examples of oils used in castile soaps include olive, coconut, almond, hemp, and jojoba. Two of the most notable brands of castile soap are Dr. Bronner's and Kirk's Castile. Castile soap is also sometimes called Seafarer's soap because of its broad range of uses. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Soap most commonly appears in bar form. ... Emanuel H. Bronner (February 1, 1908 - March 7, 1997) was the eccentric maker of Dr. Bronners soap, a concentrated liquid notable for the vast amount of lather produced from a few drops and the vast amount of tiny text on its packaging. ...

According to some authorities, Castile soap originated in the Kingdom of Castile, where it was made from olive oil only; importations of "Castile soap" through Antwerp appear in the London port books of 1567–68 (Dietz 1972), though the OED could find no earlier reference to "Castile soap" than 1616. In Castile, the fine sifted alkaline ash of Salsola species of thistle, called barilla, was boiled with locally available olive oil, instead of tallow. By adding salty brine to the boiled liquor, the soap was made to float to the surface, where it could be skimmed off by the soap-boiler, leaving the excess lye and impurities to settle out. This produced what was probably the first white hard soap, which hardened further as it was aged, without losing its whiteness, forming jabon de Castila, which eventually became the generic name. To an apothecary it was known as sapo hispaniensis or sapo castilliensis [1]. A former kingdom of Spain, Castile comprises the two regions of Old Castile in north-western Spain, and New Castile in the centre of the country. ... The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). ... Species About 100-130 species; see text Salsola (Saltwort*, Tumbleweed or Russian thistle) is a genus of herbs, subshrubs, shrubs and small trees in the family Amaranthaceae, native to Africa, Asia, and Europe. ... Tallow is rendered beef or mutton fat, which was originally suet. ... Lye is a caustic solution, rich in potassium carbonate (potash), used for glass and soap making. ... A historical re-enactor protraying a 19th century apothecary in Old Salem, North Carolina. ...

The fine ashes used in soap-making were so valuable that they were shipped to England from Massachusetts in the 17th century. The British Parliament decided to permit free importation of some products used in linen manufacture in 1803, when the war was creating scarcity: among the ingredients to come free of excise were "wood and weed-ashes, pot pearl ashes, barilla..." [2]

Another theory is that modern-day castile soaps are conceptually similar to, and most likely derived from the so-called white soap that has traditionally been manufactured in Northern Italy since the early 1600s. From Venice, where the oldest white soap factories were established, olive oil-based soap reached the Greek island of Crete first, and Southern France (Marseille) at a later stage. Categories: 1600s ... Location within Italy Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venexia) 45°26′N 12°19′E, the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice in Italy. ... Crete (Greek Κρήτη / Kriti; see Wiktionary: Crete for the name in other languages) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. ... City motto: Actibus immensis urbs fulget Massiliensis. ...

There is no verifiable historical mention of older soap factories in Spain. It is therefore possible that the term Castile, when applied to soap, might either refer to modern soap factories in Spain, or to the geographical location of the ports where white (castile) soap was collected before crossing the Atlantic on its way to the Americas. The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one_fifth of its surface. ...

External links

• John A. Hunt, A short history of soap

References

• Garzena, Patrizia; & Tadiello, Marina (2004). Soap Naturally : Ingredients, methods and recipes for natural handmade soap (1st ed.). Programmer Publishing. ISBN 0-97-567640-7
• Brian Dietz (editor) 1972. The port and trade of early Elizabethan London: documents (London Record Society)