Speaking of Soap

My mind sure jumps from one topic to another really fast! After my oval post, I just could not stop thinking about soap. Yes! SOAP! When our daughter was here the other day she questioned the brand of the green soap when she washed her hands. Irish Spring has a distinctive fragrance and we love it. 

First I'll go back in time... 

When I was a very young child I remember the wonderful bathtime at my grandmother's house when I got to use the bright orange bar of soap called Lifebouy. It had the most wonderful fragrance. Just a couple of years ago I was able to order some from Vermont Country Store and, as the bars were dimished to small cakes, I put them in the old wicker hamper we use here and they remain firm with a deodorizing quality! The fragrance was not nearly as strong as remembered.

My mother used to make her own lye soap and always put it out on the front porch to cure in re-used candy box bottoms. One time our cat licked it and burned her tongue. We were cautioned to never go near it until it was hardened and aged. She then would take a paring knife, cut it into bars and it was mostly used to do laundry. She would scrape the bar with the knife, creating shavings to be used in the big copper tub washer. Soon after that she switched to Ivory flakes for general laundry and Lux flakes for delicates but we still used the lye soap bars for hand washing in the kitchen. She saved bacon fat to make it. 

Little pieces of soap leftovers were always saved in a jar with some water. It made a gel concoction to be used for scrubbing spots and stains out of fabrics.

When I was a teenager I remember washing my face with Pears Glycerin soap to prevent pimples. I also remember Packer's Pine Tar Soap when we got poison ivy or mosquito bites or sweat rashes. 

LAVA is the way to go as well! It sure cleans dirty hands. We still use it as necessary. It was always available throughout my life.

As for laundry, I have used Tide, plain original Tide when I was newly married in the 1950's. Still do. Plain. Original. I do like the liquid (new in 1984) now better than the powder that was new in 1946 when my mother started to use it.

All of my six babies were bathed with Ivory bar soap of course. It floated too! Have you ever put a fresh bar of it in the microwave? Mic it for about 90 seconds. Do it! Surprise!

I will also mention that DAWN is our choice for the hand washing of dishes, and all cooking utensils. In the past, it was great for bathing the dog. Again the plain variety is all we need - nothing stronger or fancier. It does the job.

I know there are many "soap makers" out there with all varieties of hand made bars. I'm not interested. I also haven't indulged in the fancy "guest soaps." Pump soap dispensers can't be seen here either. OH! Except for the red one at the kitchen sink that contains Dawn for dishes. 

So, there! Soap opera over. What's next?