Soap is also called potash soap, crystal soap, and is a compound of fatty acids. Soap is used as a cleaning agent. Soap can be gel-like, solid in a jar, or, as in the past, in packages similar to how margarine is sold in stores today. Soap can also be liquid, like a liquid soap.
What is soap made of?
Soap is made by saponifying fat. The saponification process is also called saponification. The fat used for making soap is usually vegetable. Linseed oil, tall oil, and, as in Västerbottenssåpa, corn and rapeseed oil are commonly saponified into soap.
Historical facts about soap
When Sweden was a peasant society, many farms were wholly or partly self-sufficient. Soap was one of the things often made at home on the farms. Usually, there was a so-called lye grate in the barn. In the lye grate, ash was collected. By pouring hot water over the ash, so-called potash was produced. This alkaline solution was then used to saponify animal fat that was left over from slaughter. Here in the northern parts of the country, saponification of sheep fat was common.
The animal fat produced a grayish, non-transparent but very effective soap.
What is soap good for?
The areas of use are many. Soap is also a very gentle cleaning agent, gentle on the environment and gentle on the person using the cleaning agent. Some examples of what soap can be used for:
* Kitchen cleaning
* Bathroom cleaning
* Cleaning furniture and household items
* Surface treatment of wooden objects
* Soap scrubbing of wooden floors / Treatment of new wooden floors.
* Dissolve greasy dirt
* Dissolve and remove insects from car headlight glass
* Remove asphalt stains
* Remove algae and mold
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Customers have also used soap for
* Foot baths
* Washing sore dog paws
* Cleaning horse harnesses
* Treatment of aphid infestations