Example of poor documentation and one way to improve it

This is a real example of documentation that was submitted during an A&S competition.  I have tried to identify the problem areas using the following color code:

• Information that is irrelevant to the project at hand (and shouldn't be in the documentation)
• Statements that need to be footnoted (or credit otherwise given)
• Unclear or vague information that leaves you wondering what it really is
• Statements that are simply not correct and should have been better researched.
• Poor wording or lack of adequate information

I have added some comments [in bold red and in brackets] to clarify the problem.

---

Handmade Soap - 11th - 15th century - Spain and Italy
  [Is it 11th century soap or 15th?  Is it Spanish or Italian?]

Lord or Lady Nice Person

Introduction
I became interested in soap making because a Laurel friend of mine suggested that if I wanted to grow in the Arts and Sciences, I needed to branch out from doing only clothing and accessories. I did some research and looked at all of the lists of A&S categories and found quite a few areas that I wanted to find more information about. Soap making was just one of the many areas. [This isn't really relevant to the item.]

Description of the item
I have submitted 2 bars of soap, one that is a whole bar and is wrapped for gifting and another which has been sliced so the soap may be sampled. The soap is the natural white color.

Proof the item is period
Soap is first documented on clay tablets from what is now present-day Southern Iraq. Several references to soap are made in the Bible. The excavation of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii revealed a full-scale soap factory. The famous Roman historian, Pliny, mentions soap as being a combination of goat's tallow and wood ashes. The Greek physician Galen(130-200AD) makes mention of using soap for medicinal reasons. Another physician form 385AD discussed the advantages of using soap as a shampoo. Bathing went out of style with the fall of the Roman Empire (though wealthier members of the populace still bathed) and didn't gain popularity again until the later part of the 800's.  [what does this previous info have to do with Spanish or Italian soap?]  In the 900's soapmaking guilds were formed in France, Italy and Spain and the craft was highly regarded and required skillful craftsmen. Soap making centers popped up in Marseilles, France and Savona, Italy.

Soap making began in force in England in the 11th century in Bristol, Coventry and York. The people of Britain were the first to try oils such as palm, coconut, linseed and cottonseed in soaps. The results were more successful than the old beef tallow recipes because of their softness. [what does this info on Britain have to do with Spanish or Italian soap?]

Castile soap was produced in Spain and Italy and became the first hard soap. Other soaps were either liquid or soft soaps that were difficult to transport. Castile soap uses olive oil instead of fish or animal fats as its base and, of course, olive oil is widely produced in those regions of the Mediterranean. It was more expensive than animal fat soaps due to the difficulty factor being higher and because it was less harsh than other soaps. The largest soap making venture in Spain was located in Castilla - hence the phrase "Castile soap". Palm and coconut oils were soon added to the mixture to make it even softer and give it scent. [all these need to be credited unless it is a claim the artist is making]

How the item was used in period
Soaps were used primarily to wash clothing and other household items. However, the wealthy could afford a better grade of soap that was not hard on the skin and so were more prone to bathe more often than the average person in the Middle Ages.

Soap was used for both cleansing and medicinal purposes. The word "lavender" comes from the Latin word "lavare" which means to wash. Lavender has long been thought of as a plant with healing properties. Though lavender was not used as an additive to soap, it was used in the bath waters. [unless the artist is putting lavender in the castille soap, this is irrelevant]

Bathing was popular in the early Middle Ages. When the Plague ravaged Europe, it was widely thought that bathing was one of the contributors to the spread of the disease. Soap for bathing was then not needed as much. Bathing did not come into fashion again until the later Middle Ages where it was so widespread at all levels of society.   [Does a discussion on bathing have anything to do with whether or not they made soap?]

Materials used in period and what I used
The materials used in period were either raw animal fat that had to be treated before being ready to use or olive oil, wood ash to make the alkali product called barilla, water and an open fire.

I used a commercially made lye product, olive oil, water and a stove top. Lye water makes a harder soap than ash water/alkali and it makes soap that stores longer. [need to credit this statement]

How the piece was made in period and how I made it
During the Middle Ages, soap was made by killing an animal, removing and then cleaning the fat and then heating it until all of the oils separated from the solids. This was set aside until the lye was made by burning wood, collecting the ashes, adding water to the ash and then heating it. [was it boiled? just simmered? or left to heat gently for a few minutes?] This made the lye water. The oils (either olive oil or animal fat) were then added to it and heated and stirred until it thickened. It was poured into a container to solidify. It was cut into small pieces and used.

Not having the permission of my landlord to burn firewood in my backyard, I bought commercially made lye. It came in small tablet sized chunks that had to be crushed and added to the water. After it dissolved, the olive oil was added. Then the difficult part came. The mixture had to be stirred at a constant low temperature of 100 degrees for about an hour until it thickens. My arm had a workout that day! When it got to the appropriate thickness, it was poured into a Tupperware cake pan sized container to set. This process took a little over 3 weeks. After the first 3 days, it was solid enough to cut into chunks but not hardened enough to remove from the pan.

After the pieces were solid enough to remove, they were wrapped in cloth to protect them and make them a bit more decorative for gifting.

What I would do differently next time
It would have been most helpful to work with a partner instead of attacking this project alone. The stirring is one of the most difficult tasks and having another person who could take over stirring every few minutes would have helped the soreness of my arm the next morning.

The other problem that I ran into was that I had soap all over my kitchen and cooking was an impossible task while this project was taking place. Next time I will plan better so that I do not need any of the kitchen facilities when I get hungry.

References

http://waltonfeed.com/old/soap/soapold.html
http://www.alcasoft.com/soapfact/historycontent.html
http://www.nationalheritage.com.au/Feature%20Stories/barber.html
http://www.redgumsoaps.com.au/65.98.html?no_cache=1&tx_recipe_pil%5Bpointer%5D=
http://pharmj.com/Editorial/19991218/articles/soap.html
http://kitchendoctor.com/articles/soap.html

[None of these URLs give any information about the content of the web articles.]

The Soap Book, Sandy Maine, Interweave Pres, Inc., 1995
A History of Private Life, Georges Duby and Arthur Goldhammer, Harvard College, 1988

Here is an example of one way it might be re-written.  I have left a couple of things included (that I would normally not include) to give an example of how you might word the information if you really wanted to include it. This information is in yellow. 

Handmade Soap - 12th Century Italy

Lord or Lady Nice Person

Description of the item

This soap is a 12th century Italian soap, made from olive oil and lye, using a recipe found in the "Mappae Clavicula: A Little Key to the World of Medieval Techniques." The original is a 12th century Italian book (written in Latin) but the reference is from a 19th century English translation of the 12th century Italian book. The translation contains an original recipe for how to make olive oil soap (commonly called Castille soap).

I have submitted 2 bars of soap, one that is a whole bar and is wrapped for gifting and another which has been sliced so the soap may be sampled. The soap is the natural off-white color.

Almost every reference to the history of soap (in books and on websites) claims that a "soap factory" was discovered in the ruins at Pompeii, but one website states that a Mr. Hoffman analyzed this supposed soap in 1882 and showed it to be nothing more than fuller's earth, a kind of alkaline clay described by Pliny for the laundering of clothes.¹

The famous Roman historian, Pliny, mentions soap as being a combination of goat's tallow and wood ashes. The Greek physician Galen (130-200AD) makes mention of using soap for medicinal reasons.

According to Dr. John Hunt, references for soap-making in Britain began to appear in the literature about 1000 AD, and in 1192 the monk Richard of Devizes referred to the number of soap makers in Bristol and the unpleasant smells which their activities produced.²

From my reading, it seems that most histories of soap attribute the production of Castile soap to Castilla, Spain (hence the name) and that it was made from olive oil, while the French equivalent was produced in the southern ports such as Marseilles.  My reading also indicates that records show that Genoa, Bari and Savona became important soap making centers in Italy. These European regions had sufficient supplies of two important soap making ingredients, olive oil and barilla (a lye made from the ashes of the barilla plant).

One problem with the 12th century Mappae recipe is that it does not contain quantities of lye nor olive oil to use, so I used quantities similiar to those in a 13th century English white soap recipe, using tallow and lye, found in the "Tractatus de Magnetate et Operationibus eius". Information on this manuscript is in Appendix A.  However, because I believe that commercial lye is much stronger than medieval lye water, I used double the amount of olive oil (two pounds of olive oil for each half gallon of lye). 

The period process and how I made it

During the Middle Ages, tallow was made by take the fat from a sheep or cow (after it was butchered) and then rendering it.  The rendering process consists mainly of cleaning/purifying the fat by heating/melting it until all of the oils separate away from the solids.  Olive oil was simply pressed from ripe olives.  Lye was made by burning wood, collecting the ashes, running water through the ash (normally three times) and then heating it to reduce it down to a strong enough solution.   The fat (either olive oil or tallow) was then added to the lye, and it was heated and stirred until it thickened.  It was poured into a container to solidify. It was cut into small pieces and used.

As explained above, I used commercial lye, crushing small tablet sized chunks and adding them to the water. After the lye was mixed to strength, the olive oil was added. The difficult part is stirring the mixture at a constant (low) temperature of 100 degrees for about an hour until it thickens. My arm had a workout that day! When it got to the appropriate thickness, it was poured into a cake-pan sized container to set and dry. This process took a little over 3 weeks. After the first 3 days, it was solid enough to cut into chunks but not hardened enough to remove from the pan.

After the pieces were solid enough to remove, they were wrapped in cloth to protect them and make them a bit more decorative for gifting.

What I would do differently next time

It would have been most helpful to work with a partner instead of attacking this project alone. The stirring is one of the most difficult tasks and having another person who could take over stirring every few minutes would have helped the soreness of my arm the next morning.

The other problem that I ran into was that I had soap all over my kitchen and cooking was an impossible task while this project was taking place. Next time I will plan better so that I do not need any of the kitchen facilities when I get hungry.

Additionally, I want to think ahead enough to collect ashes over the winter from the fireplaces of friends, or from campfires so that I can try to make lye water using wood ashes.

References

Soap Making... The Way We Used To Do It (Information and recipes told by Mabel Mertz, born 1912). http://waltonfeed.com/old/soap/soapold.html

American Colonial Soap Making. Its History and Techniques. http://www.alcasoft.com/soapfact/historycontent.html

Redgum Soaps. History, Techniques, and Recipes. http://www.redgumsoaps.com.au/48.0.html

The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 263 No 7076 p985-989, December 18/25, 1999. A Short History of Soap, John A. Hunt, PhD, FRPharmS http://www.pharmj.com/Editorial/19991218/articles/soap.html

Kitchen Doctor: Soap 101, History of Shampoo and Soap. http://kitchendoctor.com/articles/soap.html

"History of Washing: How Did We Improve Our Washing Methods Since Prehistory?"· Proctor & Gamble. http://www.scienceinthebox.com/en_UK/pdf/history-of-washing.pdf

The Discovery and Prehistory of Soap: A historical perspective and banausic interpretation.  R W Hedge C.Eng., M.I.Chem.E., B.Sc.(Eng)., A.C.G.I. http://www.butser.org.uk/iafsoap_hcc.html

Archaeology's Interactive Dig, Anglo-American Project in Pompeii (AAPP) Field Notes http://www.archaeology.org/interactive/pompeii/field/index.html

"The Search for Soap: Soapmaking in the Middle Ages." by Becky McEllistrem (aka Lady Rebecca the Contrary) http://www.geocities.com/bmcellis/CurrentSoap.html

"Caveman Chemistry: 28 Projects, from the Creation of Fire to the Production of Plastics". Copyright 2003 by Kevin M. Dunn, http://cavemanchemistry.com/cavebook/chsoap.html

Tractatus de Magnetate et Operationibus eius, Reynolds Historical Library at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, http://www.uab.edu/reynolds/index.html

The Soap Book, Sandy Maine, Interweave Pres, Inc., 1995

A History of Private Life, Georges Duby and Arthur Goldhammer, Harvard College, 1988

Transactions of the American Philosophical Society Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge, New Series - Volume 64, Part 4 1974. "Mappae Clavicula A little Key to the World of Medieval Techniques," Cyril Stanley Smith and John G. Hawthorne.

For more information about modern soap making please see the following references:

Essentially Soap by Robert S. McDaniel, Krause Publications, April 2000

The Art of Soapmaking by Marilyn Mohr Firefly Books LTD, March 1980

The Soapmaker's Companion: A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes, Techniques & Know-How by Susan Miller Cavitch, Story Communications, Inc., June 1997

 

 

---

Appendix A

Soap recipe from
Tractatus de Magnetate et Operationibus eius

The "Tractatus de Magnetate et Operationibus eius" (a thirteenth-century letter on the magnet by Petrus Peregrinus) is a university handbook which includes household and medical recipes, including one for white soap.. Much of the manuscript's text is in Latin, however the recipes are mostly in English. The Reynolds Historical Library (at the University of Alabama) has parts of the Tractatus de Magnetate et Operationibus eius available on-line. Below is the soap recipe, along with my redaction/transcription. You can see an image of the original manuscript page here.

Original recipe

//ffor to make whyt sope.

//Tak .1. busschel of clene bene asches mad of bene straw and put þer to half a busschel of quyk lym and put þese in a vessell of tre as it were a kowle and loke þat þe vessell have an hole in þe botme for to put þer in a staff and so make þerof lye with hoot water and euer mor kast in hote water til it haue na mor sauer of assches as þu may taste be þy tonge þan loke how many galouns þu hast of lye and tak so many pounde of clene schepis talgh. Thanne sethe þy lye til be half wastid a wey and kast þerin .1. vncia or a lytil more of alum. and þanne kast in þy talgh & medle him wel with þy lye til it be thikke anow and þanne kast it owt into formes. But in þe kastynge out into þy formes put vndir neþe and above smal bene flour but not to moch Also if þu se þat it be not þikke anow. kast in þer to bene flour þat be whyte and clene and þat schal make it þikke anow. and so kast it in to formes. And drey it vp in a wyndy hows and it schall be good .

//Also whytsope may be maad in þis maner with owte any feer. Tak .1. libram of blak sope. and .1. libram of whyt wode assches smal poudred & medle hem wel to gedre with þyn handis. & kast it in to formes as is aforesayd.

Transcription

//For to make white soap

//Take 1 bushel of clean bean ashes (made from bean straw) and put thereto half a bushel of quick lime, and put these in a wooden vessel, and look that the vessel has a hole in the bottom you can plug with a stick, and so make thereof lye with hot water. And evermore cast in hot water until it (the liquid dripping out) is not sour of ashes, as you may taste by the tongue. Then look how many gallons you have of lye and take so many pounds of clean clean sheep's tallow. Then boil the lye until it is half wasted away, and cast into it 1 ounce or a little more of alum, and then kast in the tallow and mix it well with the lye until it is thick enough and then cast it into moulds. But in the casting into moulds, put underneath and above small bean flour, but not too much. Also if you see that it is not thick enough, cast in thereto bean flour that is white and clean and that shall make it thick enough, and so cast it into moulds. And put it in a windy location and it shall be good.

//Also, white soap may be made in this manner without any fear. Take 1 pound of black soap and 1 pound of fine powdery white wood ashes, and mix them well together with your hands, and cast it into moulds as is previously said.

Return to the Greydragon library ...