There is a section in the book "Sui Late Ruyi Princess" to make soap, we said when we were in junior high school that we need grease and fire alkali, so in ancient times, could we really make soap? How do you take a shower and wash your clothes without soap?
In ancient Chinese history, there was no soap, but the industrious and intelligent Chinese people could not be overwhelmed by soap, Chinese history has had the habit of bathing since the pre-Qin, and the imperial court has a day off, that is, rest and bathing, which proves that our Chinese love cleanliness.
Ancient Chinese women at the beginning found that there is a white crystal in the pool water, it is possible to wash clean clothes, if the clothes have oily stains, with water is not clean, but add this white thing can go to the oil stain, in fact, this white thing is "alkali".
Later in the Tang Dynasty, people found that the soap horn on the soap pod tree can also be decontaminated, compared to the alkali in the pool water, more hygienic, more convenient to preserve, so they grind the soap horn into a powder, take a little at any time when using it, and there is a faint aroma after bathing with the soap horn, so the soap horn this thing has been used for many years.
But these two things are not everywhere, what about where there are no soap pod trees, what about the poor? Rest assured, China's toiling masses can always come up with a cheap and convenient way, that is, grass and wood ash, the Zhou Dynasty "Li Chuan Nei Ze" recorded that grass and wood ash washing clothes, the principle is actually that it contains alkaline substances. Here's a lot of words, why the Lanzhou ramen that everyone eats is so strong, in fact, it is because Lanzhou ramen is alkali noodles, and authentic Lanzhou ramen contains fluffy ash.
In fact, the progress of science has always been accidental with inevitability, Newton was hit on the head by apples is a very accidental thing, but even without Newton, in the progress of science to a certain extent, there will be people thinking about why apples only fall down.
In fact, soap is the same, according to legend, there is a European chef in the practice of accidentally sprinkled oil, fell on the grass and wood ash, he was frightened to quickly take the oil out of the grass and wood ash, in case the owner saw, and there was a scolding, he pulled the grease after washing his hands, but found that the hands stained with grass ash and grease were actually easy to wash clean, and cleaner than before, he told the master this secret, so the prototype of the soap slowly spread.
In fact, making soap in our junior high school has learned, that is, the saponification reaction of oil and alkali to produce soap and glycerin. Everyone who writes novels remembers that you can't use containers such as iron pots, oh, there were no glass and stainless steel utensils in ancient times, you can use casseroles and pottery. The acquisition of alkaline solutions requires the use of grass and wood ash, in fact, grass and wood ash contains potassium carbonate and will form a strong alkaline solution of potassium hydroxide when it encounters water.
In addition, if you want to mass-produce soap in ancient times, you need lime, the slaked lime component used to build a house is calcium hydroxide, mix it with the solution of soda ash, you can get fire ash, soda ash can be found in ancient times, China has a lot of natural alkali mines, located in the Central Plains of nanyang basin is an important source of natural alkali in ancient times.
In "Sui Late Ruyi Princess" there is a detailed introduction to soap and natural alkali mines, you can search for attention in the headlines and tomato novels, and the follow-up is more exciting