African Black Soap

[Ale]

Hello,
I was wandering around in the forum and I came across African Black Soap. I tried to learn more but I see that ther's a bit of confusion in the net about how to make it. Someone says you must stricly use ashes from some species of African plants, others swear you can get the same result using KOH or NaOH and adding activated charcoal. Some websites tell there's only one original type of Soap, which recipe is jealously guarded buy native populations, other says that there in't even one standard recipe to make it.
So I ask you, do you have any idea of what's the traditional method of making it and if it can be reproduced or replaced with "modern" methods?
Thanks

 

[TheGecko]

I was wandering around in the forum and I came across African Black Soap. I tried to learn more but I see that there's a bit of confusion in the net about how to make it. Someone says you must stricly use ashes from some species of African plants, others swear you can get the same result using KOH or NaOH and adding activated charcoal. Some websites tell there's only one original type of Soap, which recipe is jealously guarded buy native populations, other says that there in't even one standard recipe to make it.
So I ask you, do you have any idea of what's the traditional method of making it and if it can be reproduced or replaced with "modern" methods?

"Authentic African Black Soap, or Black Soap in general (not all comes from Africa) is made with potash. In Ghana, they make potash from cocoa pods husk, the shell that covers cocoa seeds. In other parts of Africa potash is made from bamboo, cola nuts, shea nut kernel, camwood and several other woods that have saponins. Mediterranean countries still make black soap such as savon noire or hammam soap with olive pits. Aside these, there are several plants that have high saponins that is used to make potash and other organic potash that are used to make black soaps. The colour of authentic African black soap can be beige, caramel, dark brown, pitch black or a tan colour. Black soaps gets its colouring from the potash that is used, the oils, the cauldron and the cooking process. "

The author of the article, who comes from a long long of Ghana soap makers, is clear that you can not make African black soap or true black soap with KOH (potassium hydroxide) or caustic soda (sodium hydroxide aka NaOH).

Nor is Activated Charcoal or coconut carbon a substitute for the ash. And you can't make African Black Soap via Cold Process, it is very much a Hot Process hence the very crumbly texture and being made from potash, a long cure time.

Source for the above: How African Black Soap Is Made - Ghana Soap School

 

[Ale]

Thank you, very interesting! Potash is a sort of dust derived from boiling ashes (of the different plants mentioned above) in the water, am I right? Similar to wood ash lye.
But how are saponines related to this? I thought saponines were used as a substitute for soap, especially in some processes such as cleaning wool, not to make soap.

 

[TheGecko]

Thank you, very interesting! Potash is a sort of dust derived from boiling ashes (of the different plants mentioned above) in the water, am I right? Similar to wood ash lye.

The way I learned how to make potash (potassium carbonate) is that you take the ashes of hardwoods, put them in a barrel that you had drilled holes in the bottom of, then fill the barrel with rainwater until the ashes are completely covered, and allow the liquid to drip into a bucket. And then there is a process to determine the strength of the ‘lye’ you have made.

In the way of making black soap, the plants are burnt to ash, then grounded up and put into water to soak, it is then filtered and boiled until it’s like a syrup. Then you add your fats and it is cooked for 24 hours until the ‘soap’ rises to the top. The ‘soap’ is then removed to another vessel that resembles a mortar where it is beaten with a pestle until it’s a clay-like consistency. Then is covered with a powder and placed over the fire again and as it ‘bakes’, the real soap bubbles out from the bottom around the sides. It is then scooped up and formed into bars or rounds.

But how are saponines related to this? I thought saponines were used as a substitute for soap, especially in some processes such as cleaning wool, not to make soap.

I honestly don’t know. @DeeAnna would be better at the science that I am. I just know how to research, read and sometimes break it down.

Here is a really good video of black soap being made at its most basic:

 

[DeeAnna]

"...several plants that have high saponins that is used to make potash and other organic potash ..."

I think you're confusing saponins with alkalis. Jewelweed juice and soap nuts, to give two examples, contain saponins. If you burned jewelweed plants and soapnuts, the saponins in this plant material don't survive being burned. The ashes would contain only alkalis.

Potash from wood ashes is always "organic" in the sense that it comes from wood, an organic material. So there's no need to say "potash and other organic potash."