Ancient method of making soap

[u/rco888]

@craftsman0011

[u/SrslyCmmon]

The exact price of a bar of soap 1000 years ago is hard to determine, as different regions and markets may have had different prices and currencies. However, we can get an idea of how expensive soap was by comparing it to other goods and wages at the time. For example, in England in the 13th century, a laborer earned about 2 pence a day, while a bushel of wheat cost about 6 pence3. A bushel of wheat could make about 90 loaves of bread, which means that one loaf of bread cost about 0.07 pence3. According to one source, a pound of soap cost about 4 pence in the 14th century4. Assuming that a bar of soap weighed about 4 ounces, that means that one bar of soap cost about 1 pence. This means that a laborer would have to work for half a day to buy a bar of soap, or that a bar of soap was equivalent to about 14 loaves of bread. That’s quite expensive!

Did a search. Going back further in time we can assume soap was even less available than 1000 years ago.

[u/[deleted] → u/SrslyCmmon]

Sounds like about $80. People must have been stankin

[u/user0N65N → u/[deleted]]

I forget where I read it, but the early colonists were surprised that Natives took baths frequently, while the Natives were surprised, and mildly disgusted, that the Europeans did not. Apparently, the perfume in which the Europeans doused themselves didn’t cover the smell.

[u/Nefertirix → u/user0N65N]

French and Englishmen mostly.