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Kittish

Kittish

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My mind goes off in odd directions sometimes.

It's pretty much generally agreed that soap is something that only happens via human activity, that it doesn't occur spontaneously in nature.

Is that really true? Consider this scenario:

A forest fire, animals trapped and killed by the fire, corpses buried in ashes. And it rains. Is it not possible that you might, if you went and dug up the remains, find pockets and patches of saponification in the fat of the animal where rain had carried caustics leached from the ashes down?

Such a phenomenon would almost certainly be a short-lived one, as further rain dissolved and dispersed the saponified material, but could it happen? Has it happened and we've just never noticed?
 
I've never heard the theory that it isn't naturally occurring and is only a human experience.

I always figured it could and does happen in nature, so researched it several years ago, and then read several scientific articles proving the fact that it does indeed occur quite often in nature.
I've also read the articles that were posted by IrishLass and toxikon.
 
Kittish said:
My mind goes off in odd directions sometimes.

It's pretty much generally agreed that soap is something that only happens via human activity, that it doesn't occur spontaneously in nature.

Is that really true? Consider this scenario:

A forest fire, animals trapped and killed by the fire, corpses buried in ashes. And it rains. Is it not possible that you might, if you went and dug up the remains, find pockets and patches of saponification in the fat of the animal where rain had carried caustics leached from the ashes down?

Such a phenomenon would almost certainly be a short-lived one, as further rain dissolved and dispersed the saponified material, but could it happen? Has it happened and we've just never noticed?
Click to expand...

I love this post Kittish and was considering the exact same scenario the other afternoon. I even started to compile a post, but didn't finish and got interrupted so I just deleted it.

The reason I was contemplating this, is because of the "natural" debate. If 'soap' can occur naturally, then couldn't the saponification process be considered a natural process. Now I realize we are forcing the process, but in theory that doesn't mean it doesn't naturally occur.
 
jcandleattic said:
To me, this is kind of along the same lines as the premise of the soap made in "Fight Club" (even though I've never seen it, I think EVERY soaper knows how the soap is made in that movie)
Click to expand...

That's one of my all time favorite movies and I've often wondered how the soap would really turn out if it was made that way? :think:
 
SoapTrey said:
That's one of my all time favorite movies and I've often wondered how the soap would really turn out if it was made that way? :think:
Click to expand...

Probably not much different than any other animal fat soap (I know technically they have different properties, but for the most part lard, tallow, are good soaps, so you kwim) you just would need to know the SAP value of human fat to get the lye amounts correct.

I am sooo NOT a Brad Pitt fan. Literally the only thing I've liked him in was 12 Monkeys. - now granted, I haven't seen all of his movies, because I just don't like his acting, but out of the more than dozen or so I've seen him in, that is literally the only one I've liked.
 
jcandleattic said:
Probably not much different than any other animal fat soap (I know technically they have different properties, but for the most part lard, tallow, are good soaps, so you kwim) you just would need to know the SAP value of human fat to get the lye amounts correct.

I am sooo NOT a Brad Pitt fan. Literally the only thing I've liked him in was 12 Monkeys. - now granted, I haven't seen all of his movies, because I just don't like his acting, but out of the more than dozen or so I've seen him in, that is literally the only one I've liked.
Click to expand...

I feel pretty "meh" about him overall... but I do love him in Inglourious Basterds... and Burn After Reading... and Snatch!
 
Kittish said:
Consider this scenario:

A forest fire, animals trapped and killed by the fire, corpses buried in ashes. And it rains. Is it not possible that you might, if you went and dug up the remains, find pockets and patches of saponification in the fat of the animal where rain had carried caustics leached from the ashes down?
Click to expand...
What are you up to, Kittish? I've got a shovel...
 
toxikon said:
I feel pretty "meh" about him overall... but I do love him in Inglourious Basterds... and Burn After Reading... and Snatch!
Click to expand...

Okay, Snatch was decent. Not great, but decent. I have not seen the other 2 - Inglorious Bastards = Quentin Tarantino and I only like a handful of his movies and this one didn't look good to me, because of both QT and BP. LOL
 
So... um... I've never seen Fight Club. Never read whatever book it's based off of. Don't really know anything about it beyond the "The first rule..." bit.

jcandleattic, it seems to come up whenever people start debating whether soap can be labeled 'natural' or variations thereof. That's actually kind of what set me off down the rabbit hole that inspired this thread.

IrishLass, toxikon, those are fascinating links! Thank you. I never came up with anything when I tried searching for naturally occurring soap.

*looks innocent* :silent: Dunno what you mean, Millie...
 
Kittish said:
So... um... I've never seen Fight Club. Never read whatever book it's based off of. Don't really know anything about it beyond the "The first rule..." bit.

jcandleattic, it seems to come up whenever people start debating whether soap can be labeled 'natural' or variations thereof. That's actually kind of what set me off down the rabbit hole that inspired this thread.
Click to expand...

Apparently in the movie Brad Pitts character makes the pink fight club soap out of human fat he gets from stealing it or obtaining it somehow from liposuction patients or the Dr's of the patience? Something like that.
 
jcandleattic said:
Apparently in the movie Brad Pitts character makes the pink fight club soap out of human fat he gets from stealing it or obtaining it somehow from liposuction patients or the Dr's of the patience? Something like that.
Click to expand...

... So, maybe I'm a bit weirder than I thought... A day or two ago I found myself wondering about having liposuction done, and getting the fat from the surgeon and rendering it, and how it would do in soap.
 
Kittish said:
... So, maybe I'm a bit weirder than I thought... A day or two ago I found myself wondering about having liposuction done, and getting the fat from the surgeon and rendering it, and how it would do in soap.
Click to expand...

Knew you were up to no good :twisted:

P.s. you win for grossest post ever
 
There is a theory that ancient Celts discovered soap when they burned human sacrifices. The fat from the sacrificed and the ashes from the burning made soap, and they noticed when the streams that ran past these places were bubbly and cleaned their clothes better. Makes sense that it would have to be a human sacrifice - animal fat probably wouldn't have been wasted burning it like that.
 
jcandleattic said:
To me, this is kind of along the same lines as the premise of the soap made in "Fight Club" (even though I've never seen it, I think EVERY soaper knows how the soap is made in that movie)
Click to expand...

Thankfully I don't. Although my imagination has tried to fill in the blanks when its forced to by people who jokingly ask if I make it like in Fight Club. Really hate when they do that. And really....how is that funny?
 

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