I am reading a series of books by S. M. Stirling about what happens when civilization as we know it loses electricity, internal combustion, and gunpowder, as the result of an event the author calls “The Change”. In the years after the Change, the inhabitants of the Willamette Valley in Oregon have learned to cope, to raise crops, build water wheels, tan hides, prepare and store foods, weave and dye, but the author misses the boat on soap.
In one scene, a character is washing up after delivering a lamb with ” a chunk of strong-smelling lye soap” (at which his daughter “wrinkled her nose”) and he had to rinse well to get the “lye soap” out of his eyes and the “harsh soap” out of his mouth.
You’d think that the author would have done enough research to know that the science of making soap is something that is not affected by electricity, internal combustion or gunpowder. In fact, in the artistic and creative society he describes, the soap produced could (and most likely would) be not only good soap, it would be much better than “store-bought” soap from before the Change.
Authors, if you are describing handmade soap, here are a few facts to take into consideration:
