Salting. Soap making

Domestic production of melted lard has been developing in peasant cattle farms in Western Siberia for a long time. This product, in turn, served for the production of candles and soap.

Initially, raw lard, bought for soap and candle production, was quite cheap. At the beginning of the XVIII century. its pud cost 40 kopecks — the same as 2 raw skins. But then the price of melted lard began to rise, since its surpluses were supplied by merchants among other goods to European Russia. In the middle of the eighteenth century, an intensive influx of cattle for sale from the steppes began, which made it possible to have large quantities of lard for purchase. Many peasants managed to rise in the lard trade, and then become merchants. Such were the Tyumen peasants, the Grebeshkovs. At the end of the XVIII century, they already had 2 houses and a salotope factory, and conducted active trade with the Urals and Eastern Siberia. Already in the 19th century, the saline production increased by more than 10 times. By 1861, the Tobolsk province occupied the 3rd place in Russia in terms of tallow melting, following the Samara and Tambov provinces. Western Siberia provided the country with 8% of lard.

Soap making in Siberia began immediately after joining Russia, and after 100 years it fully covered the needs of local residents. Soap was prepared mainly from lard (beef), where a certain amount of wood ash and salt were mixed. In Siberia, soap of the following varieties was produced: simple, tight, lining and "Kostroma". For 30 pounds of soap, there were 30 pounds of lard, 2.5 quarters of ash and 10 pounds of salt. Primitive soap factories were available in Western Siberia in almost every city and county, in 1912 soap production was established here in more than 100 small factories.

Salting

In the old days, the word "fat" meant not only subcutaneous fat, but also the internal fat of animals (the internal fat of fish was called "blubber"). When butchering cattle and sheep, peasants poured the melted internal fat into bottles and used it for their needs (for example, for lubrication). The process of slaughtering animals and heating lard with pouring it into containers was called " heating fat". The master who did this was called "fat heater", and the workshop was called"salney" or "salgan".

Proverbs and sayings are devoted to salting and the product itself in oral folk art: "You won't smear, you won't go"; "The bear has been storing fat since autumn, and sucks its paw in winter"; "There was fat, there was soap".

Source - cgon.rospotrebnadzor.ru

Source - dzen.ru

Soap making

Soap has long been made in Russia from animal fat, then vegetable oils began to be used. In the eighteenth century, soap production was monopolized by the state, and it was only in the first half of the 19th century that private soap factories began to appear. In the second half of the 19th century, soap factories and factories appeared. After the 1917 revolution, soap production in Russia suffered greatly. Most private enterprises were nationalized, and the quality of soap deteriorated. Everything went into production: animal lard, fish oil, sunflower oil, waste from oil production and so on. Soap production was focused on mass consumption. In the postwar period, synthetic fatty acids began to be used. Since the 1950s, stable conveyor production of soap of various types and grades has been established in the USSR.

Currently, there is an increase in the popularity of natural and hand soaps in Russia. Many soap makers in Russia create unique and beautiful soaps using only natural ingredients. Russian soap makers are also trying to preserve the historical traditions of soap production, using techniques and ingredients that were popular in the past.

Candle production

Candle production usually accompanied soap making and served as a continuation of it, as well as saline production. Tallow candles were in great use in Siberia, because wax candles were quite expensive and they were used only on holidays. The peasants mostly lit fat lamps or kindling. Therefore, the peasants made tallow candles, but in small quantities and for their own needs.

Monasteries were the main producers of candles. There were few candle makers in the cities. They supplied their products to factory offices, the provincial chancellery, the police, customs, etc. Tobolsk was especially famous for its candle makers. A contemporary wrote: "This city is full of various kinds of artisans who work so many things that they come to buy them from other places. The best goods there: cast candles, varnished and colored, like Chinese utensils, boots, cats, horse harness, copper utensils, locksmithing and blacksmithing."

The first large candle production facility appeared in Tobolsk in 1829. Its owner was the merchant Nikolai Leo. The factory had 3 copper and 4 cast iron boilers, 2 brick and 3 cast iron furnaces, as well as 1000 tin molds for casting candles. It produced candles of three varieties: tallow, "dipped" (from the word "dip" - to moisten), as well as wax candles. In particular, the plant produced three types of soap: yellow, white and "oven". But the factory closed immediately after the death of the owner. Other factories produced candles in small quantities, and they all dispersed in the city, not fully satisfying the needs of the townspeople.

In 1887, there were only 8 candle factories in the Tobolsk province. 19 workers worked for them. In a year, the factories produced more than 3 thousand pieces of candles, worth about 13 thousand rubles.