Given the insufficient quality and quantity of hygiene products available for purchase in Breton markets during WWII - a time period when rationing had a massive impact on domestic life - farmers quickly had to improvise and make their own products, and especially home-made soap. Resourcefulness was the order of the day, and women had to use sheep or beef fat, as pork fat was reserved for human consumption. The soap-making process started by heating the animal fat and successively adding beeswax, caustic soda and ivy leaves, thereby adding the foaming characteristics. This resulting paste was then poured into a wooden rectangular mold and left to dry for a few days, before finally being cut into bars to be used for body hygiene. However, this method of making soap was quickly discarded once the war ended and normal economic circumstances returned. Today, the search for modern home-made processes has incited our volunteers to show you how to make your own scented soap at home, this time using fully eco-friendly vegetal oils instead of animal fat.
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