Question On Braiding Soap

[Sovran81]

I have read everything I could find here, at AWPA and anywhere else google has sent me but these questions still has not been answered. I hope someone can shed a little light for me. Braiding soap s a mixture of tallow and pure soap, sometimes with other additives such as glycerin in it. Soap is a compound of tallow and lye. What is the purpose of adding additional tallow to the soap? OR Why not use straight soap or straight tallow? Please note if you are a rawhide or leather braider.

[Leatherpownder]

This is the soap mix I use: I run the bars through a food processor or grate it so it dissolves easier. 1 bar Ivory soap, 1 bar Castile soap, 2 oz. glycerin, 3 1/2 cups water. Heat the water but do not boil and melt in soap. Pour into a rubbermaid container and let cool over night. Keep a lid on the mix so you don't loose the moisture. You do not want to use oil or fat because you will not be able to re-moisten string if needed.

[Sovran81]

Let me get this straight. You mix a chemical based soap, Ivory(they changed the formula from pure soap to a deodorant bar some time ago) and (Castille)a vegetable based soap, add a little glycerin and water. I know you braid rawhide so using a straight soap kinda makes sense.

The thing is, We havent changed our tool designs much in a hundred years(the old timers had already figured it out). They used real soap and fat(oil) mixes. What more do we know about braiding soap that makes modern formulas better? Since soap is a surfactant, does it cut the surface tension of water repelling properties of fats and oils? Does it allow moisture penetration through fats(oils) while still maintaining the slip we need when moist and the hold we need once dry, or at least atmospherically dry? Does it impart and initial conditioning of the leather and allow application of further conditioning without it "sitting on top"?

I am not really after recipes, more a how and why of then and now.

[Leatherpownder]

That is what I use on rawhide. It helps hold a consistent moisture and allows the braid to be pulled tight. Ivory makes many soaps now, I use the plain Ivory bar soap. And we have changed tool designs and materials used to make those tools. It all depends on what you want to achieve as an end product. You don't have to use the mix I put up but it works for me. When I braid Roo or leather I use Fiebings white saddle soap to condition before I braid. Use what works for U, I am just sharing what works for me.

[TXAG]

I use white saddle soap with roo also...except the crappy stuff I got from Springfield never softens no matter how much you use on it.

Works great on the drum-stuffed roo I have though.

I haven't used rawhide much, but I usually soak it with water, then put it in a ziploc bag in the fridge for a while.

[Matt S]

Remember that soap is not just a compound of tallow and lye, it is the result of a chemical reaction between these ingredients.

[Sovran81]

Thanks for the info everyone. I wasnt saying anyone's method or choice was wrong. I am just trying to understand the relation of soap to adding extra tallow to it. Understanding glycerin addition is easy. It is a humectant and attracts moisture to help keep the leather from drying out. Tallow I am unsure of because no further chemical reaction should occur since what ever passes for lye in todays soap has already been consumed in the soap making.

[Rawhidelady]

I use the Braiding Soap recipe from David Morgan's website. The addition of the lard helps to soften the rawhide or leather and allow for a tighter braid that lies flatter. If I use just plain old Ivory soap the rawhide and/or leather doesn't soften like it does with the addition of the extra lard (tallow). The mixture takes no additional water to use, plain soap requires the use of water to soften it so you can apply to your strings. Also the soap mixture is easier to wash out of your braid work requiring less water. The less water used, the less shrinkage you will get in your finished braid.

I don't know the science of the compound, I just know it works better than anything else I have tried.

[bucksnort]

I think the idea is simply to try & replace the natural oils that soap removes. Everybody has their own ideas, but most of the old timers I've been around used either saddle soap or yellow laundry soap (Fels naptha soap) then treated the finished job with a mixture of tallow & beeswax. This may just be what popular in my area. Saddle soap is expensive & ivory or yellow soap are cheap. I've been told that rats & mice don't like the yellow soap, but I don't know what difference that would make in the long run since they love tallow (so do dogs). Some of the modern formulas are more advanced & take PH into account which is suppose to help preserve the rawhide better, but I have rawhide that's been in use for over 75 years & is still in great shape. Hope this is of some help. Buck