Regency Beauty: Wash Balls

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Wash balls, infrequently also called soap balls, were common for centuries before the Regency, but they would have been a normal part of bathing, shaving, and general cleanliness for many people during the era. It was essentially: Wash ball n a ball of soap for cleansing Webster, N. (1833). A Dictionary of the English Language: Abridged from the American Dictionary, for the Use of Primary Schools and the Counting House. United States: N. & J. White. 

or:washy WASH BALL s Ball made of soap Grimshaw, W. (1829). The Ladies’ Lexicon, and Parlour Companion: Containing Nearly Every Word in the English Language, and Exhibiting the Plurals of Nouns and the Participles of Verbs; Being Also Particularly Adapted to the Use of Academies and Schools. United States: John Grigg. 

WASH BALLS are preparations of soap which are made in great variety by perfumers The following receipts from Lillie are a specimen of those compositions Common Wash Balls Take blvj of fine dry wheaten flour tölvj of Spanish white entirely freed from sand and dirt This must be broken between the hands and passed once or twice through a hair sieve and then dried in the sun Then mix the flour and whiting together and add to them blvj of starch powder or rather of ground rice Then mix and sift the whole intimately together and if the soap used be white and the balls to be made are intended to be of a yellowish colour add to the composition about ziv not more of Dutch pink in fine powder Or Take fbxl of rice in fine powder foxxviij of fine flour as above bxxviij of starch powder xii of white lead and thiv of Florentine iris root in fine powder but no whiting Mix the whole well together and pass it twice through a fine hair sieve then put it in a dry place and keep it for use care must be taken that the flour be not musty in which case the balls will in time crack and fall to pieces To this composition may
be added Dutch pink or brown fine damask powder & c according to the colour required when the wash balls are quite dry Camphor Balls Take bvj of very dry starch and put to it Ibviij of very dry white lead grind the whole in a starch mill and sift it through a fine lawn sieve Mix this compound well with Ibxiv of very fine and good rice powder In the grinding of the starch and white lead great care must be taken that the compound does not fly about as it is very hurtful and poisonous owing to the presence of the white lead Best Common Wash Balls Take fbxl of foreign oil soap either Castile Marseilles or Gallipoli and folx of English tallow soap Shave both these together and mix them in a trough or box with xxx of the preceding composition add eight pints of the water that comes over in the distillation of lavender rhodium orange or any other essential oil or in default of these the same quantity of clear rain water Into this water put zj of oil of lavender zj of oil of rosemary and 3j of oil of origanum Shake these oils and the water well together so that when the paste comes to be mixed the oil may not swim on the top Beat the whole well together so as to make it incorporate and at the end of three or four days during which time it will become mellow beat again Care must be taken to add no more water than what is above directed unless the soaps used be of a hard nature and free from superfluous ley in this case another quart may very well be added The paste is now to be laid by in an earthern pan covered with a wet cloth for several days after its last beating before it is made up into balls because the stiffer and harder it is the rounder and handsomer will the balls be which are worked from the mass It is to be observed that if the trough or box in which the paste is made consists of oak or wainscot it will in the course of one night turn quite black Also when the balls are to be dried the perfumer must not be tempted merely for the sake of gaining time to carry them to the fire or to put them in an oven or stove for by this method the outer surface only will be dried into a sort of crust of the thickness of a shilling whereby no evaporation can take place from the centre and consequently it must remain completely soft whereas if these balls are dried merely by exposure to the air they will be harder and drier in three months than those dried by the fire will be in twelve As to putting them into the oven it may be here noted that by such treatment they will be speedily melted or broken to pieces Inferior Common Wash Balls Take fblxxx of tallow soap and toxx of Gallipoli shave or scrape as above and add to them fol of the
composition Proceed in every thing else as before except that here on account of the addition of foxx more of the composition than in the former paste for wash balls it will be necessary to add two quarts of water more than has been used in the best common wash balls Or One hundred weight of tallow soap and tbl of Spanish or common whiting are mixed and beaten up with double the above quantity of water and scented with oil of caraways or some other cheap essen tial oil These wash balls are made large and to deceive the buyer are made very round by being skin dried or crusted by lying in the stove for 12 hours whereas good wash balls dried in the air generally lose their shape They will no more lather than a piece of clay or a stone There have been wash balls frequently made for this sort of trade which are merely the shells of large French walnuts covered over with the above base composition Ambergris Wash Balls Take lbxvi of the best Joppa or the whitest Alicant soap cleansed well from dirt and lime Shave or scrape it very thin and expose it to the air for several days Now have ready mixed bij of ambergris powder bj of musk and civet powder ibss of fine starch powder and loss of Florentine iris powder all of which are to be well incorporated with the soap Then take gr xx of pure musk gr xx of civet and gr xxx or gr xl of the remains of musk and ambergris spirit Grind all these to a very fine powder with loaf sugar and add to them whilst in the glass mortar zij of spirit of ambergris zj of spirit of musk 20 drops of oil of rhodium and 34 of apoplective balsam Mix all well together and put the whole into a quart of the remains of honey water Shake the mixture well and put it into the compound of soap and powders above mentioned and mix the whole well This mixture must be made in an earthern pan but by no means in a wooden vessel which would absorb the best part of the perfumes The incorporation of the above substances must be effected by beating very finely and if it is found to be too stiff for working rose or orange flower water may be added at discretion still re membering that the wash balls are to be made up as stiff as possible They are to be dried in the shade and are not to be touched or meddled with for a month at least to prevent bruising or putting them out of shape When quite dry some manufacturers choose to gild these wash balls on their impressions It is impossible to make any sort of wash ball superior to this Inferior Ambergris Balls Take the same quantity of soap as above but instead of liv of the compound perfumed powder here use six taking care to proportion the several articles accordingly In this
case also it is to be noticed that one half of the perfumes prescribed for the best ambergris balls will be sufficient and likewise that rose water may be used instead of honey water In every other particu lar the previous directions are to be strictly followed Bologna Wash Balls Take oxx of very old and brown Castile soap shave or scrape it very thin and place it in the air to dry then add to it hiij of the second remains from honey water in fine powder Ibss of cassia wood fbjss of labdanum both finely powdered Mix the soap and powders well together and wet them with about a pint and a half of rose water and a pint of muddy liquid remains of honey water Now beat the whole well two or three times at intervals of a few days to let the paste become quite mellow and then make up the mass when stiff into round balls and dry them in the shade as above directed The colour of these wash balls will be either light brown or nearly black or will possess the different shades of each according to the colour of the ingredients used Best Marbled Balls Take fbx of the best Genoa or rather of oil soap made in England and fox of Joppa soap of the whitest sort Cut the whole into small square and triangular pieces which set to dry for two or three days the oil soap particularly must be thus dried Then shave or scrape very finely tbv of oil soap which dry for about one day in the open air and then mix it well in the shaving box with tbv of powder and 3jss of the best and finest ver milion In mixing it will be necessary to place the pieces of soap and the coloured powder in layers in the box making in all four alternate layers of each beginning with coloured powder and ending with the square and triangular pieces of soap When a layer of each has been placed in the box or trough a pint of rose water is to be sprinkled over the upper one namely the cut soap for if it be much combined with the powder it will cause it to become lumpy and hard and consequently spoil the wash balls made from it The same quantity of rose water is likewise to be used for moistening each of the other soap layers that is in the whole four pints Now have ready a pint of thin starch which has been well boiled in half a pint of rain water and then mixed with half a pint of rose water and distribute it equally among the whole mass which is now to be well mixed by turning it over repeatedly and then to be pressed down close and even by the hands If a piece be now cut out quite through the mass the operator will perceive whether the marbling and colour are sufficiently good and if so he may proceed immediately to form his wash balls When these wash balls have been made about two or three days it will be time to shave off their rough coats they are then to be left for
two or three months in the air during the summer and when dry are to be properly shaved and weighed for sale The shavings which come off these balls are to be kept for the manufacture of wash balls of the same sort They are to be with the red soap powder mentioned above but in such a there is no occasion to put so much vermilion as before as too high a colour would be produced As to the perfume to be for these wash balls the manufacturer must vary it according taste fancy or the price he intends to sell his commodity for membering that it is to be mixed with the liquid starch previous incorporation with the layers of soap and powder Inferior Marbled Balls Take fbxx of the best curdy tallow shave it thin and mix with it Ibiv of the composition for wash balls Beat the whole without any water to a fine and even coloured paste which will be very white Now make this up cakes of about an inch thick and set them in the air to dry these cakes when hard into squares and triangles as before in case of Joppa or oil soap for the groundwork of the wash balls to be manufactured Now take hiv of oil soap fbij of the coloured powder used for the best marbled balls and bij of starch grounds Shave the soap and proceed in every other respect as before These wash balls are to be scented with some cheap perfume because they are designed to be sold for about half the price of the best sort though in appearance they are so beautiful and in quality so excel lent as often to be sold for as much money as the best Rennie, J. (1833). A New Supplement to the Pharmacopœias of London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Paris; forming a complete Dispensatory; … including the New French medicines … Being a general book of formulæ, etc. United Kingdom: Baldwin and Cradock.

There are additional recipes in the book above.  You can click on the text to be taken directly to Google Books.

6 A Cosmetic Wash Ball Take Venetian soap 2 ounces Lemon juice 2 ounces Oil of bitter almonds 1 ounce Oil of tartar 1 ounce Dissolve the soap in the lemon juice add the other in gredients and stew them all together till it acquires the consistence of a thin paste 7 Madame Pompadour's Wash Ball Take Brandy 4 pints Italian soap cut small 1 pound Quick lime 4 pound Add them to the brandy let them ferment twenty four hours and then spread the mass on a sheet of filtering paper to dry When quite dry beat it in a marble mor tar with half an ounce of St Lucia wood an ounce and a half of yellow sanders half an ounce of orrice root and as much calimus aromaticus all finely powdered Knead the whole into a paste with whites of eggs and a quarter of a pound of gum fragaranth dissolved in rose water and then form it into balls according to the usual method The Toilette of Health, Beauty, and Fashion …: Including the Comforts of Dress and the Decorations of the Neck … with Directions for the Use of Most Safe and Salutary Cosmetics … and a Variety of Select Recipes for the Dressing Room of Both Sexes. (1834). United States: Allen and Ticknor.

Recipes appeared in 18th century books, as well, including The Art of Cookery (Hannah Glasse).

Wash balls, particularly the perfumed type, were more likely to be luxury items used by the upper class in part because of the additional labor of grating soap and then kneeding, with other oils, perfumes, and water, into a ball.  It was also owing to a Restoration era tax on soap in England that would not be repealed until 1853.

Soap cakes, a hard form of soap, was also a common form for soap.

334 TRANSPARENT SOAP Suet is the basis of all the soaps of the toilette known by the name of Windsor soap because olive oil forms a paste too difficult to melt again and contains an odour too strong to be mixed with essences The suet soap dissolved hot in alcohol retakes its solid state by cooling To this fact is due the discovery of transparent soap which if well prepared has the appearance of candied sugar it may also be colour ed and the vegetable hues for this purpose are preferable to mineral any person may make this soap by putting in a thin glass phial the half of a cake of Windsor soap shavings fill it with one half of alcohol and put it near the fire until the soap is dissolved this mixture placed into a mould to eool produces the transparent soap 335 WINDSOR SOAP Melt hard curd soap and scent it with oil of karni and essence of bergamot bought at the druggists or the essence of bergamot may be omitted 336 ALMOND SOAP Upon 1 lb of quick lime pour 3 quarts of boiling distilled water add 1 lb of salt of tartar dissolved in 1 quart of water cover the vessel and when cold filter through a cotton cloth a pint should weigh exactly 16 ounces troy if more add distilled water and if less evaporate Then add one third of oil of almonds simmer them together for some hours or until the oil forms a jelly when cool which may be tried on a small quantity add common salt and then con tinue boiling till the soap is solid when cold skim off the water and then pour into moulds 337 Another Method Take 2 lbs of soap ley made of barilla or kelp so strong that a bottle holding half a pint of water will hold 11 ounces of the ley and 4lbs of oil of almonds rub them to gether in a mortar and put the mixture into tin moulds where let it be for some weeks till the combination is perfect 338 MARBLED SOAP BALLS Take ten pounds of white oil soap and ten pounds of Joppa soap Cut them into small square pieces which set to dry for three days the oil soap particularly must be thus dried Scrape very finely five pounds of oil soap which dry for one day in the open air mix it well in the shaving box with five pounds of powder add an ounce and a half of the best vermilion In mixing place pieces of soap and coloured powder in layers in the box making in all four alternate layers of each When a layer of each has been placed in the box sprinkle a pint of rose water over the cut soap for if it he
Adams, S., Adams, S. (1825). The Complete Servant: Being a Practical Guide to the Peculiar Duties and Business of All Descriptions of Servants … with Useful Receipts and Tables. United Kingdom: Knight and Lacey.

Cake soap was also common for laundry washing:
To make Linen White that is turned Yellow Take two quarts of milk heat it over the fire and scrape into it half a pound of cake soap When the soap is thoroughly dissolved put the linen in and when they have boiled for some time take them out put them into a lather of hot water and wash them out To keep Linen not used from receiving any Damage When you have washed and well dried it fold it up and scatter in the folding the powder of cedar wood or cedar ground small having first perfumed your chest with storax by which means not only dampness is prevented but worms moths & c The best Method of whitening any sort of Cloth First let your cloth be well bucked then spread it on the grass and sprinkle it with alum water Let it continue in this situation for three or four days then buck it again with soap and fuller's earth and use it as before by which means it will not only grow white but swell in its substance To clean Hangings or Tapestry that have faded First beat the dust out of them as clean as possible then rub them well over with a dry brush and make a good lather of Castile or cake soap and rub them well over with a hard brush then take some fair water and with it wash off the froth and make a water with alum and wash them over with it and you will find when dry most of the colours restored in a short time and those that are yet too faint you must assist by a pencil dipped in proper co lours It will not be amiss if you rub over the whole piece in the same manner with water colours mixed with weak gum water and it will cause it if well done to look at a distance like new The Female Instructor; Or, Young Woman’s Companion: Being a Guide to All the Accomplishments which Adorn the Female Character …: With Many Pleasing Examples of Illustrious Females. To which are Added, Useful Medicinal Receipts, and a Concise System of Cookery …. (1811). United Kingdom: Nuttall, Fisher, and Dixon.

As I know a clever Reader will ask, Naples soap referred to soapmaking practices from Naples, Italy which had a long history of soapmaking, with guilds formed as early as the 6th century.  Another fact, liquid soap would be patented in 1865 by William Sheppard.  It would not begin to be mass produced until BJ Johnson’s version developed from palm and olive oil which introduced the brand Palmolive.

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