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[Siru]

Since the upcoming DF update is going to involve hygiene and soap may actually be useful, I've been considering alternative cleaning products for those who the lack resources.

Background

Saponaria (Soapwort) has been used as cleaning product for centuries in this world. The roots and leaves are crushed and mixed with water to produce a lather. It grows well in temperate climates. The root is dug up in Autumn while the flowers are collected in spring.

Dwarf Fortress - How Soapwort could fit in.

-It could be found by plant gatherers on temperate and/or forested maps or could be brought as plants/seeds by humans or elves who have this in their territory.

-Since crops can't be grown across seasons, I'm thinking it could be viable to grow spring-summer-autumn and the roots/leaves are harvested.

- Plant would be processed into bags or something in farmer's workshop or milled.

-The alchemist's labratory could be used to create the lather. A bucket of water would be needed+ 1-2 soapwort root/leaves for the reaction. Alternatively if there is a bathing related workshop it could be made there because of difficulty in obtaining glass vials.

-To offset the relative ease of obtaining soapwort:

• Soap bars could be a more powerful cleaner.
• Soap bars can be stored. Once soapwort is used to make a lather it has to be used immediately. Although when stored as roots soapwort can last awhile.
• Soap Bars could be used several times. Once made soapwort lather has a single use per a unit.

Useful links
Saponaria - Wikipedia
Soapwort - Herbs2000
History and Culture of Soapwort

EDIT: Added another offset

[Impaler[WrG]]

While a bit on the obscure side it would be nice to see more flexibility in the realm of Herbalism (expanding from its current use primarily to find ingredients for booze).  But I don't think this remotely falls under the job of Alchemy, a regular SoapMaker or possibly any regular dwarf should be able to use the stuff and the lack of a complex production chain should be the primary benefit, after all your likely to use this as a stop-gap until real Soap is available.  If need bee the a Dwarf just picks up a unit of SoapWart and 'uses' it just like they would a bar of soap but it is consumed completely ware as soap would last longer.

[Percival]

And don't forget soaptree yucca in desert climates!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soaptree_yucca

[Grendus]

The advantage of soap over soapwort would probably be that soap bars can be used multiple times, at least according to the dev log. Soapwort would only clean one thing per dose. So soapwort would be a pain in the butt to micromanage, but could be very useful for forts that lack the wood to produce soap.

Another option would be making them a processing hassle. They first have to be processed into bags of soapwort leaves, then milled to produce soapwort powder. After that, dirty or medical dwarves can use soapwort to clean grime and wounds

I'm iffy on soaptree yucca. While it would possibly make sense, currently there are no fruit bearing trees. You might be able to mod a certain gatherable plant that can then be processed into a soapable item.

Speaking of modding, does anyone know if Soap is remaining hard coded or will it be a tag so we can mod things like soapwort in?

[G-Flex]

What about alcohol? I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it to Toady before, and I think alcohol sanitation was known (in some fashion) centuries ago.

[Percival]

It's best to think of soaptree as a very tall shrub. Also, the soap comes from the roots and trunk, not the leaves or fruit.

It's technically usable as a soap, though it's not the best soap in the world. More of a medicinal type of thing, than a day-to-day wash. I'm advocating it because I live near where it grows, and I love these plants!

[Ralje]

Love the idea. Soapwort would be like fishing: Easier and less complex then farming, but less effective for high populations.

[Fossaman]

I seem to recall a comment by Toady in one of the talks that Elves currently have no access to soap or other cleaning supplies. Soapwort would be a good addition for them.

[Grendus]

Elves are dirty, cannibal hippies. They don't use soap (though the fortress broker wishes they would... he isn't puking because of cave adaptation).

I agree that soapwort or other soap-plants would be useful for the elves, considering they neither butcher nor burn.