Ancestors' Natural Cleansers: Wisdom from the Era Before Soap

“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘Are you the miller’s daughter?’” This proverb is the key to entering the world of bright and clear beauty pursued by our ancestors before soap existed.

• Amazing laundry and beauty secrets from the pre-soap era
• Scientific principles hidden in traditional natural cleansers
• The value of ancestral wisdom connected to modern ‘clean beauty’

The Pre-Soap Era: A Desire for Purity

The top standard of beauty for Joseon-era women was the “Three Whites (三白)”: white and smooth skin, teeth, and hands. Maintaining these beauty standards without modern cosmetics was a measure of social status and refinement. So how did our ancestors achieve such strict cleanliness standards for their bodies and clothes? The answer lies in the remarkable wisdom contained in natural cleansers derived from nature. This journey will show that cleanliness was more than hygiene—it was an aesthetic and social aspiration.

Part 1: Natural Cleansers for Clothes, The Science of the Laundry Site

The harsh but essential world of traditional laundry hides amazing science. From the strongest detergents to the most unexpected methods, we explore their principles and the communal life around them.

Lye Water: The Most Powerful Detergent for Commoners

The most essential detergent then was ’lye water.’ Made by filtering ashes from burned soybean pods or rice straw with hot water, lye water’s main component, potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃), gave it strong alkalinity.

This solution saponified grease, allowing it to be easily washed away with water, making it highly effective at removing stubborn stains from coarse cotton or hemp clothes. On lye water-making days, neighbors would gather for cooperative laundry work (pumasi), showcasing a facet of community culture.

Urine: The Nobles’ Secret for Silk

Strong lye water was deadly to protein fibers like silk. The surprising solution for the upper class was ‘fermented urine.’

The urea in urine decomposes to produce ammonia (NH₃), a mildly alkaline substance. It had cleansing power but was gentle enough not to damage delicate silk fibers.

Just as modern enzyme detergents target specific protein stains, our ancestors practiced customized washing methods by adjusting alkalinity according to fabric type (plant-based vs. animal-based). This was precision chemistry born from experience.

Part 2: Natural Cleansers for the Body, Beauty Techniques in the Inner Chambers

Leaving the laundry site, we move to the inner chambers to examine the more delicate cleansing methods that realized the ideal of the ‘miller’s daughter.’

Powdered Beans: The Original ‘Powder Wash’ Secret

The era’s best facial cleanser was undoubtedly ‘powdered beans (澡豆).’ Finely ground red or mung beans formed a powder soap whose key ingredient was ‘saponin.’

Saponin is a natural surfactant compatible with both water and oil, gently removing skin impurities. At the same time, the fine grain particles physically exfoliated dead skin. I recently tried washing with red bean powder myself and was surprised by how gentle it was and how little skin tightness I felt afterward. Additionally, vitamin-rich rice water served as an excellent moisturizer.

Calamus: The Blessing of Dano for Hair

On the 5th day of the 5th lunar month (Dano), an important ritual was washing hair with calamus water. The saponin in calamus provided cleansing, while essential oils like asarone offered antibacterial effects and a subtle fragrance that repelled pests like lice. This was a spiritual ritual that went beyond beauty, purifying body and mind and preventing disease.

Part 3: The Modern Scent, The Arrival of Soap

Centuries of natural tradition faced a dramatic shift replaced by factory-made soap.

The Foreign Arrival of Soap

During the late Joseon modernization period, Western hygiene concepts were introduced, and bathing became a symbol of civilization. Like the Portuguese word ‘sabão’ passing through Japan to become ‘soap,’ soap was a product of global trade and cultural diffusion.

Mass Production and the Great Cleanliness Shift

In 1947, Korea’s first mass-produced soap, ‘Mugunghwa Soap,’ was launched, and traditional cleansing methods began to fade into history. While soap brought convenience, it also severed knowledge closely tied to local ecosystems. The wisdom of making lye water from soybean pods and harvesting calamus seasonally was replaced by a single ‘all-purpose’ product. Which do you value more: convenience or traditional knowledge?

Traditional Natural Cleansers vs. Modern Synthetic Detergents

Conclusion: Finding Future Clean Beauty in Past Wisdom

As concerns about strong chemical ingredients grow, we are revisiting our ancestors’ wisdom.

• Tailored Science: Ancestors were remarkable material scientists using different natural cleansers according to fabric and skin type.
• Cost of Convenience: The advent of modern soap brought ease but disrupted centuries-old sustainable ecological knowledge.
• Modern Rediscovery: Today’s ‘clean beauty’ trend highlights the value of ancestral natural cleansing methods amid chemical concerns.

Why not start with a simple daily practice like washing your face with rice water? Reinterpret ancestral wisdom in a modern way to cultivate your own healthy beauty.