DAILY SUBSTANCE
JANUARY 4, 2022
The Important History Of Soap Invention
The important history of soap invention that brought human civilization to better hygiene and maintain personal care.
Before soap was invented, people around the world only used fresh water with sand and mud as exfoliants. Different scented water or oils would be applied to their bodies and wiped it off to remove dirt and stinky smell.
Generally, the basic ingredients of soap is a special type of salt derived from vegetable or animal fats or oils. The oil or fat is combined with an alkaline metal solution.
The word “Soap” comes from Mount Sapo, according to ancient Roman legend, a place where animals were sacrificed. At the location, rain washed a mixture of wood ashes and melted animal fat or tallow down onto the clay soil along the river tiber.
In the Sumer region (southern Iraq today), the making of soap dates back at least 5.000 years ago during the Bronze Age. Text from that era described briefly some ways of making soap from the resin of conifers such as fir trees.
The first evidence of soap-like substance is coming from around 2800 BC. They were made by the Babylonians, Mesopotamians, Egyptians and also Romans and Greeks. This kind of soap was created by mixing fat, oils and salts.
Evidence from the ancient Babylonians shows some clay containers have inscriptions on it about written soap recipe. They state that the product was made from fats combined with wood ash and water.
They combined fats, usually animal fats, with wood ash produced a substance which made cleaning easier. These first soaps were used in textile industry to wash wool. The ancient soap was made by cooking fatty acids rendered from cow, sheep or goat. Mixed it with water and an alkaline lye derived from wood ashes. This resulted a greasy and smelly goop that cleaned surface and lifted away dirt.
Commercial soap for sell began in the American colonies in 1600 after just a household chore rather than a profession. It was in the 17th century that cleanliness and bathing started to come back and spread in much Europe.
During the 1700’s era most people in the European upper class seldom took a bath. They just sometimes washed their faces and hands and changing the linens under their clothing to keep them clean. Bathing was gaining acceptance among the wealthy as a new form of personal care and hygiene by the end of the 18th century.
One of the most important chemical processes in the 18th century was discovered by Nicolas Le Blanc. The French chemist discovered in 1791 a processes for transforming common salt (sodium chloride) into an alkali called soda ash. It was critical in the manufacture of soap, as well as other products.
In the 1840’s one forward thinking doctor from Hungary, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis discovered that less women died after childbirth if the doctor had washed their hands first before taking medical actions.
Soap is very important today, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic time. Many types of bacteria and viruses can live on your hands and enter your body. Washing hands regularly with soap and water is one of the most effective ways to remove these germs.
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