There’s nothing as selfless as a bar of soap. It loses itself to make you pure. From its humble beginnings in ancient Babylon to becoming a multi-billion dollar industry in itself, the soap has come a long way. The evolution of soap parallels the growth of civilisations of this planet.

Ash for shiny hair!

It is believed that prehistoric man used only water as a cleanser. In ancient Babylon (2800 BC), wood ashes were burned with animal and vegetable fats and this substance was used to cleanse and treat skin disease. It was also used to ‘make hair shiny’.

'Washing' with sand

The Greeks were known to wash themselves with clay pumice and sand which stimulated the blood circulation in the body as well as removed dirt.

Oily baths

In the Greco-Roman era, perfumed oils were used for bathing and were combined with the use of the strigil, a metal implement used to scrape the skin free of oil and dirt.

From Mount Sapo

Soap got its name when the Romans discovered it at Mount Sapo, a popular location for animal sacrifices. Rain mixed the animal tallow with burned wood on the clay and a chemical reaction occurred. Women living near River Tiber found that clothes they washed using this substance were much cleaner.

While soap was in use during the Roman period, its adoption may have been slow, despite the popularity of public and private baths throughout the empire. Possibly early soaps were not particularly attractive in appearance or smell, and were deemed more suitable for cleaning and laundering.

Manuscripts on soaps

Since 6AD, soap was produced in Nablus (West Bank), Kufa (Iraq) and Basra (Iraq). The A recently discovered manuscript from the 13th century spells out a recipe for making soap: Take some sesame oil, a sprinkle of potash, alkali and some lime, mix them all together and boil. When cooked, pour the mixture into molds and leave them to set.

The cold process

The early Americans made soap using the Cold Process, which yielded soap comprised of animal fat and lye extracted from wood ashes (potassium hydroxide). The substances were mixed and animal fat would be added along with steady stirring. Because of the time it took the soap to cure, soap makers would repeat this process twice a year.

William Colgate started a candle and soap making company in New York City in 1806. By 1906, the company was making over 3,000 different soaps, perfumes and other products.

The palm-and-olive oil soap

In 1898, Caleb Johnson's company in Milwaukee introduced a soap made of palm and olive oils, called Palmolive. It was so successful that that company changed their name to Palmolive in 1917.

‘Soap that floats’

In 1897, a soap maker had gone off for lunch one day without turning off the soap mixer. More than the usual amount of air was shipped into the batch of pure white soap. Fearing he would get into trouble, he kept the mistake a secret and packaged and shipped the air-filled soap to customers around the country. Soon customers were asking for more ‘soap that floats’.

Soap in a bottle

William Shepphard first patented liquid soap on August 22, 1865. In 1980, the Minnetonka Corporation introduced the first modern liquid soap and they cornered the market by buying up the entire supply of the plastic pumps needed for the liquid soap dispensers.

The germ-killer

In 1895, Lever Brothers created an antiseptic soap called Lifebuoy. And it was also the Lever Brothers (not a deodorant manufacturer), who first coined the term "BO" for bad odour for the soap's marketing campaign.

The modern soap

Today, soap is made using the cold process method where lye is added to palm oil, coconut oil, or olive oil, which causes the chemical reaction called saponification. The mixture is poured into a mold. The bars are then removed after setting and are restacked, covered and left to cure. The curing can take anywhere from three to eight weeks.

The future: Going soap-free?

In order to prevent their skin from becoming dry, many people look for soap-free options. Once used only in hospitals, alcohol-based hand sanitizers are becoming increasingly popular. The alcohol ensures that your skin stays germ-free while the glycerine present prevents it from drying up.

Pic: Martina Frietsch