History of handmade soap making: A timeline from the past to date

Soap is a cleaning agent, the making of which was discovered thousands of years ago. The process of creating a soap has evolved drastically over the years, and the timeline journey is characterised by intriguing stories and facts! Let's have a look at the timeline.

2800 BC

During the excavation of Babylon, soap-like material was found in clay cylinders. That was the first evidence of soap making in earlier times.

In Rome, a legend goes as follows-

It is said that soap was named after Mount Sapo, an ancient site of animal sacrifices. After an animal was sacrificed, rain would wash animal fat and ash. It got collected under the ceremonial altars on the banks of the Tiber river.
Women who used to wash clothes in the river noticed a peculiar phenomenon. They realized that if they washed their clothes in certain parts of the river after a heavy rain, their clothes turned out much cleaner. Thus the emergence of the first soap, or at least the first use of soap came into being.

It is established that the Babylonians, Greeks, Mesopotamians and Romans were the first ones to make and use soap. At that time, soap was only used for cleaning utensils, goods or for medicinal purposes. It wasn't used on the human body.

1550 BC - Egypt

The Ebers Papyrus revealed that the ancient Egyptians mixed animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to produce a soap-like substance.

7th Century AD

At this time, soap makers appeared in Spain who made soap using Goats fat and Beech tree ashes.

The French people also started making soap around the same time. They used Olive oil for the process. The recipe that they used was recognised by King Louis XIV of France, in the 1688.

12th Century AD

This is when the English started making soap. In 1633, King Charles I granted a 14 year monopoly to the Society of Soapmakers of Westminster.

During the reign of Elizabeth I, soap consumption in England was greater than in any other European country.

18th Century - the turning point

In 1791, the French chemist Nicolas Leblanc discovered a process of transforming Sodium Chloride (common salt) into an alkali called soda ash. Since alkali was an important ingredient in the manufacture of soap, this discovery became one of the most celebrated ones of the nineteenth century. Since the process of making became simpler, this period also marked a significant drop in the selling price of soaps.

In the 19th century, Louis Pasteur proclaimed that proper maintenance of personal hygiene would reduce the spread of diseases. It helped increase the demand for soap.

Earlier, lye was made using hardwood ashes. It produced a rather soft soap bar. The most difficult part of soap making in those days was determining if the lye strength was accurate The “lye water” was considered of the proper strength to make soap when an egg or a small potato placed in the solution floated about halfway beneath the surface of the solution. If the egg or potato floated on top, the lye was too strong. If it sank quickly, the lye was too weak.

20th Century - World War era

During World War I, commercial soap as we know it today, came into existence. There were many, many cases of injuries and casualties during the war. It increased the need for cleaning agents. However, at the same time, the ingredients needed to make soap were scarce. Therefore, German scientists created a new form of "soap" made with various synthetic compounds. As a result of the same, detergents were born.

Since then, there haven't been great changes in the making of soap bars that we get today. Liquid hand soaps were invented in 1970.

Most commercial soaps available today are actually detergents, which are made with petroleum by-products. Today, there are different kinds of soaps made for vast purposes. Soap is available for personal, commercial and industrial use.

However, the harms of using commercial soaps are surfacing, and people who have been aware have switched to using organic soaps. These soaps are handmade, they contain and are made using natural ingredients. The final product is devoid of any chemicals in it! It's high time we switch to handmade organic soaps that are the best option for our priceless skin as well as the natural environment.