| Soap is the most ubiquitous consumer item used in the | | | | ages. |
| modern world. It is so commonly available that we | | | | The French tried to use olive oil, but the resultant |
| hardly give a thought to how it was that soap of such | | | | product lacked what the kind of quality today’s |
| good quality came to be manufactured on a large | | | | soaps have. This was due to the use of potash |
| scale. | | | | instead of caustic soda which still remained to be |
| The knowledge of a soap like substance was | | | | discovered. |
| probably known to the ancient Egyptians and | | | | It was in the 19th century that caustic soda or lye was |
| Babylonians who perhaps used it for washing fabrics. | | | | discovered by the French chemist Leblanc which |
| They may have used potash derived from burnt | | | | revolutionized the soap manufacturing industry. His |
| charcoal and animal fat to make this substance. | | | | method of producing caustic soda left undesirable by |
| The Romans used a soap like substance and probably | | | | products and large scale soap making therefore had |
| learnt it from the Celts. The latin word “sapo” | | | | to wait for some more time. |
| means a mixture of tallow and ash. | | | | A Belgian chemist Solvay managed to derive lye from |
| Before the industrial revolution, soap making was a | | | | salt and water, and this was the breakthrough needed |
| cottage industry with animal fat used in the middle | | | | to manufacture decent soap on a large scale. |