The evidence has been found during the excavation of ancient Babylon that around 4800 B.C. Babylonians were making soap. Probably they were the first one to master the art of soap making by boiling fats with ashes. Soap was also used medicinally for at least 5000 years. The Ebers papyrus unveils that the ancient Egyptians used to mix animal, vegetable oils, and alkaline salts to create soap-like stuff. Pliny the Elder states that in 600BC, the Phoenicians used wood ashes and goat’s tallow to produce soap. Whereas in the first century A.D. early Romans made soap out of urine and was widely known in the Roman Empire. Moreover, the Celts used plant ashes and animal fats to made soap and named it as saipo from where the word SOAP was derived.
So, this concludes that soap the history of making goes back many thousands of years. Babylonians, Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and ancient Romans and Greek widely used soap-like substance during that age. All of them used almost the same approach of making soap which was mixing fats, salt, and oils. At that time soap wasn’t made for personal hygiene or bathing purposes but was rather made for cleaning utensils or used for medicinal purposes.
Today, soap is made from fats and an alkali. They are mainly used for washing, bathing, and cleaning purposes. Basic soap bars are made in a three-step process. The first step is to mix oils and fats with alkali to create a blend of neat soap, water, and glycerol in a method called saponification. The next step is to dry the mixture to get rid of its water content. Lastly, plain or dried soap is mixed with color, fragrances, and other additives. This form of soap is then extruded into bars and reaches you in the beautiful soap boxes. Modern soap is not just made in the form of bars. The liquid soap and hand sanitizers have also become popular in the market. In this article, we’ll take you through some of the benefits of using natural soaps. To learn about them, make sure to read till the end!
Importance of Soap
It will not be wrong to say that soaps are one of the basic necessities of the modern age. Today, soaps are not coming in just bars but in liquid form too. They come in numerous patterns, fragrances, forms, and are packed in attractive soap packaging. We use soaps daily, and whether we are in the shower, taking a bath, or just washing our hands, soap is necessary for keeping us clean and hygienic. Our skin is bombarded with external influences daily such as dirt, sun, cold weather, drying winds, bacteria, and whatnot. To keep our skin protected from all these foreign influences, we use soaps and related products.
Hand soaps enable us to remove dirt from our hands before eating. Washing powder is a version of soap used to clean garments. Soaps save our lives by preventing the spread of unsafe bacteria in dirt. Our ancestors learned it thousands of years ago that how important it is to take care of our skin for a better and longer life. With new technology and methods, modern generation figured out different ways of making better and improved versions of soaps.
Though our ancestors used to use soaps for mainly washing clothes and utensils, with the time people start using it for washing, hands, face, and body as well. Today, soaps and its different versions are being used in almost every of our life. Soaps that we use today are made from different ingredients, but the two main components are animal oils or fats and alkaline solution. These two components enable the process of saponification.
After this process, we get the soap which is then mixed with fragrances and colors and packed in soap boxes with logo of different brands to sell in the market. This is the soap we use every day. However, make sure to choose soaps that are as natural as possible. Avoid using those soaps that have more chemical components than a natural one. Here are some of the benefits that you’ll get using soaps.
Benefits of Using Soap
- As compared to soaps that contain chemicals, Quality bar soaps are made with the finest ingredients such as shea butter, olive oil, and plant-based essential oils. All these ingredients help in balancing the skin’s protective properties.
- Soaps that contain naturally occurring glycerin which helps in attracting and retaining moisture in the skin. However, make sure to get your hands on soaps that have natural ingredients as chemical-based soaps tend to dry out the skin by taking out all the moisture in it.
- Bar soaps do not have any preservatives. So they stay fresh, effective, and safe. It means soaps with no preservatives are the best for your skin. It is important to know that not all preservatives are harmful buy avoiding them is a good practice.
Conclusion
With its beneficiary uses, soap remains one of the most basic, useful, and fundamental hygienic tool that mankind could ever have. Today, there is no home or place that doesn’t have any version of soap, especially the bar soap. Soap manufacturers have really stepped up their game to make soaps that are good for skin and for attracting customers they use custom soap boxes to pack and sell their products in.
