History of Soaps and Detergents

We all take soap products for granted, hand soaps, body soaps, hair soaps, dish washing soaps, car wash soaps, laundry soaps etc. Few people realize the discovery of soap dates back to the Babylonian period, 2800 BC. At that time history has it that animal fats were mixed with ashes and boiled to produce a gel like substance originally used as a hair styling gel..(can you imagine?) It was later adopted as a cleansing agent.

Centuries later soaps were refined, formed into bars, cut into pieces, shaved, cut into flakes. Lifeboy soap appeared in 1895 by Lever Brothers, Ivory soap was developed in 1879 by Proctor & Gamble. Liquid soap was first patented in 1865. The first modern liquid soap called Soft Soap was introduced in 1980 by the Minnetonka Corporation, later acquired by the Colgate Company in 1987 of which William Colgate founded in 1806.

Tide laundry detergent was first test marketed in 1946 by Proctor and Gamble and quickly outsold every other brand of soap in the marketplace…… the race was clearly on to formulate the perfect soap or detergent and continues today by many manufacturers.

The convenience of liquid soaps and detergents has had a profound effect on people’s lives, however it is easy to overdo it by adding more detergent than necessary to perform a cleaning function often resulting in fabrics retaining the cleaning agent and literally creating an environment for mold spores to develop while actually attracting dirt to the fabric.

One must pay close attention to the detergent manufacturer’s instructions and utilize effective dispensing devices to minimize overuse that results in increased costs per wash, shortens washer life, plus adds to our growing concern of polluting the environment.

Of late we have seen the introduction of individual use pre-measured water soluble detergent capsules, impregnated detergent sheets, and oxygenated compounds all at a premium price. None, however, seem to outperform any basic liquid laundry detergent applied in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations.