Evolution of Soap & Detergent Industry
THE EVOLUTION OF SOAP & DETERGENT INDUSTRY
HISTORY
Soaps
The washing industry, usually known as the soap industry, has roots over 2000 years in the past, a soap factory having been found in the Pompeii excavations. However, among the many chemical process industries, none has experienced such a fundamental change in chemical raw materials as have the washing industries. It has been generally accepted that the per capita use of toilet soap is a reliable guide to he standard of living for any country.
Cleanliness is essential to civilized society for good health, comfort, and for esthetic reasons. The soap and detergent industry is meeting these needs with high quality, economical products that combine efficiency with convenience. The concept of maximum safety for the consumer and the environment is a top priority.
The origin of personal cleanliness goes back into prehistoric times. Since water is essential for life, the earliest prehistoric people must have lived near water and thus must have known something about its cleaning properties – even if only for rinsing mud off their hands.
Early evidence of a soap-like material in recorded history was found clay cylinders (dated about 2800 B.C.), during excavation of ancient Babylon. Inscriptions say the inhabitants boiled fats with ashes, but do not say what the “soap” was used for. The early Greeks apparently did not use soap. They cleaned their bodies with blocks of clay, sand, pumice, and ashes then anointed themselves with oil, and scraped off the oil and dirt with a metal instrument known as “strigil”. Clothes were washed without soap in streams where animals were sacrificed. Rain washed a mixture of melted animal tallow and ashes down into the clay along the edge of the Tiber River. Women found that applying this clay mixture to their laundry made their wash cleaner with much less effort.
As Roman civilization advanced, so did bathing. The first of the famous Roman baths – with water from
HISTORY
Soaps
The washing industry, usually known as the soap industry, has roots over 2000 years in the past, a soap factory having been found in the Pompeii excavations. However, among the many chemical process industries, none has experienced such a fundamental change in chemical raw materials as have the washing industries. It has been generally accepted that the per capita use of toilet soap is a reliable guide to he standard of living for any country.
Cleanliness is essential to civilized society for good health, comfort, and for esthetic reasons. The soap and detergent industry is meeting these needs with high quality, economical products that combine efficiency with convenience. The concept of maximum safety for the consumer and the environment is a top priority.
The origin of personal cleanliness goes back into prehistoric times. Since water is essential for life, the earliest prehistoric people must have lived near water and thus must have known something about its cleaning properties – even if only for rinsing mud off their hands.
Early evidence of a soap-like material in recorded history was found clay cylinders (dated about 2800 B.C.), during excavation of ancient Babylon. Inscriptions say the inhabitants boiled fats with ashes, but do not say what the “soap” was used for. The early Greeks apparently did not use soap. They cleaned their bodies with blocks of clay, sand, pumice, and ashes then anointed themselves with oil, and scraped off the oil and dirt with a metal instrument known as “strigil”. Clothes were washed without soap in streams where animals were sacrificed. Rain washed a mixture of melted animal tallow and ashes down into the clay along the edge of the Tiber River. Women found that applying this clay mixture to their laundry made their wash cleaner with much less effort.
As Roman civilization advanced, so did bathing. The first of the famous Roman baths – with water from