The History of Soap Making - Intro
Evolution, changes… these are the only constant things in this world. From the ancient times to the present, everything certainly has changed. Gone are the old ways and the new ones are in control. Among these developments are the methods of soap making. Soap making had begun in the seventh century as an entrenched craft in Europe. Soap makers then guarded their business secrets closely to protect it and as a precautionary measure of preserving their industry. Both animal and vegetable oils were used along with plants’ ashes and fragrance. Until gradual increase and demand for soaps were incessant and different variations were available including soaps for shampooing and shaving, as well as laundering and bathing. The soap manufacturing businesses at the early times were centered on France, Spain and Italy since these countries had a steady supply of the needed raw materials like the olive oils. It was in the 12th century that the English people began making soaps. The business went so great that by the year 1622, King James I authorized dominance to a certain soap maker for $100,000 per year. By the 19th century, soaps were already taxed as luxury items in many countries. And when the high rate of taxes was taken out, soaps were available to everybody even the ordinary and the bourgeois. Cleanliness standards really improved. Commercial soap making was introduced into the American colonies in 1608 when several soap makers from England arrived in Jamestown, Virginia. However, soap making essentially remained a household chore for a few number of years. Professional soap makers regularly collected waste fats from every household in exchanged to some soaps. The big leap in financial soap making happened in 1791 when Nicholas Leblanc, a French chemist, patented a procedure for making sodium carbonate or soda ash from an ordinary salt. The soda ash is an alkali taken from the ashes that had a fat mixture to cast soap. The procedure, which was called, the Leblanc process produced innumerable quantities of inexpensive yet good quality soda ash. Meanwhile, the science of contemporary soap making was given birth 20 years later when another French chemist, Michel Eugene Chevreul, discovered the relationship and chemical nature of fatty acids, glycerine, and fats. His studies constituted the basis for the soap and fat industry. Furthermore, another essential aspect to the growth of the soap making technology was the invention of Ernest Solvay in the middle of the 1800’s. Solvay was a Belgian chemist who started out the ammonia process, which used sodium chloride or the typical table salt, in making soda ashes. The procedure reduced the costs of using alkali, while increasing both quantity and quality of soda ashes for manufacturing soaps. Along with the addition of power in operating factories, these scientific inventions and discoveries, made soap making as one of the fast growing industries in America by 1850. Also, because of its popularity and vast availability, soaps eventually became another luxury item and a daily necessity. With its widespread use, the developments for milder soaps, bathing soaps and even for washing machine soaps were unstoppably growing. But it was not until 1916 when soap making chemistry made another breakthrough with the introduction of synthetic detergents, which were developed in Germany. The move was in response to the lack of fats as the basic soap material during the World War I. Today, synthetic detergents are simply known as detergents. The synthetic detergents are referred to as non-soap cleaning and washing products chemically put together from different raw materials. The demand for certain cleaning agents that are totally different from an ordinary soap, that would not form any soap curd or any insoluble substance, also pave the birth for detergents. Household detergents in the United States began in 1930’s but were not that successful until the end of World War II. During the war, primary components for soap making such as oils and fats were interrupted, and increasing need of the militaries for a cleaning substance that would work bests even with seawater and cold water advanced the research regarding detergents. The first ever detergent was used for laundering fine fabrics and hand washing. The all-purpose laundry detergents came about in 1946 in the United States. It was when the first detergent containing a combination of builder and surfactant, was introduced. The surfactant is the chief cleaning ingredient of detergents. Builder, on the other hand, aids the surfactant to function more efficiently. The phosphate compounds used in those first detergents proved to improve performance, thus, making them more appropriate for cleaning soiled laundry. Around 1953, gross sales for detergents had surpassed sales of soaps in the US. Currently, either detergent only or combined with soap can be found too in several liquids and bar forms for personal cleansing uses. Ever since the progress and achievements attained by builder chemistry and detergents, new product forms have continually emerged. Developed cleaning products are easy to use and are efficient, not to mention safe for the environment and consumers alike. Some of those innovations are summarized as follows: 1950’s Dishwasher powders Liquid laundry Hand dishwashing Fabric softeners (with added rinse-cycle) Detergent with add-on oxygen bleach 1960’s Pre-wash stain and soil removers Laundry powders with enzymes Enzyme presoaks 1970’s Liquid hand soap Fabric softeners (with added wash-cycle and sheets) Multifunctional products (such as detergent and fabric softener in one) 1980’s Detergents specially made for cooler water wash Dishwasher liquids Laundry powders (concentrated) 1990’s Ultra liquid and powder detergents (concentrated) Ultra fabric softeners Dishwasher gels Cleaning and laundry product refills In today’s era, the most renowned soap making procedure is called the cold process technique or method, wherein fats like that of an olive oil react with the presence of lye. The olive oil is the fruit oil from the olive tree, a traditional crop from the Mediterranean Basin. And lye is sodium hydroxide, or otherwise known as sodium hydrate or caustic soda. It is a metallic base caustic soda that forms an alkaline solution once dissolved in solvents, particularly water. Soap makers at times applied the melt-and-pour process. In this procedure, pre-made soap base will be melted and will be poured into individual molds. However, this method is not actually considered real soap making. There are other manufacturers though who use other procedures like the archival hot process, in making soaps like the clear soaps or glycerin soaps. A Swedish chemist called Scheele back in 1779 first noted glycerin. Glycerin was then considered as the sweet principle of fat. However, it was a French chemist named Michel Eugene Chevreul, as mentioned earlier, who studied soap production chemistry and applied the name “glycerin”. He also found out that this “sweet principle” is the common denominator of fats and oils. Soaps are deduced from fats or oils. A common ingredient in most soap is the sodium tallowate, and it is actually derived from a beef fat. Soaps may also be made out of vegetable oils like that of palm oil resulting to a softer finished product. A soap made from 100% olive oil can be called Marseille soap or Castile soap. Castile may also be applicable to soaps with mixtures of oils, but with a higher rate of olive oil. A variation of butters and quality oils are can also be applied in the procedure like coconut oil, olive oil, hemp oil, palm cocoa butter and shea butter to name a few. Oils used by a particular soap maker has a truly unique blend and characteristics that will provide variable and distinct qualities to numerous handmade soaps, as well as to its lathering, hardness and mildness. To cite an example, the olive oil yields mildness in soaps, palm and coconut oils provide hardness, while the coconut oil give off rich lather. |
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