The soap we use today tells a long history before it evolved into its modern form. Knowing the history of soap making is important as you will learn the first ingredients used to make the first soaps.

History of soap making throughout the world Various tales are told the world over for the history of soap making. It seems innate for humans to keep ourselves clean. The ancient people, in fact, cleaned their clothes and bathed themselves in rivers without soap to use. The first records of soap use date back to the ancient Romans who used various forms of soft and hard-dye containing soaps called rutilandis capilis, as described by Roman historian Pliny the Elder.

Whether it was accidentally discovered or some person invented soap, soap’s discovery seemed inevitable as the ancient people felt there was a need to make a cleansing agent to improve cleaning than water alone can do.

Another history of soap making was recorded in Spain and Italy in the 8th century, which later on gave rise to a soap industry in the 13th century. The industry originated in Italy and into France which produced soap made from tallow of goats, and alkali furnished with beech ash. The industry later spread throughout Europe when the French people experimented on a method of soap making using olive oil instead of animal fats. King James I granted special privileges to the industry in 1622.

A Swedish chemist, named Carl Wilhelm Scheele, came upon a chemical reaction that would have made the modern-day soap making boiling process, as a result of boiling lead oxide and olive oil to produce a sweet substance he called “olsuss”, which is known today as “glycerin”. Soap manufacturing was revolutionized in 1791 after French chemist Nicolas Leblanc discovered a process that extracted sodium carbonate from ordinary table salt.

In the American colonies, the main ingredients used to make soap were obtained from animal fats that were processed in homes. However, the colonies soon found a livelihood out of making soaps by exporting fats and ashes – the main ingredients of soap at that time.

There are a number of tales of the history of soap making around the world, enclosed in various civilizations and shared by various races. Yet, the oldest records show that ancient people, particularly the ancient Romans, already used soap for the same manner that it is used today.

Nevertheless, the long and varied history of soap that humans had and will continue to build only manifests the longing for cleanliness amidst various climatic conditions.