Soap and Soap Manufacturing Technology (I)

Soap is the Sodium Salt of fatty acid - simple definition.

Soap, is also defined as the alkali salt of fatty acid. More specifically, Soap defined as the sodium or potassium salts of higher fatty acids such as lauric acid ( C12), myristic acid ( C14), palmitic acid (C16), stearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid ( C18:1), linoleic acid (C18:2), etc

In industrial terminology, Soap usually refers to the subgroup of monocarboxylate salts containing at least eight carbons. However, in the newer vocabulary, Soap stands for various commercial products: Bar Soap, liquid Soap, laundry soap, etc., many of which are no longer based entirely on carboxylate salts. (Bartolo, R. G., & Lynch, M. L.,2000)

The main use of Soap is as a household cleaning agent. However, certain soaps are formed by the reaction of fatty acids with alkalies other than those of sodium or potassium, such as calcium soaps, magnesium soaps, lead soaps, etc. These soaps are water-insoluble, hence used in lubricants, paints, cosmetics, or for waterproofing walls, etc.(Bartolo, R. G., & Lynch, M. L.,2000)

Soap History:

Where does the name soap come from, a name which is very similar in many languages, e.g., Sapone ( Italian), Savon ( French), Seife ( German ), Saippua (Finnish), Szappan (Hungarian), Sabun is the most common name in Asia, Central Asia.

The origin of the name “Soap” and the date and the circumstances of discovery are not known with precision. Most scholars agree that the discovery was accidental. The name is attributed to a Roman legend. (Chupa J., Misner S., Sachdev A., Wisniewski P., Smith G.A.,2012)

An often-quoted legend tells about the animal sacrifice made to the goddess Athena at her temple on Rome’s ancient Sapo Hill. When it rained, the animal fat (which remain from the sacrifices) mixed with wood ashes and was washed down the sides of the mountain. Roman laundresses washing cloths downstream in the Tiber River found that the yellowish “soapy” waters made their clothes whiter and cleaner. The name for “soap” might have originated on Sapo Hill.

It is well known and proven that health is directly related to cleanliness and the use of water and Soap. Data shows that infant mortality is lower when the consumption of Soap is higher in a country.

Humans have used soap substitutes or “natural soap” since primitive times. These were usually planted substances containing “saponins,” detergent cleansers naturally produced by more or fewer plants. (Brennan et al.). The American Indians kept clean without Soap. They used roots and soap-like leaves: soap bark, soap root of the plant. It was peeled, sliced, pounded, and dropped into the water, and churned into suds. It was even good for a foamy shampoo, but it had to be well rinsed to avoid irritations. American Indians also washed with fuchsia leaves and agave and scrubbed with soapwort leaf washcloths. In South America, Indians still use soapbark and soapberry.

Soap Making History:

In the olden days, people were using water, sand and mud for cleaning the body. Some people have used aroma waters, or aroma oils applied all over the body and then clean with water. At that time, ancient people know that alkaline substances like wood ash and charcoal would interact with oils and grease to form a basic soap-like sense and remove the dirt.

Babylonians, Egyptians, Mesopotamians Egyptians, ancient Greeks, and Romans were the first soap makers. They were made the Soap by mixing fats, oils, and salts. During that time, these soaps were not used for bathing but were used for cleaning utensils, goods, or medicinal purposes.

It is known that soaps were used as early as the first century. With the advent of synthetic surfactants and detergent compositions in the 20th century, soaps steadily lost their importance in domestic washing and laundry applications. However, soaps still occupy a prominent position in toilet and bathing applications. In Africa, Central Asia, Russia, there is still a large market for laundry soaps.

In the early days of soap making, it was a unique process used by few soap makers; at that time, the demand for Soap was high, but it was also expensive. There were exclusively few who made Soap, but with time the recipes and methods of Soap making became known to many, yet Soap was expensive. At first, vegetable, animal fats and vegetable oils were used as raw materials for Soap. LeBlanc, a Frenchman, made Soap in 1791 by a chemical process that lowered the price of Soap and made it available for greater consumption and wider use. (Barker, T. C., Dickinson, R., & Hardie, D. W. F.,1956).

After 20 years, a Frenchman further developed soap making with glycerin, fats, and acid. There was no major research after that, the same processes are still used for Soap making today—new advanced Soap making methods developed with the development in science and technology. In the mid-19th century, Century Toilet soap became a separate commodity from laundry soap; toilet soap was packaged, sold, and available on the market for personal use. In 1970, liquid hand soaps were invented.

Nowadays, different types of Soap with other uses are available in the market. Handmade Soap, homemade Soap and commercially manufactured Soap. Laundry soap, pet soap, carpet cleaning soap, baby soap, beauty soap, charcoal Soap etc.

It is believed that the Phoenicians were the first to develop Soap making into an art. The Arabs, Turks, Vikings and Celts all made Soap. The Celts brought Soap making to England around 1000 CE; from there its use and manufacture spread throughout Europe.

?Marseille Soap

In southeastern France, Provence is a region of the Camargue where olive oil, salt, and soda ash were readily available for soap making. In the seventeenth century, Marseille became the first official soap-producing region in France. Jean Batiste Colbert , a minister of Louis XIV, the Sun King, issued the Edict of Colbert on October 5, 1688, which prohibited the use of animal fat in the production of Savon de Marseille (Marseille Soap). The Soap had to contain 72% vegetable oils (pure olive oil, copra and palm oil) to ensure quality. In the nineteenth century, most of the olive oil was replaced by coconut and palm oil. Because these soaps were gentle on hands and washed cloth, they became so popular that by the 1880s there were about 100 Marseilles soap makers in France.

The Oldest Living Brands

·????????Yardley ( 1770 ) – The young William Yardley paid King Charles 1 a large sum of money in return for a concession to manufacture Soap for all of London. In 1770, Yardley’s original English Lavender Soap was introduced. Yardley was the first branded Soap in the world, proclaiming its name on every bar

·????????Pears (1789) – ?The history of Pears Transparent Soap began in 1789 when Andrew Pears open a barbershop in London’s Gerrard Street, Soho District, a fashionable residential area.

·????????J.S.Kirk &?Company ( 1859) in Chicago – Kirk’s brands

·????????N.K. Fairbank Company (1865) – Brand name – Fairy

·????????Swift & Company (1892) – Pride Bar Soap and Cream Laundry soap

The Big Soapers Today

·????????The Colgate Palmolive Company ( 1806) - William Colgate apprenticed as a soap maker in Baltimore at age 15; at 17 he went to New York to work for a soap maker. In 1806, at the age of 23, he rented a two-story brick building at 6 Dutch Street in lower Manhattan, NY, and converted it into a residence, factory, and shop. When he started, most of the Soap was handmade.

·????????The Procter & Gamble Company ( 1837) - In October 1837, the Procter & Gamble Company was founded in Cincinnati, OH. William Procter and James Gamble, were brothers-in-law and formed a company Procter & Gamble, with a total capital of $ 7,192.24Armour & Company ( 1867

·????????The Andrew Jergens Company ( 1880)

·????????Lever Brothers Company ( 1884)

Reference and further reading:

?Soaps and Detergents,A Theoretical and Practical Review Luis Spitz,L.Spitz, Inc.Skokie, Illinois

Narula: Treatise on Fats, Fatty Acids & Oleochemicals,O.P.NARULA,Soap Making – A general overview,By J.K. Arora

Soaphistory.net

?Bartolo, R. G., & Lynch, M. L. (2000). Soap. Kirk‐Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology.

·Chupa J., Misner S., Sachdev A., Wisniewski P., Smith G.A. (2012) Soap, Fatty Acids, and Synthetic Detergents. In: Kent J. (eds) Handbook of Industrial Chemistry and Biotechnology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4259-2_36

·BRENNAN, J. M., PIANPRASANKIT, N., & GARCíA-ALONSO, L. I. L. I. A. N. Before they are gone expanded: Capturing traditional textile preservation knowledge in Southeast Asia and Latin America.

·Barker, T. C., Dickinson, R., & Hardie, D. W. F. (1956). The origins of the synthetic alkali industry in Britain. Economica, 23(90), 158-171.

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