The origin of soap
Soap has been used in different forms before the beginning of civilization.
The origin of soap is not entirely clear, but historians believe that soap was first made by ancient Babylonians around 2800 BC. The first recorded evidence of soap-making dates back to ancient Babylon, where they made soap by mixing animal fats with wood ash and water.
Many centuries later after the fall of Babylon, the substance which later came to be called soap is said to have been introduced to the Romans by the Germans in the fifth century. The Germans, since they were hunters and gatherers, noticed that when they preserved their meat in beech ash, the following day, the meat would have some slippery substance. What they didn’t know was that the tallow oil in meat (fatty acid) reacted with ash (alkali) to form soap.
Later, in the eighth century, the knowledge would be passed to other countries like Spain and Italy and later to France (some five hundred years later). The manufacture of soap is first recorded in England in the fourteenth century (1524 in London).
A similar record is also captured in ancient Africa (West Africa and also South Africa) where natives used to wash their bodies with a mixture of crude palm oil and water (today commonly known as lye) and ashes obtained from bananas and plantain (the ash acted as an alkali).
Soap manufacturing developed very slowly until the nineteenth century when it started gaining traction.
Today, in the twenty first century, soap is considered a basic commodity in any household. New technologies and formulations have emerged and new ideas introduced to make other soap variations and people now have options to move from the traditional bar soaps to liquid soaps, to detergents etc.
What is soap?
Soap basically is a cleaning substance that is obtained by reacting an oil (fatty acid compound) with an alkali.
Wikipedia defines soap as a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are used as thickeners, components of some lubricants, and precursors to catalysts.
Oils + NaOH = Soap + Glycerin
The above process is called Saponification.
Saponification involves emulsification of fatty acids in a vegetable or animal oils/fat with an alkaline solution bringing forth soap and Glycerin as a by-product.
The type of alkali metal used determines the kind of soap product. Bar soaps, prepared from sodium hydroxide, are firm, whereas potassium soaps, derived from potassium hydroxide, are softer or often liquid.
During saponification, the triglyceride fats are first hydrolyzed into salts of fatty acids to release Glycerin.
In homemade soaps, usually the glycerin is left in the soap. However, commercially-produced bars will often have the glycerine stripped out, a process that leaves them harsh and drying to the skin. To fix that, moisturizers of lesser quality are put in.
The scents and dyes are synthetic - this is great for long-lasting smell and good looks, but not only are many of the fragrances and dyes harmful to humans, but also the word “fragrance” can cover up a lot of sins.
Glycerin produced during Saponification is important in the following ways:
1. It has strong Humectancy
Ø Humectancy is a property of humectants that allow them to draw moisture from the air.
Ø A humectant is a substance / agent commonly found in cosmetics and helps in humidifying the skin (prevents the dryness of the skin).
2. It acts as a binder (the soap brings structural integrity to the soap ensuring it does not crumble or crack.
3. It’s used in the production of toothpaste
Soap Composition
Oils/fats are made up of long or short chains of fatty acids. Fatty acids occur in groups of 3 (fatty acid) molecules anchored in a Glycerol molecule (try-glycerides).
During the saponification process, glycerine (which occurs as a glycerol molecule) is released upon break-up of the carbon chains that hold fatty acids.
Emulsification takes place when you subject try-glyceride to a very high PH (mixing with an alkali like NaoH); this breaks down the molecule (emulsifies) and we are left with glycerol.
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