Soap timeline - Timeline

first recorded evidence of the manufacture of soap-like materials in Ancient Babylon

Mostly used in textiles

discovered the basic method of making soap (fats boiled with ashes and water)

Mentioned in the Ebers papyrus in Egypt

animal and vegetable oils were mixed with alkaline salts to produce a soap-like substance

used for threatening sores, skin diseases as well as washing.

Appeared in Greece when famous physician Galen recommended using it

said that it was a preventive measure for skin diseases.

Soap became popular in Roman Empire

Soap factory found in ruins of Pompeii

Roughly around this time Ancient Germans and the Gauls started using soap

They used it to decorate their hair

They mixed ashes with animal fat to produce soap

Arabic chemists started producing soap in Nablus, Kufa and Basra.

They were the first one to produce soaps made from vegetable oils (such as olive oil), aromatic oils (such as thyme oil) and lye.

They made perfumed and colored soap, some of the soaps were liquid and others were solid. They also made special soap for shaving.

Marseilles, France and Savona, Italy became soap making centers

Soap making became well-known in Italy and Spain

They made it using goat fat and Beech tree ashes.

French started also producing soap

They were using olive oil

Europeans started using vegetable oils (such as olive oil) instead of animal fats

Finer soaps started appearing in Europe

Nicholas Leblanc patented a method of making sodium carbonate or soda ash

That was done by using commonly available salt

Michael Chevreul discovered the relationship and chemical nature of fatty acids, glycerin, and fats.

Andrew Pears began manufacturing a high-quality, transparent soap in London

William Gossage manufactured low-price good-quality soap

Robert Spear Hudson started producing a soap powder

This was another breakthrough in soap making chemistry.

Germans developed synthetic detergents

I was responsible for making the first, hard, white bars of olive oil soap.

A well known soaping center was in The Castille region of Spain

Castille soap is still known today as soap made with almost all olive oil.

Commercial soap, as we know it today, came into existence

Industrially manufactured bar soaps became available. This happened due to the discovery made by the 2 French chemists

a method called batch kettle boiling was used for soap production.

The continuous process that decreased soap making production time to less than a day was introduced and refined by Procter & Gamble.