History of Commercial Soap Making
Soap is the most ubiquitous consumer item used in the modern world. It is so commonly available that we hardly give a thought to how it was that soap of such good quality came to be manufactured on a large scale.
The knowledge of a soap like substance was probably known to the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians who perhaps used it for washing fabrics. They may have used potash derived from burnt charcoal and animal fat to make this substance.
The Romans used a soap like substance and probably learnt it from the Celts. The latin word "sapo" means a mixture of tallow and ash.
Before the industrial revolution, soap making was a cottage industry with animal fat used in the middle ages.
The French tried to use olive oil, but the resultant product lacked what the kind of quality today's soaps have. This was due to the use of potash instead of caustic soda which still remained to be discovered.
It was in the 19th century that caustic soda or lye was discovered by the French chemist Leblanc which revolutionized the soap manufacturing industry. His method of producing caustic soda left undesirable by products and large scale soap making therefore had to wait for some more time.
A Belgian chemist Solvay managed to derive lye from salt and water, and this was the breakthrough needed to manufacture decent soap on a large scale.