Soap is another cleaning agent, along with water, very important for personal care rituals. Did you know that its discovery was by chance?
There is an ancient legend that tells that the word "soap" comes from Mount Sapo, a location near Rome where animal sacrifices were performed. When it rained, a mixture of melted animal fat and wood ashes flowed down the slopes to the clay banks of the Tiber. The women who washed clothes at this location began to notice that their clothes became cleaner compared to other places along the same river.
The truth is that the process of soap production is not so different from what the legend describes. The saponification reaction is nothing more than the combination of animal fats and vegetable oils with alkaline solutions such as sodium or potassium hydroxide, such as the ashes from Mount Sapo.
The scientific discoveries behind soap
An important step for the large-scale commercial production of soap was taken in 1791, when the French chemist Nicolas Leblanc patented the process, which bears his name, for producing sodium carbonate, an alkaline compound better known as soda, from common salt.
Another significant point for the evolution of this product occurred in 1811, when Michel Eugène Chevreul elucidated the chemical composition of fats, starting studies on the chemical reactions involved in soap production. This study enabled the industrial manufacturing of soap, which could be improved in 1861 when the Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay developed a process for producing sodium carbonate using ammonia, which is less polluting and cheaper than Leblanc's method.
A new phase for soap
All these scientific discoveries, along with the industrial revolution of the 19th century, made it possible to develop soap making: alongside the soaps referred to at the time as domestic, at the beginning of the 20th century, flake soaps and powder products began to appear.
The chemistry of soap products remained basically the same until 1916, when the first synthetic detergent or surfactant emerged in Germany. The development of this type of cleaning agent mainly occurred after World War II and was important for the development of new compounds with the ability not only to clean but also to form emulsions, foams, among other effects.
Currently, the vast majority of cleaning products in general (for laundry, for example) or personal hygiene (soaps, shampoos) use soaps and surfactants. Several studies are conducted to improve the performance of these same ingredients, but there are very few innovations using other types of ingredients or modifying current cleaning processes.
What other cleaning processes, products, and ingredients do you think could be used instead of soaps and shampoos for washing hands, body, and hair, that innovate the cleaning process and provide a sensory experience that promotes well-being?
Let's build this answer together! Participate in the Personal Care Cleaning Technologies Challenge and send your idea on how to develop new cleaning systems that revolutionize our personal care rituals.
Learn more and read our Call for Proposals by visiting the Challenge page!
