Handmade Soap Orange Blossom

SOAP

Ordinary soap is solely made up of fats and an alkali. In the past, people made their own soap from animal fats and wood ashes.

Today there are very few true soaps in the traditional sense on the market. You might recognize these soaps as products marketed with characteristics such as "pure". "True" soaps are regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, not FDA, and do not require ingredient labeling.

Most body cleansers on the market today are actually synthetic detergent products and come under the jurisdiction of FDA. These detergent cleansers are popular because they make suds easily in water and don't form gummy deposits. Some of these detergent products are actually marketed as "soap" but are not true soap in the common and legal definition of the word.

If a cosmetic claim is made on the label of a "true" soap or cleanser, such as moisturizing or deodorizing, the product must meet all FDA requirements for a cosmetic, and the label must list all ingredients. If a drug claim is made on a cleanser or soap, such as antibacterial, antiperspirant, or anti acne, the product is a drug, and the label must list all active ingredients, as is required for all drug products.

TRIVIA: Even in its most archaic form, soap has probably always played a role in human history. Before soap became an intentionally produced product, it was extracted from plants like yucca, soapwort, and horsetail. The need for a substance to help remove dirt, grease, foodstuffs, pitches, bodily excretions, etc., has always been a part of the human experience.

TRIVIA: The first known written mention of soap was on Sumerian clay tablets dating about 2500 B.C. The tablets spoke of the use of soap in washing wool. Another Sumerian tablet, describes soap made from water, alkali, and cassia oil.

TRIVIA: Historical evidence shows that Egyptians bathed regularly and that they combined animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to create a soaplike substance for washing.