Handmade Soap Stiff in the Morning

The hydrocarbon ("fatty") portion dissolves dirt and oils, while the ionic end makes it soluble in water. Therefore, it allows water to remove normally-insoluble matter by emulsification.

The earliest known evidence of soap use are Babylonian clay cylinders dating from 2800 BC containing a soap-like substance. A formula for soap consisting of water, alkali and cassia oil was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 BC.

The Ebers papyrus (Egypt, 1550 BC) indicates that ancient Egyptians bathed regularly and combined animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to create a soap-like substance. Egyptian documents mention that a soap-like substance was used in the preparation of wool for weaving.

A soap factory with bars of scented soap was found in the ruins of Pompeii (79 AD). However, the ancient Romans were generally innocent of soap's detergent properties. The word "soap" appears first in a European language in Pliny the Elder's Historia Naturalis, which discusses the manufacture of soap from tallow and ashes, but the only use he mentions it is as a pomade for hair; he mentions that the Gaul and German men are likelier to use it than women.

The Arabs made the soap from vegetable oil as olive oil or some aromatic oils such as as thyme oil. Sodium Lye NaOH was used for the first time and the formula hasn't changed from the current soap sold in the market. from the beginning of the 7th century soap was made and was produced in Palestine and Iraq. Arabian Soap was perfumed and coloured Some of the soap was liquid and other was hard and there was shaving soap. It was commercially sold in 981 AD.

A story encountered in some places claims that soap takes its name from a supposed "Mount Sapo" where ancient Romans sacrificed animals. Rain would send a mix of animal tallow and wood ash down the mountain and into the clay soil on the banks of the Tiber. Eventually, women noticed that it was easier to clean clothes with this "soap". The location of Mount Sapo is unknown, as is the source of the "ancient Roman legend" to which this tale is typically credited.