soap
Japanese Name:
石鹸
Romaji Name:
sekken
Description
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Soap is a cleaning product used with water to wash your hands, body, and sometimes clothes. It helps remove dirt, oil, and germs from the skin.
Soap is usually made from natural fats or oils mixed with an alkali like lye. It comes in different forms such as bars, liquids, or foams.
History
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Soap-making dates back thousands of years. The earliest evidence of soap-like substances comes from ancient Babylon around 2800 BCE, where people mixed animal fats with ashes to create a basic cleaning agent.
The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans also used various forms of soap for hygiene and medicinal purposes.
The modern soap-making process, known as saponification—the chemical reaction between fats and alkali—was developed over centuries and became more refined during the Middle Ages in Europe.
Soap became widely available and popular in the 19th century with industrial production and improved hygiene practices, playing a key role in public health by reducing the spread of diseases.
Today, soap is produced in many forms: bars, liquids, gels, and specialized varieties for skin care, cleaning, and even antibacterial purposes.