600 BC. That's the earliest year in which we've discovered people using soap. It was made of goat tallow and ash and it was used to scrub pots and pans as well as statues. The manual scrubbing technique was aided by the contents of the soap.
In 1500 BC, the ancient Egyptians were combining animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to treat skin diseases as well as to cleanse the skin. This is depicted in the Ebers Papyrus, which is a medical document of this era.
In the 7th century, Italy, Spain and France were producing soaps easily by use of olive oil, but it was short lived. After the fall of Rome in 467 AD, bathing habits declined across Europe, giving way to the middle ages and the black plague.
The English picked soap back up in the 12th century, but it wasn't as popular as it should be until the 17th. (More among the wealthy.) In 1791, a french chemist by the name of Nicholas LeBlanc patented a process for making soda ash from common salt. The salty ashes combine with fat to create soap. This made it easier to write the footprints for mass production.
During the world wars, we were low on animal and vegetable fats and oils needed to produce soap. Chemists had to use other raw materials instead, which were “synthesized” into chemicals with similar properties. These are what are known today as “detergents.”
So far this tidbit we're sharing has been all about cleaning your body, though. What about your home? Well, as it turns out... Records were not kept before 5000 BC, but we've been using vinegar to disinfect all along. (Wow, we were really depressed in the middle ages, eh? Soap and vinegar were entirely possible for us, but we didn't bother - we just covered it up with flowers. Let's never do that again.)
Chlorine bleach was discovered by a Swedish chemist named Karl Wilhelm Scheele in 1774, adding a powerful agent to our arsenal. Bleach is one of the only substances that kills mold and mildew. Unlike alcohol, it denatures proteins in micro-organisms. It does, however, decompose over time. Replace it occasionally. Do not mix bleach with acids; These include vinegar, window cleaner and toilet bowl cleaner.
The best agent for E-Coli is isopropyl alcohol, so if you have a #2 mess and you don't want to spend a fortune on sanitation, suiting up and using this substance will safely kill the bacteria.
And now, our friend, baking soda. "The most common source of the baking soda in the US is the Green River Basin in Wyoming, where trona ore is mined and refined into baking soda." (Tom's of Maine.) Baking soda acts as a chemical leavener. It reacts with acid to produce carbon dioxide - or loads of bubbles - which help to power away the fusions between hardened food/oils/dirt and the surfaces you wish to clean. As we all know, it can create a powerful reaction with vinegar and bubble over immensely. This can be useful in clearing clogged drains.
As I wrote this article, I was compelled to research the chemical I use most under the trade name Lemon Lysol. As it turns out, these chemicals called "quads" appear to create a negative effect on fertility in laboratory rats. My next step is to purchase more hydrogen peroxide and mix it into a cleaning solution. This will replace my Lemon Lysol. Now there's some science you can trust.
-Shannon, Maid of Honor
