17 Interesting facts about soaps

A 12th-century document describes the process of soap production. It mentions the key ingredient, alkali, which later became crucial to modern chemistry, derived from al-qaly or “ashes”.

The Ebers papyrus (Egypt, 1550 BC) reveals that the ancient Egyptians mixed animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to produce a soap-like substance.

In ancient Palestine, the ashes from barilla plants, such as species of Salsola, saltwort and Anabasis, were used in soap production, known as potash.

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