Director Christine Shaw
When this topic was first approached by the author, he was a little surprised to find how little had been written and recorded about this seemingly basic product. More thoughtful reflection led him to appreciate that modern thinking is perhaps coloured by its use for personal hygiene and "pleasure" since in the "bar" form it has largely been replaced by other products for the majority of household and industrial operations.
The written record is reviewed in the Monograph and shows that the origins of soap are much more likely to be related to "industrial" activities related to fibre preparation (for example flax) and/or for post treatment of woven cloth. Arguments are given to show that it is quite likely to have been present, undiscovered, unrecognised and unseparated, during such activities as "fulling". Alternative surface active effects in the same process are related to the clay known as Fullers Earth (to which the procedure gives this material its present name). In a similar way, the presence of surface active agents, chemically distinct from soap, are known to have been used in the same context: Fullers Herb was an older name for Soapwort.
In fact, exploration of the language of "cleaning", suggests that there is likely to be confusion in any historical context as to exactly what was the nature of any material referred to, invariably in translation. It is perhaps advisable in any such context to presume, unless evidence exists to the contrary, that the only proper meaning to use should always be the general "cleansing material". Nowhere does this apply more than in the use of soap for personal hygiene.
One then comes to the actual operations involved in soap preparation in a "solid" form, and even in the semi-liquid forms sometimes used in the past. The science is reviewed in the Monograph and explanations given as to why the necessary conjunctions make it improbable that it was recognised "out of the blue". The number of ingredients, the time required and the difficulty of recognising any change has arisen in the ingredients all suggest a more deliberate approach to an evolution from an existing activity, rather than purely serendipitous discovery, such as arose with Penicillin.
A few simple experiments are described to illustrate some of the observations that have been made and brought together, to perceive that there was "something to be looked for".
Created 01 August 2001 - Updated 21 January 2002