Soap and the Soapdish

Upon examining the bathtub at Greenbelt, one will find that there is no soapdish. A soapdish is a common fixture in showers and bathtubs alike. One can only find this to be an oddity.

We know they used soap, so that is no excuse why not to have a soapdish. In fact, we can see on display a few different types of soap. The first being P&G Soap, or soap made by Procter and Gamble. A bar of this as well as a bar of "Octagon" can be seen sitting atop the toilet. Another popular kind, Ivory, is pictured to the left. Incidently, it is also a product of Procter and Gamble.

To take a look at a modern bathtub/shower with soapdishes, click here.

Soap is made by mixing fat with an alkali, a process called saponification. In days of old, soap makers added the ashes of plants like the soapwort and barilla for their alkali. Since the late 18th century, when someone figured out how to synthesize the active ingredient, sodium hydroxide (lye), soap makers have been combining lye with fats to make soap.

Most soaps are made from animal fat. Soap makers have been using it since a Phoenician boiled-up some goat fat with wood ashes about 2,500 years ago. Why animal fat? It s cheap and makes a hard long lasting soap. However, these soaps often tend to make ones skin dry and cause irritation.

The second stage of soap manufacturing entails the addition of perfumes, dyes, superfats, chemical stabilizers, brighteners, and anti-oxidants to the soap base. These are mixed, milled on huge granite rollers to distribute the additives evenly, then compressed and extruded in a continuous shaft to be stamped and wrapped.

For some info on the history of soap visit here.

Note: the preceeding information was taken from the Danielle Dane Body Care products page. Copyright © Danielle Dane Body Care Products danesoap@ccnet.com 1995 All rights reserved.

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