A Brief History of Soap

While humans have known about soap since antiquity, its use has ebbed and flowed with the times. From ancient Babylon to modern bathrooms, History Guy recalls the forgotten story of soap.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
You can purchase the Grosgrain bow tie worn in this episode at The Tie Bar:
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All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #soap

[@plasmaburndeath]

"It might seem surprising since so many of us seem to just now be learning how to properly wash our hands.." best "COLD" Opening ever.

[@JohnPyskaty]

I am just a few months short of 70 and can remember my Polish grandparents making soap from fat and lye. Stunk like hell but could take out the toughest grease and oil. Very similar to !ava soap and just as rough on the skin. I really enjoyed this segment since it was a part of living history I lived through. My Polish grandfather was an artist, a glass blower, furniture maker,and sculpter. He and his wife and kids were brought to the U.S. by Pittsburgh Plate Glass to make custom laboratory glass equipment. Hs was always a little disappointed that he could not interest them in doing artistic glass also.

[@dbeaus]

The finished product smells a great different form the process. As a young kid in Chicago, I had the experience of often passing the Chicago Stockyards on 43rd and Halsted on the bus. No buses had AC in those days and in the hot summer all the windows were open. Experienced riders started rolling up the windows as we approached the Stockyards. The smell was terrible and I thought it was from the animal part of the stockyards. Only later did I learn it was from Darling & Co. Darling was located directly next to the slaughtering buildings and boiled animal fat to make soap. I can agree with your opinion of the smell. You had to chose between being very hot in the bus, or the smell. It's been over 60 years and I remember that smell as if was yesterday.

[@tsugima6317]

Polish family too.... my grandmother, mother, aunt used to make laundry soap out of tallow after we butchered. Remember watching them and afterwards they made sure to age it to make it harder. They would grate it into the wash water.

[@zz449944]

Soap making often went along with the butchering of pigs. The fat that was separated from the pork meat was set aside and used to make soap after the pig processing was completed. My ancestors, all rural farm folk, made soap and would sell it to local shops and at community events. The selling of soap (and candles) was one of the few ways to earn actual cash money or traded for other goods like white sugar, tea, coffee, cloth, and lamp oil. A book written by one of my relatives about her grandmother growing up in the 1880's tells that as a young girl, she would walk as far as 10 miles to the next town to sell the soap that she had made with her grandparents, along with pails of wild berries, baskets of fresh dandelion leaves, candles, wild honey, and eggs. By selling soap in the wagon yard outside the local Fair, she earned enough money to pay her admission to the Fair with money left over to buy some food and drink, and still have some money left over to give to her father (who most likely would spent it all on whiskey). The boy she married had a knack for finding wild ginseng in the autumn and wild leeks in the spring, which were sold for cash money. So, according to the book, some of my ancestors were pretty smart business people as well as farmers.

[@beebop9808]

lol Yeah the old folks like my mother and father and before tended to make soap in an open kettle over fire. Measurements weren't often used and instead just went with observation of the mix and added their lye until they saw the trace form. That usually results in the lye content being on the high side and after the saponification was completed active lye was left over in the soap. Most people made the comment that real lye soap tingles when it's used. lol Yup, sure enough. That would be the caustic lye eating away a layer or so of skin. Got you good and clean though. lol It's a good skill to have and pretty fun at that. I've not made any in years but happy to have learned trade.

[@simongrushka983]

@@zz449944 wouldn't the soap made of pigs fat be more of a heavy cream consistence? (afaik) you cannot make a tallow from the pig, just the soft lard.

[@chachadodds5860]

As someone whose mother always had us wash our hands after being out in public, and having gone through nurse's training in the early 1970's, it's mind-boggling to me that most people have been ignorant on the subject of handwashing. I've been in homes, where not one sign of soap's existence is evident; which I find barbaric.

[@ironspaghett]

And then there's me Who vastly over washes their hands Better safe than sorry Also use anti bacterial goo lol

[@smalltownhomestead]

I'm betting you're a Home Health nurse like me. I've been in some homes that were like you said, they must have had no clue what soap even was. So bad you could smell the inside of the home while you were still outside. It's mind boggling to me!

[@joshgordon7299]

When I run out of hand soap in the bathroom, I'll just use dish soap for weeks til I get more hand soap.

[@kansascityshuffle8526]

As hand sanitizers fly off the shelf our true friend in the fight against viruses and bacteria has always been the humble bar of soap. Thanks for the reminder.

[@nekozombie]

"humble" sounds so cute in this context >w

[@tsugima6317]

Rather use real soap than liquid soap made with sodium laureth sulfate. It just doesn't clean like real soap!

[@bryandepaepe5984]

A lot of people thought I had OCD because I would wash my hands as soon as I got home from any trip into public spaces. This practice plus using the back of my hand and fingers to touch my face while in public has lead to over thirty years of not getting sick from a cold or flu.

[@charlesmartin8454]

Yep........one process considered to fall under OCD is excessive hand washing (mostly related to germaphobia). But I'm sure that part of a OCD diagnosis will dropped now. One activity that is considered mental illness in one era is found essential in another.🤔🤔🤔

[@dlbstl]

For years I've also been washing my hands as soon as I get home. I got my granddaughter in the habit of doing it too.

[@TheGhostOf2020]

Ok mr. anecdotal evidence

[@bryandepaepe5984]

@@TheGhostOf2020 So there has been no scientific study as to the efficacy of hand washing for the prevention of infections?

[@Deipnosophist_the_Gastronomer]

A lot of people thought I was deranged because I refused to bathe, ever, and I drank my own urine. But for over 50 years, I've never had cold or flu.

[@jeffmartin3406]

During a recent long distance hike, just the smell of a bar of perfumed soap would raise my moral, not to mention the actual use of it.

[@williamkeith8944]

@Michael we called that "fun" in the Boy Scouts!

[@Otokichi786]

Speiling kaunts! "Moral" in that sentence suggests that you sometimes lack same. "Morale" is what you're looking for. (Unless your wun ov dose womb perfurr to sfpel ennywhey anytime.)

[@marknesselhaus4376]

Jeff, While I was thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail back in the 90's, I once smelled a skunk and the smell kept following me. Yup, you guessed it, the skunk was me. Thanks for trail towns that have soap :-D

[@dilatedvision7014]

@Michael probably had the women shacked up with the higher ups...

[@scbagshaw]

When I was on the AT you could smell the day hikers coming before you saw them. I'm sure they could smell us thru hikers plenty good also.

[@apolloreinard7737]

Many times while washing a greasy skillet I've wondered how oils are turned into something that removes oil. Thank you for those diagrams at the start that show how soap isolates the oils and lets water wash it away. I never knew the soap molecule had two different ends, one that attracts water and the other attracting oils. Great episode!

[@lisahinton9682]

Apollo, you've almost got it correct. One end likes water and the other end doesn't. The soap molecule's hydrophobic end surrounds the dirt, and the hydrophilic end takes the dirt with it as you rinse the washed item. (This is why extra soap won't get your clothes more clean, but an extra rinse will.)

[@sundhaug92]

The first of your videos to be based around a lye

[@WhiskyCardinalWes]

Fine, take my Thumbs Up! lol

[@randyrick8019]

we shouldn't take that Lyeing down

[@Zombeegun]

I lye awake at night just thinking of soap

[@Bill-cv1xu]

That Sir,is no lie..

[@happy-go-commie]

I'd lather have that pun than a soap tax

[@pamw8102]

As a soap maker myself, this was a great video! Handmade soap today is usually made with a combination of soft and hard oils and sometimes butters (Shea; mango; cocoa and others). Coconut oil is widely used and often palm oil. Olive oil is also often a main component but many other oils can be substituted. Two ways to make soap are cold or hot processed. There are many soap making videos online.

[@GamingGardevoir]

Is there any benefit to choosing certain oils over others? Difference between sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide as choice of lye?

[@lilynunya3790]

@@GamingGardevoir yes. for example too much coconut oil can make soap that makes your hands feel dry after using it. a lot of olive oil soaps need long time to cure or else they have a tendency to be "snotty" when you use it

[@GamingGardevoir]

@@lilynunya3790 I’ve certainly heard about olive oil, especially that it’s practically impossible to use when making shaving soap. Tallow is preferable for that.

[@youtube.youtube.01]

A long time ago, when private water wells were drilled, a simple test using soap was helpful to determine the softness or hardness of the water. Foaming was considered both a good and bad thing, if you couldn't rinse it away. Some places like Mandeville, Louisiana have 0 ppm of minerals with water so soft that laundry can be done with 20% of the usual soap.

[@josiahhockenberry9846]

Several years ago while I was in boot camp a buddy asked if he could use some of my laundry soap. I was genuinely confused by this because growing up my mother always called it laundry detergent. I told him I didn't know what laundry soap was and for about 5 minutes all the guys had a good laugh saying things like "ha, no wonder why he stinks. He doesn't even know what soap is!" Well, after that well deserved ribbing I finally realized what he meant. One mans soap is another mans detergent, I guess. Language is weird sometimes. Thanks for the video, History Guy.

[@amierikke6225]

I make my own lye soap. I started about 15 years ago because I was fascinated by the history and process of it. It’s very mild after the lye chemically changes. The recollections of people talking about “grandma’s harsh homemade soap that ate my skin off” was most likely due to using it too soon. It takes around 8 weeks. I use a combo of oils, Olive, shortening and Shea butter.

[@mamadragon2581]

I also make our soap and *always* let it age for 8 weeks. Sometimes the problem might not have been from not letting it age long enough but having too much lye in proportion to the fats. It means complete saponification can't take place. To be certain, I super-fat my soap by 5%. If done right, handmade soap is so superior to commercial soap it's not even funny.

[@tissuepaper9962]

@@mamadragon2581 you've got it backwards, if lye is used in excess then complete saponification *does* occur. "Super-fat" means using fat in excess, so complete saponification can't occur, there isn't enough lye to saponify the excess fat. That's the whole point of super-fatting a soap recipe.

[@alsaunders7805]

@@mamadragon2581 Homemade soap is superior because it still has the glycerine in it. Commercial soap manufacturers remove the glycerin from the fat first because it is worth more than the soap. 🤔🤓🍻

[@dugebuwembo]

I bought some traditional soap imported from Alleppo made with Olive oil & lye & it's excellent!

[@thedreadtyger]

well this was 99 44/100% pleasant.

[@wholeNwon]

Floated my boat.

[@bigmikeh5827]

I remember my grandma telling me about making soap when she was young. (She was born in 1903). Lots of boiling and the soap was not enjoyable to use. Thank you for the video. Stay safe my friend.

[@johnnylevine]

I love how your content has been relevant to what’s going on but still provides a great distraction, please keep up the good work!!!

[@havokvladimirovichstalinov]

A HAT TAX?! Thomas, get the musket, we're starting another revolution!

[@googiegress7459]

But how could you attend a public function such as a revolution with a bare head? GADZOOKS!

[@dirtcop11]

In Lincoln's New Salem, Illinois, they demonstrated soap making in the early 19th Century. They soaked wood ash in water to make lye water. The lye water was added to a large kettle where they had rendered tallow (beef fat), or lard. Tallow soap is more effective and didn't smell as bad as lard soap. Although I was born in the middle of the 20th Century, I grew up around 19th Century processes.

[@gsheac]

It's easier to use a vegetable oil, in my limited research so,far sunflower oil would be best. But like I said my research is limited thus far.

[@pantalonesdemuerto7960]

@@gsheac I suspect that if it's based on techniques found in 19th century Illinois that animal fats were probably more accurate to the period. It takes a lot of plant matter to get a large amound of oil.

[@SoapinTrucker]

I like Tallow in soap, VERY good bar, lots of bubbles!!!! :)

[@GamingGardevoir]

Tallow is especially a must for shaving soaps, since the stearic acid facilitates a creamy lather where oleic acid (from olive oil) makes a “slimier” lather more akin to the bar soap you’d stock in your shower today

[@JrGoonior]

"Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap. My personal preference was for Lux, but I found Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor - heady, but with just a touch of mellow smoothness. Lifebuoy, on the other hand... "

[@shinnam]

Try going to an Indian supermarket. They have amazing sandalwood, papaya, rosewater, and goat milk soaps. Most of their soaps are vegetable oil based.

[@JrGoonior]

@@shinnam That wasn't literal. It was a movie quote.

[@bryantq3740]

Haha a great rendition. Gotta love Christmas Story!

[@TedSchoenling]

I was blinded by Soap... .poisoning!

[@mrmc9278]

It was, it was...soap poisoning!

[@censusgary]

As children, my grandparents helped their families make soap in their back yards. They combined lye (derived from wood ashes) with rendered animal fats they saved from cooking. I don’t think they sold the homemade soap- it was for family use only. But they used it for laundry, bathing, cleaning dishes and cooking utensils, and scrubbing the floors.

[@JamesThompson-oz8kh]

The Kurzgesagt Channel had a better idea than singing Happy Birthday. They suggested imagining you have just finished peeling a batch of jalapeño peppers and wanted to put in your contact lenses. Wash like that. 😁

[@leemaxwell1912]

James Thompson - I once made the mistake of adding really hot peppers to stir-fry, then breathing in the vapors from the stir-fry. Had to throw away my contact lenses and flush my eyes for many minutes. Learning through stupidity isn't much fun.

[@waynevreeland3141]

@@leemaxwell1912 But it would be a lesson well remembered !!!

[@KnightDaylight]

You know what people really like? Soap! You can use it as a gift and no one will turn it down, and they'll love you more if you use it!

[@g00gleminus96]

And it costs very little.

[@Shadow__133]

Not sure where you got this from. I wouldn’t like to be gifted used soap, especially if it comes with pubic hairs.

[@jrazzarelli]

@@Shadow__133 😜

[@soisitimpossible]

@@Shadow__133 But with their pubic hairs you can clone them and train them to attack the soap giver lol!

[@goodun2974]

When we were little kids and had very little money and didn't know what to get at Xmas time for a dad who was notoriously difficult to buy things for, what did we give him? Soap on a rope! Can you even buy those anymore? It was either that or a necktie..... .

[@Smallpotato1965]

Don't forget the influence of the weather: the use of bathhouses declined in the period known as 'the Little Ice Age', and it would make sense that people would refrain from walking around with damp skin and hair in a time when rivers froze over for months at a time and would think twice of using precious firewood to boil kettle upon kettle of water for bathing if it was hard enough to keep warm. This didn't necessarily mean that people were filthy or stinking; they wore linen undershirts which were washed. The linen would absorb oils and sweat from the skin, and it became fashionable in the seventeenth century to wear splendid white ruffles at the throat and cuffs to show how clean and aflluent you were (because keeping those white meant you changed them each day which meant cleanliness). The fashion of powdering hair that rose in the same period was a reaction to not being able to wash hair as often as one would've liked in the colder climate of the Little Ice Age: the hair was first greased with a special neutral smelling grease and then powdered with a special powder consisting largely of wheat flour. Then it was combed and combed. This might sound foul, but in fact it works very well: historians who have reinacted this practice found out that hair that is greased, powdered and combed is clean and fresh and very healthy. Healtier than hair that is washed with soap too often, since the scalp produces oils to keep the hair in good condition and too much soap washes away the oils and makes the hair brittle and damaged.

[@rabbi120348]

I took care of a lady who was paralyzed from the neck down with MS. In the last few months of her life we couldn't get her into the shower to wash her hair (sitting on a shower chair of course), so we got these caps that would cover all the hair, then you'd massage the scalp through the cap and it would release some kind of cleaning powder that would clean the hair (all this while she was lying on her back). Then we brushed her hair and it came out clean. I never looked into it, but it might have been an outgrowth of the process you mentioned.

[@bsjeffrey]

i used to make/sell homemade soap. i have enough that i probably won't ever have to buy soap again.

[@Hopeofmen]

I'm thinking about making some myself. Any tips for a first timer?

[@kellaust]

@@Hopeofmen use an online calculator to get you fat to lye ratios right. Don't want to get burned by your soap!

[@bsjeffrey]

start simple. use good ingrediants. you can find good recipes in books and online. you can stir the soap by hand if your only going to do a few batches. if you're going to do alot, i would get a handheld immersion blender. essential oil additions can be tricky, reading up on their usage can help.

[@AIM54A]

@@Hopeofmen Use an online calculator and add a few extra percent oil to be safe. Wear protection for eyes and skin when dealing with Lye. Cold process soap will take several weeks to cure before you can use it.

[@seanworkman431]

Maybe you can make a trade for some toilet paper?

[@jonni2317]

making soap is one of the most satisfying things i ever learned to do, it satisfies both my "technical" side and my "artistic" side at the same time

[@lorijudd2151]

My husband's late wife was the great-granddaughter of one of the chaps, either Proctor or Gamble, that discovered the process that makes Ivory soap float. Her great-great grandfather was a soap magnate. Her mother was a wealth heiress who used to move almost annually, from continent to continent, buying new houses as she went. She once purchased a new home and had the kitchen removed because she much preferred eating at restaurants. My husband's late wife was educated at a Swiss boarding school and was capable of cooking like a chef. She spoke 4 languages fluently: French, English, German and Spanish. She could also speak enough Italian to converse casually, and could also understand Hindi. Her mother lived less than frugally, but Samyn, after seeing the excesses of her mother, insisted her own family live within their means. She supported herself by singing and playing guitar while she put herself through BYU. This was before she met my husband. She died 4 years before I met my husband, and left him with 5 daughters.

[@grizzlygrizzle]

And look at P&G now. Promoting anti-male feminist BS and alienating millions of their customers for the sake of political correctness. That Gillette "toxic masculinity" rant. Those degrading Axe ads that present men as fools, side by side by those Dove ads promoting gender dysphoria and the notion that women are wonderful no matter how they look. If it's not the bean counters ruining American business, it's the virtue signallers.

[@MrU4theChillWind]

@Lori Judd Thanks for the interesting family story. Hope all's well with you. Stay safe!!

[@summonersumnerus4364]

Incredible! Thank you.

[@iDEATH]

@𒁲🅹🅰🆈🅵🅰𒁲 ✓ • 5 years ago Political correctness is nothing less than an attempt at thought control. You can't formulate and express your thoughts in a clear and articulate manner without first thinking of the words you want to use. Political correctness seeks to dictate what words you can and cannot use under the guise of not wanting to offend people unnecessarily, which in itself is something most people, myself included, would agree with. Why would you want to hurt peoples feelings for no reason? It's this part of the nature of PC culture that makes it so insidious, but no, Political Correctness is NOT good. Telling other people what they can't say, and therefore cannot think, is never good. It's even worse when you begin dictating what words people _must_ use, under penalty of law. That's downright totalitarian.

[@reidspicer6476]

What a wonderful life story, thank-you for your sharing with us , take care and enjoy your extended family.

[@kenshores9900]

I grew up on the Ohio River Valley. My father worked in the Chemical Industry. So like father like son. Cincinnati, Ohio was called Porkopolis because of the butchering of hogs. There was so much fat in the Little Miami River near Cincinnati. So the frugal German immigrants installed weirs along the banks of the river to collect fat floating on the water. And as you described they used the ashs of oat trees and other hard woods to saponify the fatty acids in the lard and tallow fats collected from the river. The chemical reaction produces fatty acids and glyercol (glycerine). (also called propane triol). Where all of this is going is that some how the company Proctor and Gamble was established in Cincinnati from this soap manufacturer. Little known history on the Northwest Terrority.

[@markloveless1001]

Propane triol for the win. Tell me glycerol and I can't draw nuthing. Tell me propane triol, why sure, three carbon fully hydroxy, easy peasy. Like father like son, indeed! Bravo sir.

[@kenshores9900]

@@markloveless1001 That is the beauty of Organic Chemistry. The first thing is learning the language. Then there is the factoid that synthetic motor oil started in Cincinnati as well. Think over that. Better things for better living through Chemistry.

[@markloveless1001]

@@kenshores9900 Ouch! DuPont burn greatly appreciated.

[@benculp922]

The King: we are going to create a hat tax. The history guy: how dare you!

[@betsycase4652]

Why my friends make me organic soaps

[@myothersoul1953]

When I was young we would give my grandmother our excess cooking oils and bacon grease and she would make soap out of it. I'm old.

[@trishthehomesteader9873]

I guess I'm old too because I've rendered tallow and lard to make soap. ☺️ I still prefer castile though. I haven't bought a bar of soap, shampoo, or laundry soap for years. Too many stabilizers and stuff I can't pronounce.

[@divarachelenvy]

you cleaned up with this video Mr History :)

[@otpyrcralphpierre1742]

Ahhhh, History Guy. Good, Clean, accurate content. Outstanding.

[@Zzzlaldkfjrowpq]

Very clean.

[@erictaylor5462]

My dad (who is 74) remembers making soap from wood ash with his grandmother.

[@jasminepeel6035]

Interesting, I always wonder why some bars of soap were called body wash , or bubble bar . Because they’re not soap they’re detergent. That make so much sense, thank you.

[@debrabridges9501]

My great-grandmother made her own soap, when she wanted something really strong for the family men to use after working and sometimes for laundry, she added lye. When it was thought that my mother was exposed to head lice in school, that lye soap was used over and over on her hair. Mom said it was a nightmare.

[@jimfeldman4035]

In truth, she always added lye. She may have added more leaving the soap even harder on body oils. When you make soap now, the general rule is you use a bit more fat/fatty acids so that all the lye (or other base) is consumed in the reaction.

[@manthony1956]

I live among the Amish, and home soap making is often done in line with the butchering of pigs, followed by the rendering of lard. They make their soap in large cast iron cauldrons on an open fire. They were surprised to learn i had also made soap. I had dairy goats for ten years, and goat milk soap was popular. The increasingly hard to obtain lye has made home soap making more of a challenge.

[@samuelbean9928]

When I was young my grandmother often made lye soap.She used it mostly for poison Ivy remedy.The out of print Foxfire series of books has a recipe for lye soap derived from wood ashes.

[@davewilson9924]

Lye is used in meth production, so there is a limit to how much you can buy. A lady here makes lamb fat soap by the barrel and has to get a permit to purchase a 100# bag.

[@kristenheuer5676]

My grandma made lye soap with lye made from ash from the wood stove and rendered pig fat.

[@kristenheuer5676]

@@davewilson9924 I had no idea meth cookers used lye.

[@davewilson9924]

@@kristenheuer5676 They sure do! Lye is on the DEA list. I don't know the process not being concerned with such things. The lye from the wood ash is "potassium hydroxide", which makes a softer or liquid soap. Regular lye is "sodium hydroxide" and it makes a hard soap, this is the industrial chemical, you can't make it at home. (Well you can, it's just a lot more complicated and dangerous! And not worth the trouble.) My grandmother made "soft soap" from ashes as well. Use hard wood ashes, not pine or fir. You can find recipes on the net.

[@anonymousstranger8766]

Thanks for all of your videos History Guy. I am a HUGE history nerd and love these videos. I hope you stay safe during these crazy times. Prayers and blessings to you and your loved ones.

[@larrypesek8818]

I remember my Grandpa making soap from bacon grease and lye for hand-washing... Thanks for the memory revival!! RIP Grandpa McKinley...

[@edward9674]

Making your own soap is pretty fun and easy, you can even add any kind of fragrance to it! It'll be fairly basic and rough for your hands but it's a cool project to do.

[@minuteman4199]

I have never made my own, but every time I see a person selling their home made soap at a craft show or farmers market, I have to have some.

[@chuckaddison5134]

Not necessarily, one of the by-products of soap making is glycerol, also known as glycerine. In Industrial production of soap the glycerine is stripped out and sold seperately. Home or boutique production does not remove the glycerine. Hence is actually better and more moisturing than commercial soaps.

[@ColonelSandersLite]

If your soap is rough on your hands, you're probably using too much lye or not letting it age long enough.

[@debbieellett9093]

I always buy from local shops. They are more fragrant, lather well and leaves my hands soft.

[@milfordcivic6755]

So, all soap is anti-viral because of it's alkaline properties, because it breaks down the membrane of a virus. So all this hoarding of antibacterial soap and hand sanitizers is pointless if any soap can kill coronavirus.

[@gsheac]

I have been,saying this for years. The rise of childhood illnesses is due to, sterilization of homes, lack of outdoor play, and a general lack of exposure to everyday normal pathogens.

[@GameInterest]

History guy please pin Milford Civics comment. Please.

[@InfectedChris]

I think the rise of dousing your kids in Purell has made them weak to any old bacteria or virus. I do think the hand sanitizer is more useful for when you have to take public transit...some of those stains have been around for decades.

[@pappy451]

@@gsheac . . . and for that reason i never cared much about my kids getting dirty . i mean , we do have indoor plumbing and a good supply of . . . soap .

[@kauffner]

Bacteria are bigger and have stronger cell walls than viruses do. Soap isn't enough to kill them, although you can wash them away.

[@LeftyLucyRightyTyty]

As I have said before, your enthusiastic delivery....makes the most mundane things interesting! Love your body of work, and look forward to MORE! Hope you and all your loved ones are doing well in these trying times.

[@mrskitkatlady]

I loved this one!! I have a real interest in the history of everyday items. This one was awesome!!! Thank you!!

[@chefdingo]

His comment about hand washing at the beginning made me laugh. I don't know how many times I've witnessed a guy come out of a toilet stall after deficating and walk out of the bathroom without stopping at the sink. So many people are so disgusting. My dog has better hygiene than most people.

[@ChristopherCraven]

You are dog licks his own arse.

[@GeorgeMarks444]

No

[@nhmooytis7058]

Dogs lick their arses. But then people lick other people’s. I’m not sure what my point is....😅

[@rotorheadv8]

I don’t lick my but to clean it.

[@tissuepaper9962]

Are you not able to wipe your ass without getting some on your hands? Sounds like a personal problem.

[@randyrick8019]

Mother's use of soap: "if you use that word again, I'll wash your mouth out with soap"

[@GannicusMisteriosdeHonduras]

I know "La Chancla" instead of soap

[@walterkersting1362]

Soap tastes worse than you can imagine.

[@timmmahhhh]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/anzNqXl6fKt-ns0

[@ernestveto10]

made the mistake of swearing at a nun in school and was blowing bubbles for a week

[@glennso47]

My folks used Lava Soap. You talk about nasty tasting!!

[@wendellbunn10]

I enjoy your talks, a history professor told me when I was younger history is everywhere, just look. I listen to your snippets of history every chance I get.

[@otpyrcralphpierre1742]

@THG. Your video today was awash with clean information, served with a Bubbly persona, and scrubbed any kind of dirt. I don't even need a screen-cleaner now. Excellent!

[@manp1039]

when i was in school as young child an art teacher taught us how to sculp soap bar. i thought it was so amazing at the time, to scrape away shavings of the soap to make little objects

[@terryboyer1342]

We just made paper snow flakes and ate glue.

[@bigblue6917]

I have heard of that but that art teacher classes must have been great fun.

[@bigblue6917]

@@terryboyer1342 Aren't you related Ralph of the Simpsons 😄

[@terryboyer1342]

@@bigblue6917 Don't know him or watch the Simpsons. Sorry. I did go to grade school with a kid named Ralph. He's in prison now for murdering a woman and her 2 kids. Nobody was surprised.

[@minuteman4199]

@@terryboyer1342 we ate the glue because it was better than the food they served us.

[@barrywerdell2614]

What am I doing: Soap,Soap,Soap,Soap,Soap,Soap,Soap,Soap, Singing 8 bars

[@verdatum]

One of my favorite quotes ever spoken in the realm of the history of science and technology is related to to soap. To paraphrase, "So, how does soap work? It turns out, the answer is: extremely well!"

[@Me2Lancer]

Thank you for sharing this timely overview of the history of soap in antiquity. Now that we are sheltering in place, let us appreciate its merits.

[@lynnmitzy1643]

My grandmother had a soap .. LAVA it was gritty , like sand was in it

[@wholeNwon]

Pumice.

[@Zombeegun]

I just bought some a couple days ago, good for cleaning soot off my hand after cleaning out the wood stove. Maybe I should save some and make soap with bacon fat lol

[@roringusanda2837]

That's pumice. Tiny grains of powdered pumice.

[@CayoKid]

Great stuff! You kept the war and conflict reference, however, it’s missing the reference to Pirates. ( clearly an oversight as we all know how P&G may have a link to a long line of river pirates). ;-)

[@iambrian6601]

Good stuff as always! Thank you for the lesson!

[@Whereswalter1]

Great job again. I'm so impressed with the information you bring us with each video. I recently watch a KZbin video or barbed wire by another KZbin channel and was disappointed. But it made me think of you and how much care you take with each video you bring us. So I'd like to thank you. And ask only one thing. Please keep up with the good work. Your video's really do help "history that deserves to be remembered".

[@mohabatkhanmalak1161]

Soap was invented in Iran (Persia) by one of the alchemists there. And in farsi soap is called "sah boon", which went on as a much needed commodity to Europe as "Savon". Alchemy was widely practiced in the mideast, not in ancient Greece or Romano - the word chemistry itself is derived from "kimawiya", Arabic and Persian. A side note, the Persians also gave the world crystalline sugar (again through alchemy research), while the Syrians gave us the first glass.

[@UDRF]

It's possible for more than one culture to invent the same thing at different times in history, it's actually fairly common

[@TheFistytheCLown]

"Don't wash your hands" said nobody's mother, EVER.

[@soisitimpossible]

A statement of truth!

[@bwana3006]

Fisty the Clown and behind your ears

[@CommodoreFan64]

@@bwana3006 When I was sent to my grandmother's house growing up to stay overnight, that was one thing my grandmother always made sure I did when it was bath time was wash behind my hears good, and don't you come to Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner with dirty hands, or there was hell to pay lol.

[@bwana3006]

Commodorefan64 yeah and don’t go in and out or you get locked out until she got ready to let you in which was usually a dark time and you better be there at dark

[@AliHammadArtist]

OCD?

[@montanavtxriders]

I love your videos and you are so creative to use current events in making videos. I find them informative and fascinating. Keep up the good work!

[@marleegould542]

Who would have though that a video on the history of soap would mentioned King Charles I. History can be very weird, and that's why I love it.

[@firefighterps2]

It is recommended to watch this for a minimum of 20 seconds.

[@lorijudd2151]

Funny!!!

[@jameshorn270]

This is the second edition in a row in which you mention the US Sanitary Commission in the Civil War. In the other episode, you akso mentioned a Western Sanitary Commission. My great grand father, worked off and on for the Christian Commision. While there was concern for supplementing chaplains for services and morale support, I understand he also spent time workin in hospitals doing things like writing letters for severely imjured and dying soldiers. It might be time to look at the non-governmental organizations, as we call them now, which sprang up to aid the troops. I do not know if there were any that acoompanied the troops in the field, but in the South some wealthy ladies established hosspitals for the wouunded. Mary Chestnut, the diarist, tried to work in one started by a friend, but had an unfortunate habit of fainting at the sight of bloodl (Aside from writing an insightful diary, and organizating social events, she seems not to have been a very useful person for practical purposes.)-

[@tinamclaughlin1991]

I feel cleaner hearing a soapy tale! You stay safe, and the Mrs!

[@TerMa354]

Great information as ALWAYS! Thank you.

[@garybrown3955]

I truly love and enjoy your history knowledge. My grandmother has been gone for over 30 years now, but after she passed I was going through her recipe box and found an old depression era recipe for soap. Very cool! A side note: you lean to your right when making your videos. I know! It just drives me nuts! Sit up straight sonny!

[@Dbaranioglu]

Oh I would love to have that recipe 🐞

[@neccron9956]

At one point, you had cheep (hard) soap and expensive Soft soap. So, when the boss came over to you house, you would switch out your soap to the soft soap. That is where you term "To Soft Soap" someone started.

[@CALPH88]

Another awesome vid by the history guy!

[@SteveG-pf9mq]

Well done as always. Thanks HG

[@geoben1810]

Bottom line is that I'm glad that soap and water is available and cheap. And that I have my own bathroom in which to bathe whenever I want or need to. 👍🏻

[@PCReboot]

Enjoyed that sick burn at the start. I'm ashamed how many people haven't been washing correctly over the years

[@Vtmtnman42]

Accurate.

[@wkdravenna]

So so true.

[@allenelliott2114]

Starting the video by throwing shade. I love it! Keep up the great work, History Guy!

[@C_HILL_OUT]

Fun fact. The glycerin byproduct of soap making is used as an ingredient in toothpaste and other products. It has a sweet taste and helps to prevent bacteria from growing.

[@VideoCesar07]

I have no idea why the way History Guy said "the Sun King stunk like a wild animal" makes me laugh each time I hear it. On the serious note I find all these history tidbits he's putting out during these times very relevant and very eye opening. It really is amazing we have not had more outbreaks like the ones we have now with CoronaVirus. The amount of people I know who just don't wash their hands when they go to the bathroom is stunning, as well as the people who refuse to bathe because "it messes up your skin oils." I don't mean a hippie who may only bath a couple of times a week, I mean people who will not bathe or wash AT ALL. If there is a silver lining on this I hope people continue to wash their hands as they do today. I'm sure many of us only did the hand wash of rubbing our hands together without getting in between the fingers unless they were very dirty. Much worse were some people I have seen who only do a quick 3 second rinse with just water. Stay safe everyone!

[@wholeNwon]

One of Louis' paramors was once offered the great honor of riding in the royal coach with the King. She declined because of his body stench. It was said of Henry VIII that he could be smelled 3 rooms away. That was attributed mostly to his infected leg ulcer.

[@SocialistDistancing]

I have a friend that would never wash his hands after using the bathroom and then when challenged on it , he would lie and say that he did. Well, I can hear the tap running or not running in this case. Ha was also a smoker and stunk and would get mad when you told him that he stunk. Then he got sick. He got mild case of pneumonia, which he had also had when he was much younger. So the doc told him , if he gets sick or picks up a germ or virus, he'll be in the hospital with some serious problems. So, he quit smoking cold turkey and now washes his hands like a surgeon. This only start 16 months ago. Just in time for Rona. Oh and he now smells what the rest of us were smelling and he can't stand it. Funny how that is.

[@goodun2974]

I sing Row Row Row Your Boat while washing my hands because it seems less silly than Happy Birthday. Sometimes I sing "Keep Your Distance" by Richard Thompson because 1) it's more appropriate and 2) it has a better melody. The chorus: Keep Your Distance, Kee-eep your distance,/ when I feel you close to me, what can I do but fall/ keep your distance, kee-eep your distance/ with us it must be all, or none a' tall". (It's really a song about resisting the temptation of an old flame or bygone days of heavy partying, but I like it anyway.)

[@fredblonder7850]

An acquaintance (I will not say “friend”.) of mine is an RN. She will not wash her hands after using the bathroom. I challenged her on this and she explained “I’m a nurse. I don’t have to. Since I’m a nurse, I have inoculations that keep me from being infectious.” Unfortunately, there’s no inoculation against stupid.

[@SocialistDistancing]

@@fredblonder7850 that's the problem with a lot of nurses. They think that they don't have to follow the rules and they're smarter than everyone else. You're friend could lose her job for that alone.

[@rr4713]

thank you for what you do! could you also submit these as audio podcasts to itunes and elsewhere? I really appreciate your teachings

[@roberthayward9299]

Thanks for an interesting, if incomplete tale. You gave glycerol, a by product of soap manufacture one brief mention but in my humble opinion, glycerol deserves to be remembered for its unique place in world history. This soap byproduct was first transformed to nitroglycerin in1847 and in turn, nitroglycerin became the foundation for Alfred Nobel's famously notorious invention of dynamite 20 years later.

[@janawayne9145]

Excellent summary!

[@williamjones7163]

Everybody knows Granny Clampet made soap in the backyard by the cement pond.

[@SuperGingernutz]

I love my bars of soap, having treated myself to some for my birthday. It's better than that liquid handwash! Soap was used by the Celts and, in Syria, the city of Aleppo was famous for its pure soap (now pretty rare because of the conflict).

[@thelocalon17usdaprime72]

Another great episode from a great and smart guy...and couple :)

[@Ralphie_Boy]

*Kudos to you for this timely historical lesson on soap!* 👍

[@spooks7965]

Can we just take a second and appreciate my mans bow tie it go harder than a rock.

[@dougjb7848]

Could you please produce an episode about how the various household battery varieties were developed and acquired their current designations?

[@MrMACHINE]

Thank you for sharing History Guy🎥👍 It was a soapy story.

[@chrisstoerzer8515]

I love all your videos thank you for the hard work that you do. I recently took up the hobby of learning to make soap Castile soap. It has been fun and I appreciate it greatly the history of soap. I look forward to all of your videos have a great day.

[@gertvanpeet3120]

In chemistry lessons...for the 3rd year, the 15 year old, we do a practical lesson...making soap . And with color and flagrances.. Done that for years..

[@vitabricksnailslime8273]

Was that in flagrant violation of their perfume policy?

[@ajg617]

well, we more practical - we made a still, sour mash and all and as 7th graders were allowed to partake:) Not as much as in the faculty lounge apparently:)

[@bwana3006]

Recipe please

[@gertvanpeet3120]

@@bwana3006 search for soap calculator...

[@anthonyC214]

I retired from Colgate Palmolive. John Colgate as well as P+G started out making candles and later on when into soap making.

[@g00gleminus96]

This was a very clean and bubbly episode.

[@joelsimms4636]

Thanks again for your video . I feel somewhat smarter for it. Have a great day. Keep safe and healthy.

[@thecommenter578]

This remembers me the time when I confused "soup" with "soap" as a child in a test.

[@lizj5740]

And you've just reminded me of the spelling bee in which I spelled "except" instead of "expect". Rats!

[@mikaelgaiason688]

Don't act like it was a one time thing... *reminds

[@BELCAN57]

"Lava" soap has pumice.

[@tenhirankei]

It was quite popular in Pompeii which can be seen today by the bodies that were covered in it.

[@bruno640]

Not sure if LAVA-still has actual pumice in it? The original-greyish bar of old did, I'm sure, as it was as soothing as a prickly-cactus...but, you didn't have any grime left on ya'! The current greenish-color is smooth as a baby's behind, not literally, but by comparison....! ☺

[@waynevreeland3141]

@@bruno640 40 grit sandpaper is "smooth as a baby's behind" compared to the original LAVA soap !!

[@BELCAN57]

@Fussbudget the Ninth Problem is, no matter how much cream and sugar you put on it. It tastes terrible! 😁

[@bruno640]

@@waynevreeland3141 Ahh, so YOU remember it, too, eh? Ironically, I still miss the "old"-recipe...! ☺

[@kesmarn]

My late mother never took a chemistry class in her life, but she insisted that we kids not call laundry detergent laundry "soap." She was self-taught in many areas and I imagine she read an article somewhere that explained the difference. "They're NOT the same thing," she would insist. She was right. She usually was.

[@patdthomas]

Timely as always.

[@hrani]

Now that people have maybe learned how to wash their hands, could we also do away with the obsession of putting a ton of perfume in every damn soap? There are so many people who have issues with artificial fragrances!

[@kali3665]

"This is the story of two sisters, Jessica Tate and Mary Campbell. These are the .... " Oh, wait.... :-)

[@lisahinton9682]

Oh, how I loved "SOAP"! I miss that show very much. 😊You sure took me back in time. 🙄🙃😌

[@josephgaviota]

Dear HG, Timely and interesting :-) I'm going to share with my friends and family.

[@BritishBriggsy]

Hi there History Guy! I just found your channel - From this Fab SOAP video! I love it! Can't wait to watch more! Keep safe.

[@snekmeseht]

Until Unilever changed the formula in 2009 and ruined it, Pears was my beloved soap for many years. Some corporate crimes simply cannot be forgiven.

[@NickFrom1228]

It's truly amazing that today we are only now focusing on correct hand washing. These are indeed strange times. I've noticed a lot of food shortages and interestingly Peanut Butter is a highly sought item. Would love to see a history on that. After all the Wuhan virus stuff is over it would be great to see a new pandemic video with comparisons to the Spanish flue. Love the videos, as always great work.

[@wetl7763]

oh boy

[@stillnocouch]

One of your best !

[@constancemiller3753]

You make my day history guy. CHEERS

[@edglunz9917]

Scrubbing away the dirty film that hid us from The History of Soap That Deserves To Be Remembered

[@Henchman1977]

I went through a bio-diesel phase and made a lot of unintentional, nasty, nasty soap....

[@naomiquinlivan905]

I’m interested in hearing that story. Biodiesel is something that may be helpful to know about soon.

[@truepeacenik]

Lol. Same here, during the blender experiments phase.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Lol, soap from the dredges of used fryer oil lololol

[@googiegress7459]

Bio-Diesel Phase would make a great name for a band

[@amadeusamwater]

Proctor & Gamble stated around 1837 in Cincinnati. Proctor was a candlemaker and Gamble a soap maker. They were competing for animal fats, so their joint father-in-law suggested they combine their businesses. Turned out to be a good idea. Also, Colgate started making soap in 1806 and by the Civil War was also a major player in the business.

[@thegiftedone]

Excellent channel Professor ! 🫡