Talk:Soap

Vegetable oils
The section on 15th-18th centuries refers to soap made from vegetable oils, such as olive oil. I believe olive oil is not vegetable, and that it would have been too expensive, if not impossible, to produce vegetable oils for commercial soap manufacture at that time. Shtove (talk) 07:50, 26 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Are you serious? Just plain Bill (talk) 12:44, 26 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I meant seed oil, which is difficult to extract - olive is a fruit oil. Shtove (talk) 22:09, 26 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Ah, OK. I imagine palm oil, almond oil, and sesame oil have been articles of commerce around the Mediterranean along with olive oil since antiquity or so. Anything in the article need fixing? Just plain Bill (talk) 00:06, 27 August 2021 (UTC)

Ancient Babylon?
What does the claim mean when it says that soap was recorded in ancient Babylon in 2800 BC? There was no mention of Babylon existing until maybe 2300 BC, although people were living in the area before that, what exactly is meant there is record of soap in 2800 BC in Babylon? Hzh (talk) 12:42, 10 September 2021 (UTC)

Lead
When 'soap' is searched, this wikipedia article comes up, but for some reason the lead says "When did I ask? Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are used as thickeners, components of some lubricants, and precursors to… Read more".

What's with the "When did I ask?" in there? Somebody who knows how to fix this should do so. Aythya affinis (talk) 21:42, 12 April 2022 (UTC)
 * When Google is used to search "soap wikipedia", no such question appears. Your browser may have retrieved the disambiguation page. Zefr (talk) 00:35, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
 * The search engine may be showing you an outdated version of the page, from before when it was fixed about four days ago. Just plain Bill (talk) 03:10, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Strange. Using Ecosia, when "chemical definition of 'soap' " is searched, as of today, it still shows the vandalism in the lead. Aythya affinis (talk) 14:33, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

"Micele" caption is nice but could benefit from a little more detail.
The illustration of the micele is a nice picture and there is authority in the caption.

But it leaves unexplained what the orange filaments are, which seem to connect the little white spheres with an unseen center.

For that matter, it would be good to state explicitly what the white spheres are as well.

If this is what "soap subunits" are in the picture, then the words "(white spheres)" after the words "soap subunits" would accomplish this. (Plus, I hope, something about the mysterious orange filaments. And what is the center that they are attached to?) 2601:200:C000:1A0:9D6A:3426:156B:13FB (talk) 00:25, 17 June 2022 (UTC)

Centuries need to be corrected
The article refers to the 1500s as the 15th century and 1600s as 16th century rather than 16th and 17th century respectively 142.167.72.196 (talk) 23:23, 3 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I fixed as many of these as I could without access to the sources, as part of fixing general disorganization of the history section. Bryan Henderson (giraffedata) (talk) 20:13, 13 June 2024 (UTC)

"Grime" doesn't mean anything
it should be changed to something more specific or removed. 2404:4404:1704:7700:F93B:11DC:A2E8:EBE (talk) 12:43, 19 April 2023 (UTC)

The india first invented a soap
chakrapani discover mercury sulphide. The credit for inventing a soap also goes to him. Shreyaskhairnar (talk) 05:16, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 April 2024
anything being added: will be bolded Soapmakers in Naples were members of a guild in the late sixth century (then under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire),[24] and in the eighth century, soap-making was well known in Italy and Spain.[25] The Carolingian capitulary De Villis, dating to around 800, representing the royal will of Charlemagne, mentions soap as being one of the products the stewards of royal estates are to tally. Charlemagne had raised the soap under the laws contributed by himself in western and central Europe. The lands of Medieval Spain were a leading soapmaker by 800, and soapmaking began in the Kingdom of England about 1200.[26 Soapmaking is mentioned both as "women's work" and as the produce of "good workmen" alongside other necessities, such as the produce of carpenters, blacksmiths, metalsmiths, fisherman and bakers.[27]

In Europe, soap in the 9th century was produced from animal fats and had an unpleasant smell. This changed when olive oil began to be used in soap formulas instead due to the healthful benefits it provides for the body, after which much of Europe's soap production moved to the Mediterranean olive-growing regions. [28] Hard toilet soap was introduced to Europe by Arabs and gradually spread as a luxury item. It was often perfumed.[22][28] By the 15th century, the manufacture of soap in the Christendom had become virtually industrialized, with sources in Antwerp, Castile, Marseille, Naples and Venice. '''Soap had gradually moved to being made with lye, which was additionally used to bleach linen becoming the standard formula for centuries later. The lye was produced mixing water with the ash of plants (mainly wood). The mixture was left to stand and then had water poured out. Finally any excess water was evaporated out to concentrate the liquid then adding it to the oil/fat.

The soap uses were not always as expected. For quite some time, soap was mainly used to wash clothes, but only on certain occasions to wash bodies. Soft soap came in two versions, white for bodies and black for cloth. Softsoap was the main cause for these occurrences. The softsoap had little detergent powder. Generally made using mutton fat, wood ash or potash, and natural soda. Women also used a mixture of lye and fuller's earth or white clay. The softsoap had grown quite popular when issues had begun striking. The harshness of the soap left womens legs and hands blistered.

''' Osinger2 (talk) 17:53, 16 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Shadow311 (talk) 18:40, 16 April 2024 (UTC)