Editing Soap (section)

===Proto-soaps in the Ancient world===
[[File:MODOAmigo.jpg|thumb|Twentieth century packaging of Amigo del Obrero (Worker's Friend) soap, part of the [[Museo del Objeto del Objeto]] collection]]
Proto-soaps, which mixed fat and alkali and were used for cleansing, are mentioned in [[Sumer]]ian, [[Babylonia]]n and [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] texts.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |date=2024-08-22 |title=An Experimental Exploration of the Earliest Soapmaking |url=https://exarc.net/issue-2024-3/at/experimental-exploration-earliest-soapmaking |journal=EXARC Journal |language=en |issue=EXARC Journal Issue 2024/3 |issn=2212-8956}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite podcast
| url=https://exarc.net/podcast/meaning-cleaning | title= The Meaning of Cleaning | website=Exarc.net | publisher=Exarc | host=Jess Shaw | date=2 February 2024 | time= | access-date=16 September 2024}}</ref>

The earliest recorded evidence of the production of soap-like materials dates back to around 2800&nbsp;BC in ancient Babylon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Willcox |first=Michael |title=Poucher's Perfumes, Cosmetics and Soaps |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7514-0479-1 |editor=Hilda Butler |edition=10th |location=Dordrecht |page=453 |chapter=Soap |quote=The earliest recorded evidence of the production of soap-like materials dates back to around 2800 BCE in ancient Babylon. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HI8dGHgeIQC&pg=PA453 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820150103/https://books.google.com/books?id=4HI8dGHgeIQC&pg=PA453 |archive-date=2016-08-20 |url-status=live}}</ref> A formula for making a soap-like substance was written on a Sumerian clay tablet around 2500 BC. This was produced by heating a mixture of oil and [[wood ash]], the earliest recorded chemical reaction, and used for washing [[woolen]] clothing.<ref name="falbe">{{cite book |last=Veerbek |first=H. |url={{Google Books |SjvtCAAAQBAJ|page=1|plain-url=yes}} |title=Surfactants in Consumer Products |publisher=Springer-Verlag |year=2012 |isbn=9783642715457 |editor=Falbe |editor-first=Jürgen |pages=1–2 |chapter=1 Historical Review |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The [[Ebers Papyrus|Ebers papyrus]] (Egypt, 1550&nbsp;BC) indicates the ancient Egyptians used a soap-like product as a medicine and created this by combining animal fats or vegetable oils with a [[soda ash]] substance called [[trona]].<ref name="falbe" /> Egyptian documents mention a similar substance was used in the preparation of [[wool]] for weaving.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

In the reign of [[Nabonidus]] (556–539&nbsp;BC), a recipe for a soap-like substance consisted of ''uhulu'' [ashes], [[cypress]] [oil] and sesame [seed oil] "for washing the stones for the servant girls".<ref>Noted in {{cite journal |author=Levey, Martin |year=1958 |title=Gypsum, salt and soda in ancient Mesopotamian chemical technology |journal=Isis |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=336–342 (341) |doi=10.1086/348678 |jstor=226942 |s2cid=143632451}}</ref>