Guide to Soap Making Using Coconut Milk

Thus, by its broad definition, detergent is an umbrella term that includes soaps and other cleaning agents with various chemical compositions. Often, however, the term detergent is used in a narrower sense to refer to synthetic cleaning agents that are not soaps (that is, not salts of fatty acids). Conversely, the term soap is often used in a broader sense to include a variety of cleaning agents (such as "laundry soap"). Here, the term detergent will be used in its broader sense (to include soaps), and the term soap will be used for products that consist mainly of fatty acid salts. Detergents are commonly used in products for personal hygiene, dishwashing, and laundry. They are also used as ingredients in antiseptic agents, dry-cleaning solutions, lubricating oils, and gasoline. Although detergents are very useful, the excessive use of certain ingredients has led to adverse effects on the environment. For instance, phosphate additives used for water softeners led to an increase in phosphorus content in lakes and rivers, triggering algal blooms that in turn consumed most of the oxygen in the waters, killing fish and plants. Efforts have been made to reduce such negative effects, but the results have been mixed. The earliest known use of a natural, soap-like material was the powder of nuts from the Reeta (Sapindus) tree, a powder used by Indians since antiquity. In accordance with Ayurvedicteachings, Hindus in India were obliged to bathe at least once a day, every morning. The Babylonians used clay cylinders containing a soap-like substance, dating from 2800 B. C. E. A formula for soap-consisting of water, alkali, and cassia oil-was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 B. C. E. The Ebers papyrus (Egypt, 1550 B. C. E.) indicates that ancient Egyptians bathed regularly and combined animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to create a soap-like substance. Egyptian documents mention that a soap-like substance was used in the preparation of wool for weaving.