In a civilized society cleanliness plays an important role which is quite essential for good health and comfort. Ayurveda, the Science of Life which is the ancient Indian System of Medication insists that every individual to be healthy should wake up in the ‘Bhrahma Muhurtham’ and clean their teeth and body.

The discovery of Soap is attributed to both Romans and Phoenicians.  The Soap got its name according to an ancient Roman legend, precisely from Mount Sapo where animals were sacrificed.  When it rained, the animal fat mixed with wood ashes and then was washed down into the clay along the edge of the River Tiber.  Women found that applying this clay mixture to their laundry made their wash cleaner with much lesser effort.

Actual Soap making became an industry when Phoenicians started manufacturing Soap using Olive Oil and Alkali made from the wood ash at Marceilles. The oldest British patent pertaining to Soap making was granted in 1622.

Soap is one of the cleaning agents known to mankind from time immemorial. Even today it is the most widely used product for cleaning the body.  Also, Soap is the most in-expensive cleaning agent considering the cost per use in comparison to a whole range of surfactants and other cleaning products today.

What Exactly Is Soap?

Traditionally Soap is made with oils and alkali.  Soap making is a very simple process as long as a very specific formula is used for making it. However, the chemical reaction that takes place in the process is actually quite complex. In-brief and simple terms -  mix exact quantities of the oils (chemically known as acids) to a base of Sodium Hydroxide and water. Sodium Hydroxide is a synthetic product which resembles or rather imitates wood ash. On stirring the mixture it gradually reacts with each other. During this mixing period essential oils and fragrances are added to enhance the handmade bars. The reaction that takes place when the acids and the liquid alkali are mixed converts it into Soap. Soap makers call this reaction - Saponification. In-fact during the Saponification the oil is split into fat and glycerin in-turn the fat then reacts with sodium Hydroxide and become the sodium salt which is known as the Soap.  The byproduct Glycerin, unless separated, remains in the Soap.

Present day Soap making

A good traditional Soap will have the self generated Glycerin in it.  But the modern Soap making is different.  With the Glycerin finding various applications in many industries and its cost going up, the Glycerin recovery became a major factor. Now in the modern Soap manufacturing, the oils are first split in to Fats and Glycerin and the Glycerin is sold separately.  All kinds of oils, whether it is edible or non-edible, animal fat etc. can be chemically split into pure fat and Glycerin in the modern day Oil refineries. The Fat is then chemically de-odorized, de-colorized and bleached before converting in to Soap noodles.  Added with colour, perfume and punched into the desired shape, you have the modern day Soap.  These Soap noodles are now freely available in the market.  Majority of the Soap now available in the market are made our of this kind of soap noodle. As explained earlier, these Soaps do not contain Glycerin, barring some specialized Soap in which Glycerin is added separately.

In today’s world only very few manufacturers who are still continuing to make oil based Soap and ours is one among them. Presently, the Brand MEDIMIX is the largest selling oil based Hand Made Soap in the world. We hand-make a line of specialty Soaps which contain Coconut, Palm, Sunflower & Castor oils combined with Herbs and Essential Oils, without using any animal fats. Unlike most of the noodle based Soap on store shelves today, the glycerin which is naturally produced from Saponification process is left in our Soap, making it more beneficial to the skin