Weird Soapy Facts

• By the end of the 16th century, soap was in general use, though it was still a luxury. Queen Elizabeth had but one bath a month and lesser folk certainly had fewer.
  
• Washing out the mouth with soap is a traditional form of physical punishment as a response to profanity, lying, biting, tobacco use, or verbal disrespect. It consists in placing soap inside a person’s mouth so that the person will taste it, inducing what most people consider an unpleasant experience. This form of punishment was especially common in the United States and United Kingdom from the late 19th century through the 1960s.
  
• The term Soap Opera dates back to US daytime radio dramas of the 1930s which were often sponsored by soap or detergent manufacturers.
  
• The earliest known soap was made by the Babylonians around 2800BC.
  
• A single bar of commercial bar soap may contain over 20 toxic ingredients, many of which have been connected to cancer, endocrine issues, skin problems and more.
  
• Liquid soap was patented by the American William Sheppard in 1865.
  
• A “Soapbox “ is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipment of soap.
  
• In 2002 an estimated 595 people in the UK were treated in hospital after soap-related accidents.
  
• According to a 2009 survey conducted by Soap magazine(yes, there is a  magazine named Soap), the world production of soap is around 10,000,000,000 Ib. per year (of which the U. S. makes and uses about one-third).
  
• In 1712 England imposed a tax on soap which was not repealed until 1835.
  
• 1.4 million deaths can be prevented each year by hand-washing with soap.
  
• Soap was first used as a medicinal agent.
  
• The lather, hardness and moisturizing qualities of a soap are dependent on the various oils used in the recipe.
  
• The Roman writer Pliny describes soap as an “invention“ of the Gauls for making their hair shiny.
  
• Scraping soap under your fingernails stops your nails getting full of soil when gardening.
  
• Most commercial soaps are not true soap, but are a combination of chemical detergents, artificial lathering agents and toxic chemicals.
  
• A simple, moisturising soap can be made using nothing more than olive oil, lard and lye. This soap can be made using common kitchen equipment. Nothing special is needed!
  
• We absorb 60% of the substances we put on our skin.
  
• 1/3 of the worlds soap is used by the U.S.
  
• 10 Billion pounds of soap are produced each year.
  
• Pears Soap dates back to the late 1700s when there were over 63 soap companies in London.
  
• The average person encounters 100 chemicals before breakfast.
  
• 2.6 million bars of soap are discarded daily by the hotel industry in the U.S. alone.
  
• The decades immediately preceding World War I have been called the “Golden Age of Soapbox Oratory.”
  
• The largest soap bubble was created on October 9th, 2005 and measured 105.4 cubic feet. If you could fill it with baseballs it would hold 13.627 of them.
  
• October 15th is Global Hand-washing Day.
  
• Annual world production of soap is 10,000,000,000 lb. of which the US makes and uses about one third.
  
• Murphy’s Oil Soap is used to clean elephants.
  
• A single bar of Qatar soap produced by a family-run business in Lebanon might make you think twice about washing too often. Each bar is infused with gold and diamond powder.