Peachy Keen, Squeaky Clean

It is thankful that we live in a society whereby cleanliness is absolutely essential for healthy living, aesthetic appeal and general hygiene purposes. Industrial cleaning supplies are readily available for companies that take health and hygiene more seriously. Cleaning is more about reducing the number of bacteria or germs spreading from everyday dirt and grime, However, some argue that too much cleaning can have more damaging effects on your health, from the harmful chemicals that are used in some cleaning products which can act as an irritant to the skin.

The cleaning process is certainly not a new trend: household and industrial cleaning suppliers have produced various products each year making the content safer and improving the standard of cleanliness for consumers. Early usage of soap to clean clothing and surfaces was nothing more than in the form of ashes, animal and/or vegetable fats and clay. This soap-like substance was popular during the Roman civilisation and so gave rise to awareness for personal and general hygiene.

History of Soap

The birth of industrial cleaning supplies as we know it was not discovered until much later into the early 20th century. However personal cleaning can be dated as far back as the prehistoric times, when the earliest people living near water-based areas used to clean themselves or mainly wash the mud off their hands. The soap-like material was then discovered in 2800BC, at the bottom of clay pots, during the excavation of ancient Babylon. The soap consisted of water, alkali and cassia oil; the ingredients were recorded on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 BC.

Ancient Egyptians are recorded to have bathed regularly using a soap like product combining animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts; this was also used to treat skin diseases as well as for washing. The Greeks were also recorded to have bathed for aesthetic reasons, but according to historical facts, they did not use soap and used ashes, sand, pumice and clay before smearing themselves with oil. They would then scrape the oil and dirt off with a metal instrument called a strigil.

Soap was used for many years after, right through to the Roman civilisation where the first of the Roman baths was introduced around 312 B.C. They used soap and the waters from the aqueducts as recommended by the Greek physician Galen by the second century AD. However, during the fall of the Roman Empire cleaning standards had dropped dramatically resulting in the deadly plagues of the Middle Ages. By the 17th century, bathing and personal hygiene came back into fashion in much of Europe.

Detergents

The making of soap stayed more or less the same until around 1916. Post world war culture saw a lack of essential supplies for the production of soap, namely vegetable and animal fats as a main ingredient. The first synthetic detergent was put together from a number of different raw materials that were available. Normal soap when mixed with mineral salts in water would form an insoluble substance known as soap curd, whereas the new detergent would not have the same effect, which was a main advantage of using synthetic detergent.

Since then the production of detergents had surpassed the sale of soap in household cleaning. Detergents with soap are commonly used in either liquid or powder form. This also sparked the production of more industrial cleaning supplies across the globe, with companies and buildings using strong products that contain safe chemicals and non-toxic solvents for use on various hard surfaces cleaning.

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