History of Liquid Soap and Shower Gel

History of liquid soaps and gels started only recently, when technological and chemical advancement of the modern age enabled countless inventors to start experimenting with more complicated chemical compositions and recipes. Today, you can find soaps of all kinds in every store you enter, even soaps whose recipes are several thousand years old. However, if you decide to buy liquid cleaning solutions, know that they are all products of the modern time.

First appearance of liquid soap happened in mid 1800s with the exploits of several inventors. In 1865 William Shepphard patented liquid soap, however popularity of this product would not arrive until creation of Palmolive soap in 1898 by B.J. Johnson. This liquid soap became so popular that B.J. Johnson was forced to rename his company into Palmolive and start really unprecedented production of this palm and olive oil soap. Since its appearance until today, Palmolive soaps remained some of the most popular soaps in the world. Other companies also crated their versions of liquid soaps and detergents, most notably Pine-Sol and Tide. They focused not only on body cleaning, but also on clothes, counters, kitchens and bathrooms.

Advancement of modern chemistry enabled creation of shower gel (shower cream, body wash), specialized liquid cleaning products for cleaning entire body during showers. The main difference between liquid soaps and shower gels is that gels don’t contain saponified oil. They are based mostly on petroleum, have numerous chemical ingredients that help easier cleaning of skin, lathers better in hard water areas, does not leave mineral residue on the skin and bathtub, and are in the balanced PH state (they don’t irritate skin). Because some shower gels can cause drying up of the skin after use, many manufacturers insert various moisturizes into its recipe. Some use menthol, ingredient that gives your skin sensation of coldness and freshness. Majority of shower gels have conditioning agents, and therefore are perfectly usable as both body wash soap and hair shampoo.