1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
Soap has been a product with over a 5000 years history. It has remained an essential ingredient in modern living. It is used daily for medicinal and for laundry purposes; for household cleansing and for personal hygiene. There is an ongoing demand for bar soap as a cleaning agent despite the rolls made by modern detergents and soap powders (Barthelemy, 1883).
Industrial manufactured bar soaps first became available in the late eighteenth century. This happened when advertising campaigns in Europe and the United States, promoted popular awareness of the relationship between cleanliness and health. Until recently, the production of bar soap remained a primitive art, its manufacture being essentially the treatment of fat with alkali, a chemical process which is the same whether the production is done in a backyard or in a factory. The simplicity of the process of production of soap has led to is world wide practice as a small business operation.
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