The surfactants in soap lift germs from the skin and water washes them away. This is why “Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds ” is what the Centre for Disease Control ( CDC) has advised all Americans to do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the current pandemic. However, there is a big difference between vegan soaps and animal fat soaps.In Naturalis Historia, published around 77 AD, the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder described soap as a “pomade made of tallow” derived from boiled beef fat and ash that the Gauls “applied to their hair to give it a reddish tint.” The long and dirty history of soap making began in ancient Mesopotamia around 2800 BC with soap made with cooked fatty acids from slaughtered cows, sheep and goats mixed with water, an alkaline substance, and wood ash.
