COPING WITH SOAP

Soap is one of the items man is very much associated with nowadays.

It is available in various shapes, sizes and colors.

The main purpose of this important item in human life is to wash and clean.

Soaps are, in deed, used for cleaning our body, clothes, vessels ad other materials human beings use everyday.

One of the important items of every bathroom is soap.

Soap is such an indispensable ingredient almost integrated with human life.

In olden days, soap nut powder (plant origin) was used to clean human hair.

Plant ash was used for cleaning the greasy vessels.

Even the burnt paddy husk or neem twigs were used for brushing and cleaning teeth.

I have used all these things when I was a young boy.

People say even now these are being used in some Indian villages.

Once the soap came into the market, in various forms for various purposes, people were accustomed to its usage.

Soaps are available in cake form for cleaning clothes, body and vessels.

They are also available in the form of liquid, flakes and powder.

One has a variety of choice to choose from these kinds.

Soap is nothing but a substance made up of fat or oil combined with an alkali, to which the desired coloring material and fragrance are added.

Wrapped in beautiful paper or plastic boxes and sold all over the world for washing and cleaning.

Soap making, packaging, transporting and selling is billion dollar business in the world.

No one can live in this world without using this wonderful item called soap.

Soap produces foam when rubbed or stirred with soft water; in hard water soap does not produce profuse foam.

While doing so, it removes dirt, grease, bacteria etc.

We are exposed to all kinds of dirt when we work in open.

Also we perspire due to war and humid weather and the perspiration mixed with dust and dirt hosts bacteria resulting in bad odor.

Therefore, we need to clean out body everyday with plenty of water and soap.

Similarly our hands get dirty very often, so they have to be washed frequently probably with liquid, perfumed, antiseptic soaps.

Teeth get dirty because of the left over good in our mouth.

They invite bacteria which cause damage to the gum and teeth producing bad odor too.

So it becomes an absolute necessity for all of us to brush the teeth with tooth paste which is again a cleaning agent.

Once there was cleaning powder for vessels, then it became cakes.

After the washing machines for clothes and vessels became popular, washing powders in many brands were being sold in the market.

Removal of dirt is an essential activity for every one for which we need plenty of water and soaps.

Floors and vehicles are also cleaned with soap solutions.

Liquid soaps are used for making soap bubbles for children to play with.

Soap bubble is a ball of air surrounded by a film of soap that changes color in the light, fly, and burst easily.

Soap is used as a good lubricant too.

Indian ladies apply soap or soap solution to their hands to push in the bangles made of glass or gold.

Thus soap has several uses in human life.

As long as there is human life in our planet, soap is one of the commodities needed for everyday life.

So soap industry is going to be a permanent immortal one to be sustained for ever.

Attractive advertisements for washing and bathing soaps are shown in TV and print media.

Some bathing soaps contain moisturizer to keep the skin moist.

Other soaps normally make the skin dry.

There are soaps medicated and antiseptic by addition of appropriate ingredients.

The research on the various aspects of soap is going on and innovation in soap is a continuous process.

Soap is an interesting material we all love to use everyday.

Generally vegetable oil is used for manufacturing soaps.

The quantum of soaps required for the market runs into millions of tons every year.

I feel it is a big industry earning huge profit.

Mostly soaps are made in machines in big industries.

However, hand-made soaps are also available in the market.

They are usually not as attractive as the one produced in machines.

They do not produce more foam so people do not prefer to use them.

The public distribution stores and the Khadi shops sell these hand-made soaps.

Generally fragrant soaps are preferred by women.

I used to collect the attractive and fragrant packs of soaps when I was young.

It was a hobby; I left it when I grew up as many do.

I like soap, you like soap and we all like soap because it is an essential item for all of us.