Soap

Hello. My name is Soap. I love to make fun, slippery bubbles that pop. POP. I slide between your hands to get them all clean and fresh. A very, very long time ago, around 2800 BCE, my first family members were made in a place called Babylonia. They were made from ashes from a fire and special animal fats. I was not as bubbly back then. And I did not smell sweet like I do today. But I still worked hard to make things clean.

Over many, many years, I went on a bubbly journey. I traveled to new places and learned new things. People in ancient Rome used me to help wash their clothes and make them bright. Much later, around the 7th century, clever people in Europe decided I should smell nice. They added smells from pretty flowers and yummy spices. I was so happy to smell like a garden. Then, in the 1800s, big factories with busy machines started to make lots of me. This was so exciting. I could now travel in boxes and boats to homes all over the world. I became a friend to everyone.

Now, I am your friend at the sink. I come in all sorts of fun shapes and colors. I can be a yellow star that smells like lemons or a blue fish that smells like the ocean. My most important job is to wash away all the dirt and sneaky little germs when you wash your hands. When you use me with warm water, we make a team. We create lots of happy bubbles that carry the germs down the drain. Staying healthy is a fun game with me.