Soap Essay

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Recommended: The advancement of antibiotics in the 20th century

What if no one ever invented soap or hand sanitizer? Think about how much more often people would be sick. What about all those germs people could spread just by giving a high five? Since the invention of soap and hand sanitizer, our world is a little bit safer. Hand sanitizer and soap have made it possible for people to kill the bacteria on their hands that might otherwise have harmed them.
Estimated to be around the year 2,800 B.C., Babylonians were the first to master soap making. Soap and warm water are the best way to kill microbes on the body in most situations. Soap comes in two forms. It comes in a bar or a gel. The Egyptians, in 1500 BC, used vegetable oils and animal fats mixed with alkaline salts to make soap (How was soap invented History & Future). There are many steps involved in the manufacturing of soap in today's world. First, the fats and the alkali are melted in a kettle and boiled. The mixtures then thickens. The fat has a reaction with the alkali and produces soap and glycerine. Soap and glycerine are separated and then mixed with salt. Soap rises to the top and glycerine goes to the bottom. Then, manufacturers take the glycerine out and the unused fat is moved. A strong solution is then added to the kettle. The mass is boiled again and the fat turns into soap. Afterward, it is mixed with water and perfume and boiled for the third time. The mixtures separates and the top layer is called neat soap. That layer is seventy percent soap and thirty percent water. The lower layer is called nigre and it has a lot of pollutants. The neat soap is taken out and then it is cooled and shaped. Just look in the bathroom of every establishment and soap will be in there!
Hand sanitizer was invented by Lupe Hernandez of Bake...

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...s which kill cells. Endotoxins are released when the bacteria die. Endotoxins are poisons released by live bacteria. You can treat bacterial infections by taking antibiotic drugs. Antibiotics are one of the most important medical breakthroughs of the twentieth century (Bacterial Infectious Human Diseases and Conditions). The drugs either kill the bacteria or prevent it from reproducing. Penicillin was the first antibiotic. Bacterial infections can be prevented from a young age if children get vaccines. You can start prevention by just washing your hands with soap or hand sanitizer.
Hand sanitizer and soap benefit us in many ways. With these products, you can stop germs from spreading. Maybe someday, somebody will come up with an even simpler solution for killing germs. Until then, keep washing and using hand sanitizer. It is an effective defense against bacteria.

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