It was around 2800 BC that the Ancient Babylonians became the first civilization to use something similar to soap. They washed their clothes with something similar to a real soap, which was made from wood ash and liquid animal fats.
During the 3rd millennium BC, the Mesopotamians used different ingredients like oil and potash, to make something like a liquid soap.
The Ancient Hebrews were said to have started using the roots of certain plants for making soap. They found that those roots had the ability to remove dirt.
However, the hard, modern day, perfumed toilet soaps were initially manufactured in the Middle East.
During the 9th century, the Europeans started using soaps, which were basically produced from animal fats. Their soaps were un-perfumed. Finer soaps were later produced in Europe from the 16th century, using vegetable oils.
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