The English began manufacturing soap during the 1100s, Italy, Spain and France, also began making soap at an early stage, possibly pre-dating England by up to 400 years. Early soap production primarily used tallow from goats and beech ash, but following experimentation by the French, olive oil was found to be an effective alternative to animal fats.

In about 1500 this discovery was introduced to England and the industry began to grow rapidly King James I granted special privileges including a monopoly to a soap maker for $100,000 a year, it was clearly a product for the wealthy.

In the American colonies, commercial soap making began in the early 17th century as settler tradesmen arrived from England, but in spite of this, soap making remained almost exclusively a home made product for many years. It is understood however that commercial soap makers visited houses and traded waste fats in exchange for soap.

In 1783 Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele accidentally simulated the reaction that occurs in the present-day boiling process of soap making, when he boiled olive oil with lead oxide. This produced a sweet-tasting substance that he called