Have you ever thought about the invention of shaving cream?
- Shaving cream is a foamy mixture placed on the body, typically the face, during the process of removing, or shaving, hairs.
- ‘Shaving cream’ is also known as ‘shaving foam’.
- Shaving cream is typically used with a razor to create an easier and smoother cutting process and to help protect the skin from the razor blade.
- Before shaving cream, a type of soap made from animal fat and wood ash was used in a similar way, and was invented thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia, now modern day Middle East, by Sumerians.
- Shaving cream was originally manufactured as a solid prism, like soap blocks, and an early foaming soap for shaving purposes was produced in 1840, while in the 1900s the products became more foamy and were generally applied by brush.
- Modern day shaving cream is most often bought in cylindrical cans, that are pressurised, and have a spray function and nozzle.
- Shaving cream that expands against a change of pressure was invented in 1949 by the American healthcare company Carter-Wallace, and quickly became very popular, although gases emitted from the pressurised cans were later considered environmentally unfriendly, so the propellants were eventually changed.
- Shaving cream is generally made of water, oils, soap and other agents used primarily for hygiene.
- Shaving cream is usually white in colour and has a texture of cream or foam, and it can also be a gel-like substance.
- Shaving cream products need to be tested before being being released to customers, for the size of the foam once emitted, rate of absorption, water purity, and pH levels, and the standards are set by agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Bibliography:
Shaving Cream, 2014, How Products are Made, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Shaving-Cream.html
Shaving Cream, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaving_cream
History of Shaving Cream, Part 1 (of 1), 2012, Perfect Shave, http://perfectshave.com/history-of-shaving-cream-part-1-of-1/
