The Truth About Floating Soap

TL;DR

Ivory soap, known for its purity and buoyancy, was believed to be a happy accident but was actually a deliberate invention by one of Ivory's own chemists, James Gamble.

Transcript

Ivory has been producing their uniquely floating soap for the well over a century now and in that time they’ve become one of the most popular soap brands in the world. For many years, the company has maintained that the discovery of its trademark floating soap was a complete accident, but exactly how true is this? For those of you who aren’t famili... Read More

Key Insights

• ✋ Ivory soap's popularity is attributed to its high purity and buoyancy, making it convenient for bathers.
• 🙂 The soap's buoyancy is achieved through incorporating air bubbles during production, giving it a slightly lower density than water.
• 🧼 The accidental origin story of Ivory soap was debunked when an archival notebook revealed that James Gamble intentionally invented floating soap in 1863.
• 🧼 Ivory soap strategically used marketing techniques, such as soap carving and prize incentives, to increase sales and brand awareness.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Ivory soap is 99.44% pure and floats, making it a popular and enduring brand.

• The soap floats because air is whipped into the mixture during production, creating tiny air bubbles that make it less dense than water.

• For over a century, Ivory insisted that the discovery of floating soap was an accidental mistake by an unnamed employee, but it was actually invented by James Gamble and purposefully marketed.