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After the fall of Rome in 467 AD and the resulting decline in bathing habits, much of Europe felt the impact of filth on public health.
在公元467年罗马灭亡之后，洗澡习惯也随之衰落，欧洲大部分地区都感受到了污秽对公共卫生的影响。
This lack of personal cleanliness and related unsanitary living conditions were major factors in the outbreaks of disease in the Middle Ages,and especially the Black Death of the 14th century.
缺乏个人清洁和相关的不卫生的生活条件是中世纪疾病爆发的主要因素，尤其是14世纪的黑死病。
Nevertheless, soapmaking became an established craft in Europe, and associations of soapmakers guarded their trade secrets closely.
尽管如此，制作肥皂在欧洲已经成为一种成熟的工艺，肥皂制造商协会严格保护着他们的商业秘密。
Vegetable and animal oils were used with ashes of plants, along with perfume, apparently for the first time.
植物油和动物油与植物灰烬以及香料一起使用，这显然这是第一次。
Gradually more varieties of soap became available for shaving and shampooing, as well as bathing and laundering.
逐渐有更多种类的肥皂可用于剃须和洗发，以及洗澡和洗涤。
A major step toward large-scale commercial soapmaking occurred in 1791, when a French chemist, Nicholas Leblanc, patented a process for turning salt into soda ash, or sodium carbonate.
1791年，法国化学家尼古拉斯·勒布朗得到了将盐转化为苏打灰（即碳酸钠）工艺的专利，这是迈向大规模商业生产肥皂的重要一步。
Soda ash is the alkali obtained from ashes that combines with fat to form soap.
苏打灰（纯碱）是从灰烬中提取的碱，它与脂肪结合形成肥皂。
The Leblanc process yielded quantities of good-quality, inexpensive soda ash.
勒布朗制碱法生产出大量物美价廉的纯碱。
Modern soapmaking was born some 20 years later, in the early 19th century, with the discovery by Michel Eugene Chevreul, another French chemist, of the chemical nature and relationship of fats, glycerine and fatty acids.
在大约20年后，也就是19世纪初，另一位法国化学家米歇尔·欧仁·谢弗勒尔发现了脂肪、甘油和脂肪酸的化学性质及其相互关系，现代制皂术由此诞生。
His studies established the basis for both fat and soap chemistry, and soapmaking became a science.
他的研究为油脂皂化反应奠定了基础，肥皂制作成为一门科学。
Further developments during the 19th century made it easier and cheaper to manufacture soap.
19世纪的进一步发展使得制造肥皂变得更容易、成本更低。
Until the 19th century, soap was regarded as a luxury item, and was heavily taxed in several countries.
直到19世纪，肥皂一直被视为奢侈品，一些国家对肥皂征收重税。
As it became more readily available, it became an everyday necessity, a development that was reinforced when the high tax was removed.
随着肥皂变得更容易获得，它成为了日常必需品，当高税收被取消时，这一发展得到了加强。
Soap was then something ordinary people could afford, and cleanliness standards improved.
当时，肥皂是普通人也能买得起的东西，因此，清洁标准也得到了提高。
With this widespread use came the development of milder soaps for bathing and soaps for use in the washing machines that were available to consumers by the turn of the 20th century.
随着肥皂的广泛使用，到20世纪初，消费者就可以买到更温和的沐浴用肥皂和洗衣机用肥皂。
