The Lore Behind Ivory’s Famous Floating Soap

For more than 75 years, legend has indicated that one of Ivory’s most famous features – its ability to float – was actually the result of a mistake!

The story begins with an employee who forgot to shut off the soap-making machine when he went to lunch. He returned to find the soap mixture puffed-up and frothy. However, because the longer mixing time had not changed the ingredients in any way, the soap was finished and shipped as usual.

About a month later, when P&G started receiving requests for more of the “floating soap,” the accident was discovered. The forgotten lunch-time mistake had produced a floating soap!

However, recent evidence from inventor notes has shown that James N. Gamble may have intended Ivory soap to float all along. Did Ivory soap actually float from its debut in 1879? We may never know. But whether by mistake or by design, floating soap is an attribute that has equated Ivory with pure clean through the years.

Today, Ivory floats because we intentionally whip a small amount of air into each Ivory bar as it's being made. This makes the soap lighter than water, so it floats. This process also makes each bar of Ivory velvety smooth and easy to lather. 

Whether by chance or intentional discovery... floating soap has set Ivory's purity apart for more than a century.