Soap is a salt of fatty acids used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are usually used for washing, bathing and other types of housekeeping. In industry soaps are used as thickeners, components of some lubricants and precursors to catalysts. When used for cleaning, soap solubilizes particles and grime which can then be separated from the article being cleaned. Where soaps act as surfactants or emulsifying oils enables them to be carried away by water. Soap is created by mixing fats and oils with a base as opposed to detergent which is created by combining chemical compounds in a mixer. Humans have used soap for cleaning for millennia. Evidence exists of the production of soap like materials in around 2800 BC in ancient Babylon.