Robert R. Taylor, who took soap out of dishes, put it in pump bottles and in so doing forever changed the way millions of people clean themselves, has died at the age of 77.

He knew he had a phenomenal product on his hands the day he invented it, one that would revolutionise the way people wash their hands.

He was so certain, in fact, that he worried that as soon as word got out about what he called SoftSoap, a much bigger company would put out its own rival brand, shoving his right off the nation’s store shelves.

There was only thing to do: if a big company started putting soap in a bottle, figured Taylor, who died last month at age 77, he’d have to make sure they could not get it out – at least not conveniently.

Taylor, who died of cancer in Newport Beach on August 29, would go on to create and sell more than a dozen businesses during his lifetime, including those that produced toothpaste, shampoos, various kinds of soap and several hugely popular fragrances.

Most well-known among the latter was Calvin Klein’s Obsession, which he marketed in the 1980s with what was for the time a winkingly risque ad campaign.

Taylor is survived by his wife, Mary Kay and two daughters, Lori and Karen. His son, David, died in 1984. (AP)