Part 415

«Liquid Styrax Soap.»—The process is identical with the foregoing. For digestion with oleic acid, the crude balsam will answer, since filtration deprives the product of all contaminating substances. While this soap will separate, it is easily again rendered homogeneous with a vigorous shake. Preparations made with it should be accompanied with a “shake” label.

«Superfatted Liquid Lanolin-Glycerine Soap.»—Dissolve about 10 per cent of lanolin in oleic acid, saponify as in the tar soap, and perfume (for which a solution of coumarin in geranium oil is probably the most suitable agent). The prepared soap is improved by the addition of a little tincture of benzoin.

«Massage Soaps.»—I.—An excellent recipe for a massage soap is: Special cocoanut oil ground soap, 2,500 pounds; lanolin, 50 pounds; pine-needle oil, 20 pounds; spike oil, 3 pounds. Other massage soaps are made from olive oil ground soap, to which in special cases, as in the treatment of certain rheumatic affections, ichthyol is added. Massage soaps are always wanted white, so that Cochin cocoanut oil should be preferred to other kinds.

II.—Cocoanut oil, 1,000 pounds; caustic soda lye, 37° B., 500 pounds; pine-needle oil, 4 pounds; artificial bitter almond oil, 2 pounds. There is also a “massage cream,” which differs from the ordinary massage soaps in being made with a soft potash soap as a ground soap. The oils, etc., incorporated with the ground mass are exactly the same in the “cream” as in the soap. {648}

«Metallic Soaps.»—Metallic soaps are obtained by means of double decomposition. First a soap solution is produced which is brought to a boil. On the other hand, an equally strong solution of the metallic salt of which the combination is to be made (chlorides and sulphides are employed with preference) is prepared, the boiling solutions are mixed together, and the metallic soap obtained is gathered on a linen cloth. This is then put on enameled plates and dried, first at 104° F., later at 140° F.

Aluminum soap is the most important. Dissolved in benzine or oil of turpentine, it furnishes an excellent varnish. It has been proposed to use these solutions for the varnishing of leather; they furthermore serve for the production of waterproof linen and cloths, paper, etc. Jarry recommended this compound for impregnating railroad ties to render them weatherproof.

Manganese soap is used as a siccative in the preparation of linseed-oil varnish, as well as for a drier to be added to paints. Zinc soap is used in the same manner.

Copper soap enters into the composition of gilding wax, and is also employed for bronzing plaster of Paris articles. For the same purpose, a mixture is made use of consisting of copper soap and iron soap melted in white lead varnish and wax. Iron soap is used with aluminum soap for waterproofing purposes and for the production of a waterproof varnish. By using wax instead of a soap, insoluble metallic soaps are obtained, which, melted in oils or wax, impart brilliant colorings to them; but colored waterproof and weather-resisting varnishes may also be produced with them. Metallic rosin soaps may be produced by double decomposition of potash rosin soaps and a soluble metal salt. From these, good varnishes are obtained to render paper carriage covers, etc., waterproof; they may also be employed for floor wax or lacquers.

«Petroleum Soap.»—

I.—Beeswax, refined 4 parts Alcohol 5 parts Castile soap, finely grated 10 parts Petroleum 5 parts

Put the petroleum into a suitable vessel along with the wax and alcohol and cautiously heat on the water bath, with an occasional agitation, until complete solution is effected. Add the soap and continue the heat until it is dissolved. When this occurs remove from the bath and stir until the soap begins to set, then pour into molds.

II.—The hydrocarbons (as petroleum, vaseline, etc.) are boiled with a sufficient quantity of alkali to form a soap, during which process they absorb oxygen and unite with the alkali to form fatty acid salts. The resulting soap is dissolved in water containing alkali, and the solution is heated along with alkali and salt. The mass of soap separates out in three layers, the central one being the purest; and from this product the fatty acids may be recovered by treatment with sulphuric acid.

«Perfumes for Soap.»—From 1 to 2 ounces of the following mixtures are to be used to 10 pounds of soap:

I.—Oil of rose geranium 2 ounces Oil of patchouli 1⁠/⁠2 ounce Oil of cloves 1⁠/⁠2 ounce Oil of lavender flowers 1 ounce Oil of bergamot 1 ounce Oil of sandalwood 1 ounce

II.—Oil of bergamot 2 ounces Oil of orange flowers 2 ounces Oil of sassafras 2 ounces Oil of white thyme 3 ounces Oil of cassia 3 ounces Oil of cloves 3 ounces

III.—Oil of citronella 1 ounce Oil of cloves 1 ounce Oil of bitter almonds 2 ounces

«Pumice-Stone Soaps.»—These soaps are always produced by the cold process, either from cocoanut oil alone or in conjunction with tallow, cotton oil, bleached palm oil, etc. The oil is melted and the lye stirred in at about 90° F.; next, the powdered pumice stone is sifted into the soap and the latter is scented. Following are some recipes:

I.—Cocoanut oil 40,000 parts Cotton oil 10,000 parts Caustic soda lye, 38° Bé 24,000 parts Caustic potash lye, 30° Bé 1,000 parts Powdered pumice stone 25,000 parts Cassia oil 150 parts Rosemary oil 100 parts Lavender oil 50 parts Safrol 50 parts Clove oil 10 parts

II.—Cocoanut oil 50,000 parts Caustic soda lye, 40° Bé 25,000 parts {649} Powdered pumice stone 50,000 parts Lavender oil 250 parts Caraway oil 80 parts

«Shaving Soaps.»

I.—Palm oil soap 5 pounds Oil of cinnamon 10 drachms Oil of caraway 2 drachms Oil of lavender 2 drachms Oil of thyme 1 drachm Oil of peppermint 45 minims Oil of bergamot 2 1⁠/⁠2 drachms

Melt the soap, color if desired, and incorporate the oils.

II.—Soap 10 pounds Alcohol 1 ounce Oil of bitter almonds 1 1⁠/⁠4 ounces Oil of bergamot 3⁠/⁠4 ounce Oil of mace 3 drachms Oil of cloves 1⁠/⁠2 ounce

Melt the soap with just enough water to convert it into a soft paste when cold; dissolve the oils in the alcohol, mix with the paste, and rub up in a mortar, or pass several times through a kneading machine.

III.—White castile soap 5 parts Alcohol 15 parts Rose water 15 parts

«SOAP POWDERS.»

The raw materials of which soap powder is made are soap and soda, to which ingredients an addition of talcum or water glass can be made, if desired, these materials proving very useful as a filling. An excellent soap powder has been made of 20 parts of crystallized soda, 5 parts of dark-yellow soap (rosin curd), and 1 part of ordinary soft soap. At first the two last mentioned are placed in a pan, then half the required quantity of soda is added, and the whole is treated. Here it must be mentioned that the dark-yellow curd soap, which is very rosinous, has to be cut in small pieces before placing the quantity into the pan. The heating process must continue very slowly, and the material has to be crutched continually until the whole of the substance has been thoroughly melted. Care must be taken that the heating process does not reach the boiling point. The fire underneath the pan must now be extinguished, and then the remaining half of the crystallized soda is added to be crutched with the molten ingredients, until the whole substance has become liquid. The liquefaction is assisted by the residual heat of the first heated material and the pan. The slow cooling facilitates the productive process by thickening the mass, and when the soda has been absorbed, the whole has become fairly thick. With occasional stirring of the thickened liquid the mass is left for a little while longer, and when the proper moment has arrived the material contained in the pan is spread on sheets of thin iron, and these are removed to a cool room, where, after the first cooling, they must be turned over by means of a shovel, and the turning process has to be repeated at short intervals until the material has quite cooled down and the mixture is thoroughly broken. The soap is now in a very friable condition, and the time has now come to make it into powder, for which purpose it is rubbed through the wire netting or the perforated sieves. Generally the soap is first rubbed through a coarse sieve, and then through finer ones, until it has reached the required conditions of the powder. Some of the best soap powders are coarse, but other manufacturers making an equally good article prefer the finer powder, which requires a little more work, since it has to go through three sieves, whereas the coarse powder can do with one or at most two treatments. But this is, after all, a matter of local requirements or personal taste.

The powder obtained from the above-mentioned ingredients is fine and yellow colored, and it has all the qualities needed for a good sale. Instead of the dark-yellow soap, white stock soap can also be used, and this makes only a little difference in the coloring. But again white stock soap can be used, and the same color obtained by the use of palm oil, or other coloring ingredients, as these materials are used for giving the toilet soaps their manifold different hues. Many makers state that this process is too expensive, and not only swallows up all the profit, but some of the color materials influence the soap and not to its advantage.