SOAP POWDERS.
Soap powders have become so great a convenience as a general cleansing agent that to eliminate them from the household necessities would mean much unnecessary energy and work to the great number of consumers of this product. They may be manufactured so cheaply and still be efficient, that their use has almost become universal for cleansing and scouring purposes. The uses to which soap and scouring powders are adapted are too well known to enter into a description of their employment. Since they offer a greater profit to the manufacturer than ordinary household soap, many brands are extensively advertised.
Numerous combinations for soap powders might be cited and it is a simple matter to vary the ingredients as to fat content and manufacture a powder of this sort as low as a cent a pound. Many substances are incorporated with soap, such as salt, soda ash, tripoli, crushed volcanic deposits, ground feldspar, infusorial earth of various kinds, silex, etc. In addition to these various fillers, compounds with true cleansing and bleaching properties, in addition to soap, are added, such as the salts of ammonium (sal ammoniac, carbonate of ammonia), sodium perborate and the peroxides of various metals. The public, however, have been accustomed to receive a large package of soap or scouring powder for a small amount of money and it is a difficult matter for the manufacturer to add more expensive substances of this nature to his product, to increase its efficiency, without raising the price or decreasing the size of the package.
In manufacturing soap powders, the dried soap chips might be mixed with the filler and alkali and then pulverized. This method is not extensively employed nevertheless. The process which is the most economical is one whereby the ingredients are mixed in a specially adapted mixer for heavy material until dry and then run directly to the crusher and pulverizer, after which it is automatically packed, sealed and boxed. Another method of procedure is to run out the mixture from the crutcher to the frames, which are stripped before the soap cools, and is cut up at once, for if it hardens it could not be cut with wires. It is better, however, to run the mixture into sheets upon a specially constructed floor and break up the mass when cool.
Formulae for soap powders which have been found to be suitable for running dry in the mixer follow:
| I | ||
| Soda ash, 58 per cent. | 42 | lbs. |
| Silica | 220 | " |
| Settled soap (usually cottonseed). | 25 | " |
| Salt | 10 | " |
| II | ||
| Soap (settled cottonseed) | 40 | lbs. |
| Soda ash, 58 per cent. | 60 | " |
| III | ||
| Settled soap | 100 | lbs. |
| Soda ash, 58 per cent. | 400 | " |
Fillers in varying proportions may replace the soda ash in the above formulae. It is of course understood that the soap has been previously made and run as molten soap into the crutcher.
The following soap powders will not dry up in the crutcher upon running, but are of the class which may be framed or run on the floor to solidify:
V
First saponify 100 parts house grease and 100 parts ordinary grease and make a run soap. Then use in crutcher either:
| Soap | 400 | lbs. |
| Filler | 575 | " |
| Hot water | 60 | " |
| or | ||
| Soap | 200 | lbs. |
| Hot water | 200 | " |
| Filler | 625 | " |
It would be a simple matter to write numerous additional formulae, but the above are typical. The manufacturer must judge for himself just what filling material to use. The filler indicated in the above formulae is therefore left open. A few formulae for more expensive powders than those given recently appeared among others in the "Seifensieder Zeitung"[9]:
| I | ||
| Powdered soap | 90 | lbs. |
| Sodium perborate | 10 | " |
The perborate should be added when the powder is perfectly dry or it loses its bleaching properties.
| II | ||
| Soap powder, 20 per cent. fat. | ||
| Cocoanut oil fatty acids | 25 | lbs. |
| Olein | 25 | " |
| Bone fat | 70 | " |
| Soda lye, 30 degs. B. | 90 | " |
| Water | 150 | " |
| Ammonium carbonate | 125 | " |
| III | ||
| Soap powder, 10 per cent. fat. | ||
| Cocoanut oil fatty acids | 20 | lbs. |
| Olein | 10 | " |
| Bone fat | 20 | " |
| Soda lye, 30 degs. B. | 30 | " |
| Water | 175 | " |
| Ammonium carbonate | 175 | " |