Shaving powder differs from the soaps just described in being pulverized, usually adding up to 5 per cent. starch to prevent caking. Any of the above soaps, dried bone dry, with or without the addition of tallow base make a satisfactory powder for shaving.

SHAVING CREAM.

Shaving cream is now a very popular shaving medium due to the rapidity and convenience with which one can shave by the use of this product. Formerly shaving cream was made from the liquid oils like olive oil and a soft fat like lard, together with cocoanut oil. Now, however, most of the popular shaving creams are made from stearic acid and cocoanut oil, as a far superior product is obtained by the use of these substances. By using these a more satisfactory cream is obtained, and it is far more convenient to make. The lather also produced therefrom is more suitable for shaving, being thick, creamy and remaining moist.

A few typical formulae for shaving creams of this type are as follows:

I.lbs.
Cochin cocoanut oil26
Stearic acid165
Caustic potash lye, 50° B.69
Glycerine C. P.76
Water38
II.lbs.
Cochin cocoanut oil18
Stearic acid73
Caustic potash lye, 39° B.54
Glycerine33
Water27
III.lbs.
Cochin cocoanut oil18
Stearic acid73
Caustic potash lye, 39° B.54
Glycerine20
Water40
andlbs.
Stearic acid60
Glycerine C. P.85
Water165
Sodium carbonate50
Borax1

To make a shaving cream by Formula I or II, the cocoanut oil and glycerine are first put into a suitable mixing apparatus or crutcher, and heated to 120° F. A part or all the potash lye is then added and the cocoanut oil saponified. The rest of the potash lye and the water are then added, and with the mixer running the stearic acid, previously melted in a lead-lined or enameled vessel, is then poured in in a stream and the mass stirred until smooth, care being exercised not to aerate it too much. The cream is then tested for alkalinity, the best method being by that described under shaving soap, in which the sample is dissolved in alcohol. Because of the large quantity of water present, phenolphthalein is unsatisfactory, as dissociation of the soap may show a pink indication in spite of the fact the mass is on the acid side. For a quick method of testing the bite on the tongue is a satisfactory criterion. If a cooled sample bites the tongue more stearic acid is added until there is a 3% excess of this. When the proper neutralization has taken place the cream is perfumed and framed in a special frame, or it may be allowed to cool in the mixer and perfumed the next day. When cool the cream is strained, or put through an ointment mill, after which it is ready to fill into tubes.

The procedure for the first part of Formula III is the same as that just given. The second part of the formula is made the same as a vanishing cream for toilet purposes. To make this, first melt the stearic acid as already directed. Dissolve the sodium carbonate and borax in water and when dissolved add the glycerine and stir. Then heat this solution to about 100°-120° F. and while stirring in a suitable mixing machine into which this solution has been poured after being heated, or better still in which it has been heated by dry steam, add the stearic acid. Continue mixing until smooth and then allow to cool, or run into frames to cool.

When the shaving cream and vanishing cream are both cool, they are mixed in the proportion of one of the former to two of the latter. It is claimed that in thus making a shaving cream a smoother product is obtained, although it may be said that the vanishing cream is merely a soft soap and the ultimate result is the same as though the various ingredients were added in one operation, rather than making two separate products and then mixing them, thereby considerably increasing the cost of manufacture.

PUMICE OR SAND SOAPS.

Pumice and sand are at times added to soap to aid in the removal of dirt in cleansing the hands. In some cases these soaps are made in the form of a cake, in others they are sold in cans in the form of a paste.