Soap-Making Manual Part 11

Tallow 100 lbs.

Cochin Cocoanut Oil 100 "

Castor Oil 60 "

Glycerine 20 "

Rosin, W. W. 20 "

Sugar 40 "

Water 50 "

Soda Lye, 36 degs. B. 164 "

Alcohol 8 gal.

V.

Tallow 174 lbs.

Cocoanut Oil 114 "

Soda Lye, 38 degs. B. 170 "

Sugar 80 "

Water 72 "

Alcohol 16 gal.

Rosin may be added in this formula up to 20 per cent. of fats used and the tallow cut down correspondingly.

SHAVING SOAPS.

The requirements of a shaving soap are somewhat different than those of other soaps. To be a good shaving soap the lather produced therefrom must be heavy, creamy, but not gummy, and remain moist when formed on the face. The soap itself should be of a soft consistency so as to readily adhere to the face when used in stick form. It should furthermore be neutral or nearly so to prevent the alkali from smarting during shaving.

Shaving soap is made in the form of a stick, and a tablet for use in the shaving mug. Some shavers prefer to have the soap as a powder or cream, which are claimed to be more convenient methods of shaving. While a liquid shaving soap is not as well known because it has not yet become popular, some soap for shaving is made in this form.

Formerly shaving soap was extensively made from a charge of about 80 parts tallow and 20 parts cocoanut oil as a boiled settled soap, but either making the strengthening change with potash lye or using potash lye in saponifying the stock and graining with salt. Soaps for shaving made in this manner are very unsatisfactory, as they do not produce a sufficiently thick or lasting lather and discolor very materially upon ageing. Pota.s.sium stearate forms an ideal lather for shaving, but readily hardens and hence needs some of the softer oils, or glycerine incorporated with it to form a satisfactory soap for shaving.

The selection of materials for making a shaving soap is important. The tallow used should be white and of high t.i.ter. Cochin cocoanut oil is to be preferred to the other kinds, and the alkalis should be the best for technical use that can be purchased--76 per cent. caustic soda and 88-92 per cent. caustic potash are suitable. By the use of stearic acid it is a simple matter to reach the neutral point which can be carefully approximated.

The following are shaving soap formulae which have been found to give good satisfaction:

I. lbs.

Tallow 360 Stearic acid 40 Soda lye, 41 B. 147 Potash lye, 34 B. 87 Water 32 Gum tragacanth 1

II. lbs.

Tallow 282 Cocoanut oil 60 Stearic acid 50 Bayberry wax 18 Soda lye, 41 B. 147 Potash lye, 34 B. 90 Water 32

III. lbs.

Tallow 400 Cocoanut oil 176 Stearic acid 415 Caustic soda, 40 B. 182 Caustic potash, 38 B. 108

To proceed, first run into the crutcher the tallow, cocoanut oil and bayberry wax when used, and bring the temperature of the ma.s.s up to 140-160 F. by dry steam. Then add the caustic soda lye and keep on heat with occasional mixing until it is all taken up. When this stage is reached gradually add all but about 5 per cent. of the potash lye, and complete the saponification. This point having been reached, the heat is turned off; the crutcher is run and the stearic acid, previously melted by dry steam in a lead-lined or enameled vessel, is run in in a continuous stream and the crutching continued for fifteen minutes to half an hour. Samples are taken at this time, cooled and tested by alcoholic phenolphthalein solution. If too alkaline more stearic acid is added, if too acid more potash lye from that previously reserved. After each addition of lye or stearic acid the ma.s.s is crutched from 10 to 15 minutes longer, another sample is taken, cooled and again tested. When the phenolphthalein shows a very light pink after several minutes, the soap is practically neutral, although at this point one can better judge by dissolving a sample in hot neutralized alcohol made by putting into the alcohol a few drops of phenolphthalein, and then adding weak alkali drop by drop from a burette until a slight pink, not yellow, tint is obtained, and noting the color of the solution. The solution should show a very light pink when the soap is properly neutralized. When this stage is arrived at the gum tragacanth, previously softened in water, is crutched in if it is to be added. The soap is then framed, stripped in three or four days, dried and milled.

The formulae as given are for shaving sticks, and do not readily press unless thoroughly dried. A more satisfactory result is obtained by adding at the mill 25 per cent. of white tallow base to obtain a satisfactory mug soap.

SHAVING POWDER.

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 oil 26 Stearic acid 165 Caustic potash lye, 50 B. 69 Glycerine C. P. 76 Water 38

II. lbs.

Cochin cocoanut oil 18 Stearic acid 73 Caustic potash lye, 39 B. 54 Glycerine 33 Water 27

III. lbs.

Cochin cocoanut oil 18 Stearic acid 73 Caustic potash lye, 39 B. 54 Glycerine 20 Water 40

and lbs.

Stearic acid 60 Glycerine C. P. 85 Water 165 Sodium carbonate 50 Borax 1

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 ma.s.s 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 quant.i.ty of water present, phenolphthalein is unsatisfactory, as dissociation of the soap may show a pink indication in spite of the fact the ma.s.s 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 vanis.h.i.+ng 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 vanis.h.i.+ng 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 vanis.h.i.+ng 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.

A hand paste is usually made by merely dissolving ordinary tallow base in two or three times its weight of hot water and mixing in the desired quant.i.ty of pumice or sand and in some instances adding a little glycerine to keep it soft or a solvent of some kind for grease. It may also be made by directly incorporating any of these in a potash soap.

A cold made or semi-boiled cocoanut or palm kernel oil soap is the base used to add the pumice or sand to in making a cake soap of this sort.

The following formulae serve as a guide for these soaps.

I.

Palm Kernel or Ceylon Cocoanut Oil 705 lbs.

Pumice (Powdered) 281 "

Soda Lye, 38 B. 378 "

II.

Cocoanut Oil 100 "

Soda Lye, 38 B. 55 "

Water 6 "