The Handbook of Soap Manufacture Part 15

1. _Woollen Industry._--The scouring of wool is the most important operation--it is the first treatment raw wool is subjected to, and if it is not performed in an efficient manner, gives rise to serious subsequent troubles to manufacturer, dyer, and finisher.

The object of scouring wool is to remove the wool-fat and wool perspiration (exuded from the skin of sheep), consisting of cholesterol and isocholesterol, and pota.s.sium salts of fatty acids, together with other salts, such as sulphates, chlorides, and phosphates. This is effected by was.h.i.+ng in a warm dilute soap solution, containing in the case of low quality wool, a little carbonate of soda; the fatty matter is thereby emulsified and easily removed.

Soap, to be suitable for the purpose, must be free from uncombined caustic alkali, unsaponified fat, silicates, and rosin.

Wool can be dissolved in a moderately dilute solution of caustic soda, and the presence of this latter in soap, even in small quant.i.ties, is therefore liable to injure the fibres and make the resultant fabric possess a harsh "feel," and be devoid of l.u.s.tre.

Unsaponified fat denotes badly made soap--besides reducing the emulsifying power of the liberated alkali, this fat may be absorbed by the fibres and not only induce rancidity but also cause trouble in dyeing.

Soaps containing silicates may have a deleterious action upon the fibres, causing them to become damaged and broken.

By general consent soaps containing rosin are unsuitable for use by woollen manufacturers, as they produce sticky insoluble lime and magnesia compounds which are deposited upon the fibres, and give rise to unevenness in the dyeing.

A neutral olive-oil soft soap is undoubtedly the best for the purpose of wool scouring, as, owing to its ready solubility in water, it quickly penetrates the fibres, is easily washed out, and produces a good "feel"

so essential in the best goods, and tends to preserve the l.u.s.tre and pliability of the fibre.

The high price of olive-oil soap, however, renders its use prohibitive for lower cla.s.s goods, and in such cases no better soap can be suggested than the old-fas.h.i.+oned curd mottled or curd soaps (boiled very dry), as free as possible from uncombined caustic alkali. The raw wool, after this cleansing operation, is oiled with olive oil or oleine, prior to spinning; after spinning and weaving, the fabric, in the form of yarn or cloth, has to be scoured to free it from oil. The soap in most general use for scouring woollen fabrics is neutral oleine-soda soap. Some manufacturers prefer a cheap curd soap, such as is generally termed "second curd," and in cases where lower grades of wools are handled, the user is often willing to have soap containing rosin (owing to its cheapness) and considers a little alkalinity desirable to a.s.sist in removing the oil.

Another operation in which soap is used, is that of milling or fulling, whereby the fabric is made to shrink and thus becomes more compact and closer in texture. The fabric is thoroughly cleansed, for which purpose the soap should be neutral and free from rosin and silicates, otherwise a harsh feeling or stickiness will be produced. Curd soaps or finely-fitted soaps made from tallow or bleached palm oil, with or without the addition of cocoa-nut oil, give the best results. All traces of soap must be carefully removed if the fabric is to be dyed.

The woollen dyer uses soap on the dyed pieces to a.s.sist the milling, and finds that a good soap, made from either olive oil, bleached palm oil, or tallow, is preferable, and, although it is generally specified to be free from alkali, a little alkalinity is not of consequence, for the woollen goods are, as a rule, acid after dyeing, and this alkalinity would be instantly neutralised.

2. _Cotton Industry._--Cotton fibres are unacted upon by caustic alkali, so that the soap used in cleaning and preparing cotton goods for dyeing need not be neutral, in fact alkalinity is a distinct advantage in order to a.s.sist the cleansing.

Any curd soap made from tallow, with or without the addition of a small quant.i.ty of cocoa-nut oil, may be advantageously used for removing the natural oil.

In cotton dyeing, additions of soap are often made to the bath, and in such cases the soap must be of good odour and neutral, lest the colours should be acted upon and tints altered. Soaps made from olive oil and palm oil are recommended. The same kind of soap is sometimes used for soaping the dyed cotton goods.

The calico-printer uses considerable quant.i.ties of soap for cleansing the printed-cloths. The soap not only cleanses by helping to remove the gummy and starchy const.i.tuents of the adhering printing paste, but also plays an important part in fixing and brightening the colours. Soaps intended for this cla.s.s of work must be quite neutral (to obviate any possible alteration in colour by the action of free alkali), free from objectionable odour and rosin, and readily soluble in water. These qualities are possessed by olive-oil soaps, either soft or hard. A neutral olive-oil soft soap, owing to its solubility in cold water, may be used for fibres coloured with most delicate dyes, which would be fugitive in hot soap solutions, and this soap is employed for the most expensive work.

Olive-oil curd (soda) soaps are in general use; those made from palm oil are also recommended, although they are not so soluble as the olive-oil soaps. Tallow curd soaps are sometimes used, but the difficulty with which they dissolve is a drawback, and renders them somewhat unsuitable.

3. _Silk Industry._--Silk is secured to remove the sericin or silk-glue and adhering matter from the raw silk, producing thereby l.u.s.tre on the softened fibre and thus preparing it for the dyer.

The very best soap for the purpose is an olive-oil soft soap; olive-oil and oleine hard soaps may also be used. The soap is often used in conjunction with carbonate of soda to a.s.sist the removal of the sericin, but, whilst carbonates are permissible, it is necessary to avoid an excess of caustic soda.

Tallow soaps are so slowly soluble that they are not applicable to the scouring of silk.

The dyer of silk requires soap, which is neutral and of a pleasant odour. The preference is given to neutral olive-oil soft soap, but hard soaps (made from olive oil, oleine, or palm oil) are used chiefly on account of cheapness. It is essential, however, that the soap should be free from rosin on account of its frequent use and consequent decomposition in the acid dye bath, when any liberated rosin acids would cling to the silk fibres and produce disagreeable results.

_Patent Textile Soaps._--Stockhausen (Eng. Pat. 24,868, 1897) makes special claim for a soap, termed Monopole Soap, to be used in place of Turkey-red oils in the dyeing and printing of cotton goods and finis.h.i.+ng of textile fabrics. The soap is prepared by heating the sulphonated oil (obtained on treatment of castor oil with sulphuric acid) with alkali, and it is stated that the product is not precipitated when used in the dye-bath as is ordinary soap, nor is it deposited upon the fibres.

Another patent (Eng. Pat. 16,382, 1897), has for its object the obviating of the injurious effects upon wool, of alkali liberated from a solution of soap. It is proposed to accomplish this by sulphonating part of the fat used in making the soap.

_Miscellaneous Soaps._--Under this heading may be cla.s.sed soaps intended for special purposes and consisting essentially of ordinary boiled soap to which additions of various substances have been made.

With additions of naphtha, fractions of petroleum, and turpentine, the detergent power of the soap is increased by the action of these substances in removing grease.

Amongst the many other additions may be mentioned: ox-gall or derivatives therefrom (for carpet-cleaning soap), alkali sulphides (for use of lead-workers), aniline colours (for home-dyeing soaps), pumice and tripoli (motorists' soaps), pine-needle oil, in some instances together with lanoline (for ma.s.sage soaps), pearl-ash (for soap intended to remove oil and tar stains), magnesia, rouge, ammonium carbonate, chalk (silversmiths' soap), powdered orris, precipitated chalk, magnesium carbonate (tooth soaps).

Soap powders or dry soaps are powdered mixtures of soap, soda ash, or soda crystals, and other chemicals, whilst polis.h.i.+ng soaps often contain from 85 to 90 per cent. siliceous matter, and can scarcely be termed soap.

CHAPTER VIII.

SOAP PERFUMES.

_Essential Oils--Source and Preparation--Properties--Artificial and Synthetic Perfumes._

The number of raw materials, both natural and artificial, at the disposal of the perfumer, has increased so enormously during recent years that the scenting of soaps has now become an art requiring very considerable skill, and a thorough knowledge of the products to be handled. Not only does the all-important question of odour come into consideration, but the action of the perfumes on the soap, and on each other, has also to be taken into account. Thus, many essential oils and synthetic perfumes cause the soap to darken rapidly on keeping, _e.g._, clove oil, ca.s.sia oil, heliotropin, vanillin. Further, some odoriferous substances, from their chemical nature, are incompatible with soap, and soon decompose any soap to which they are added, while in a few cases, the blending of two unsuitable perfumes results, by mutual reaction, in the effect of each being lost. In the case of oils like bergamot oil, the odour value of which depends chiefly on their ester content, it is very important that these should not be added to soaps containing much free alkali, as these esters are readily decomposed thereby. Some perfumes possess the property of helping the soap to retain other and more delicate odours considerably longer than would otherwise be possible. Such perfumes are known as "fixing agents" or "fixateurs," and among the most important of these may be mentioned musk, both natural and artificial, civet, the oils of Peru balsam, sandalwood, and patchouli, and benzyl benzoate.

The natural perfumes employed for addition to soaps are almost entirely of vegetable origin, and consist of essential oils, balsams, and resins, animal perfumes such as musk, civet, and ambergris being reserved princ.i.p.ally for the preparation of "extraits".

As would be expected with products of such diverse character, the methods employed for the preparation of essential oils vary considerably. Broadly speaking, however, the processes may be divided into three cla.s.ses--(1) _expression_, used for orange, lemon, and lime oils; (2) _distillation_, employed for otto of rose, geranium, sandalwood, and many other oils; and (3) _extraction_, including _enfleurage_, by which the volatile oil from the flowers is either first absorbed by a neutral fat such as lard, and then extracted therefrom by maceration in alcohol, or directly extracted from the flowers by means of a volatile solvent such as benzene, petroleum ether, or chloroform.

The last process undoubtedly furnishes products most nearly resembling the natural floral odours, and is the only one which does not destroy the delicate fragrance of the violet and jasmine. The yield, however, is extremely small, and concrete perfumes prepared in this way are therefore somewhat costly.

The essential oils used are derived from upwards of twenty different botanical families, and are obtained from all parts of the world. Thus, from Africa we have geranium and clove oils; from America, bay, bois de rose, Canadian snake root, cedarwood, linaloe, peppermint, pet.i.tgrain, and sa.s.safras; from Asia, camphor, ca.s.sia, cinnamon, patchouli, sandalwood, star anise, ylang-ylang, and the gra.s.s oils, _viz._, citronella, lemongra.s.s, palmarosa, and vetivert; from Australia, eucalyptus; while in Europe there are the citrus oils, bergamot, lemon, and orange, produced by Sicily, aspic, lavender, neroli, pet.i.tgrain, and rosemary by France, caraway and clove by Holland, anise by Russia, and otto of rose by Bulgaria.

Attempts have been made to cla.s.sify essential oils either on a botanical basis or according to their chemical composition, but neither method is very satisfactory, and, in describing the chief const.i.tuents and properties of the more important oils, we have preferred therefore to arrange them alphabetically, as being simpler for reference.

It is a matter of some difficulty to judge the purity of essential oils, not only because of their complex nature, but owing to the very great effect upon their properties produced by growing the plants in different soils and under varying climatic conditions, and still more to the highly scientific methods of adulteration adopted by unscrupulous vendors. The following figures will be found, however, to include all normal oils.

_Anise Stell_, or _Star Anise_, from the fruit of Illicium verum, obtained from China. Specific gravity at 15 C., 0.980-0.990; optical rotation, faintly dextro- or laevo-rotatory, +0 30' to -2; refractive index at 20 C., 1.553-1.555; solidifying point, 14-17 C.; solubility in 90 per cent. alcohol, 1 in 3 or 4.

The chief const.i.tuents of the oil are anethol, methyl chavicol, d-pinene, l-ph.e.l.landrene, and in older oils, the oxidation products of anethol, _viz._ anisic aldehyde and anisic acid. Since anethol is the most valuable const.i.tuent, and the solidifying point of the oil is roughly proportional to its anethol content, oils with a higher solidifying point are the best.

_Aspic oil_, from the flowers of Lavandula spica, obtained from France and Spain, and extensively employed in perfuming household and cheap toilet soaps; also frequently found as an adulterant in lavender oil.

Specific gravity at 15 C., 0.904-0.913; optical rotation, French, dextro-rotatory up to +4, rarely up to +7, Spanish, frequently slightly laevo-rotatory to -2, or dextro-rotatory up to +7; esters, calculated as linalyl acetate, 2 to 6 per cent.; most oils are soluble in 65 per cent. alcohol 1 in 4, in no case should more than 2.5 volumes of 70 per cent. alcohol be required for solution.

The chief const.i.tuents of the oil are: linalol, cineol, borneol, terpineol, geraniol, pinene, camphene and camphor.

_Bay oil_, distilled from the leaves of Pimenta acris, and obtained from St. Thomas and other West Indian Islands. It is used to some extent as a perfume for shaving soaps, but chiefly in the Bay Rhum toilet preparation. Specific gravity at 15 C., 0.965-0.980; optical rotation, slightly laevo-rotatory up to -3; phenols, estimated by absorption with 5 per cent. caustic potash solution, from 45 to 60 per cent.; the oil is generally insoluble in 90 per cent. alcohol, though when freshly distilled it dissolves in its own volume of alcohol of this strength.

The oil contains eugenol, myrcene, chavicol, methyl eugenol, methyl chavicol, ph.e.l.landrene, and citral.

_Bergamot oil_, obtained by expression from the fresh peel of the fruit of Citrus Bergamia, and used very largely for the perfuming of toilet soaps. Specific gravity at 15 C., 0.880-0.886; optical rotation, +10 to +20; esters, calculated as linalyl acetate, 35-40 per cent., and occasionally as high as 42-43 per cent.; frequently soluble in 1.5 parts of 80 per cent. alcohol, or failing that, should dissolve in one volume of 82.5 or 85 per cent. alcohol. When evaporated on the water-bath the oil should not leave more than 5-6 per cent. residue.

Among the const.i.tuents of this oil are: linalyl acetate, limonene, dipentene, linalol, and bergaptene.

_Bitter Almond Oil._--The volatile oil obtained from the fruit of _Amygdalus communis_. Specific gravity at 15 C., 1.045-1.06; optically inactive; refractive index at 20 C., 1.544-1.545; boiling point, 176-177 C.; soluble in 1 or 1.5 volumes of 70 per cent. alcohol.

The oil consists almost entirely of benzaldehyde which may be estimated by absorption with a hot saturated solution of sodium bisulphite. The chief impurity is prussic acid, which is not always completely removed.

This may be readily detected by adding to a small quant.i.ty of the oil two or three drops of caustic soda solution, and a few drops of ferrous sulphate solution containing ferric salt. After thoroughly shaking, acidulate with dilute hydrochloric acid, when a blue coloration will be produced if prussic acid is present.

The natural oil may frequently be differentiated from artificial benzaldehyde by the presence of chlorine in the latter. As there is now on the market, however, artificial oil free from chlorine, it is no longer possible, by chemical means, to distinguish with certainty between the natural and the artificial product. To test for chlorine in a sample, a small coil of filter paper, loosely rolled, is saturated with the oil, and burnt in a small porcelain dish, covered with an inverted beaker, the inside of which is moistened with distilled water.

When the paper is burnt, the beaker is rinsed with water, filtered, and the filtrate tested for chloride with silver nitrate solution.