The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-09-04
HOUSEHOLD AND FARM.
Soaps.

Soaps.
There are very great differences in soaps
and in their effects upon the skin, and as
familiar extremes may be mentioned the CON-
mon yellow, bar, washing soap, and coarse
soft soap, which are stimulating and very irri
tating to many skins, and very old CASTLE, or
some of the best toilet soap, which have little
If any, effect on the healthy skin except that OF
cleansing
The requisites of good soaps are; first, that
that they shall not contain too much alkall,
only enough to saponify the fat; second, that
the fat from which they are made shall be
good, pure and sweet. For in the refuse
sometimes employed tor soapmaking we may
find decomposed matter; and cases are on
record where pus globules were actually
found in soap which had caused and kept
I'D a skin disease, and in another instance
minute splcula of bone were found, micrOsco-
pically, in soap which had produced an erup-
ton on the face each time it was used for
shaving. Thirdly, good soap must be per
feclly mixed boiled, IN order to produce the
chemical process called specialization. The
latter may be produced, to certain degree,
by cold mixtures aided by pressure, but to
make the best soap long-contlnued boiling IS
necessary Fourthly, good soap should be
free from eXtraneOus substances rs largely as
possible. Many of the cheaper soaps have
clays and earths mixed with them to increase
the bulk and reduce the cost; many are COL
ored, green, blue red, etc. often with materials
of very questionable value, and are scented
with some of the strong perfumes, often man
ufaCtured of petroleum, and OF irritating char
acter.
For all these reasons a good soap cannot be
cheap, and great caution should be used to
avoid those which are thrust upon the market
nj hnp I'll Dr which pDttpn
up SLOWLY, as these are pretty certain dis
guscs for poor material.
A word may be added in reference to the
socalled 'medicated soaps" whose number
and variety are legion, each claiming virtues
far cxcelling all others previously produced.
The recounting of the varieties and Wanted
virtues of these soaps would many times fill
this entire book. Now all or most of this
attempt to 'medicate" soap Is perfect farce,
dclusiOn, and a snare TO entrap the unwary
and uneducated. The only quality required
OF a soap is that it shall be harmless, prepared
of pure materials, and with no foreign admix-
ture, as already described; to attempt more
than this is to fail eatrely. The healthy skin
cannot be improved beyond health; and the
diseased skin cannot be restored to health by
any possible combination in the form of soap
that Is employed by the laity; although, as
remarked before, certain potash soft-soap
SODO rIr1G2S, uOeS enteT l0JO the IneQlCa
treatment of certain diseases of the skin.
Take, for instance, a soap which might pos
slbly be thought to be an exception-a sui
phur soap. Sulphur will cure the itch, and
is used more or less in the treatment of sew
eral diseases of the skin, "Uteref0re," says the
mOney-making manufacturer, sulphur soap
Will cure all diseases OF the skin" 1t is ad
vertlsed, thousands buy it, some recover OF
slight ailments, and the manufacturer reaps
the profit. From my notes, | could give doz
ems and dozens OF cases where all these soaps
have been employed In vain or to the harm OF
the patient Now the very idea of u soap pre-
cludes the idea of its curing disease Soap is
to cleanse. 1t is applied but for few mo-
ments and then washed off, and is incapable
of etiecting the cure. The assertion can be
made with truth that scabies, or the itch
which sulphur, if rightly used, will certainly
cure, never has been and never can be cured
by this remedy used in the form of soap. The
same is true of other diseases.
Tar soap stands on a somewhat different
footing, but its real virtues are a thousand
fold magnifled in its advertisements. As an
adjuvant it is good, and not infrequently pre-
scrlbed by dermatologlsts IN the treatment OF
diseases of the skin, simply because if a good
article is employed, the little stimulation OF
the tar, even for short time, may do good IN
certain cases; and if used, 1t may prevent the
patient from employing other soaps which
may prove injurious. But that it neither
keeps the skin always well, nor cures it when
diseased, my notes afford very numerous IN
stances. Carbolic soap is useless and may be
dangerous, because the carbolic acid may pos
slby become the blind beneath which cheap
poor soap is used; for in all these advertised
and patented nosrums the temptation is grea,
to employ inferior articles that the pecunlary
gain may be greater. The small amount OF
calbolic acid Incorporated in the soap cannot
act as an efficient dislnfectant
But not only are many of these medicated
soaps useless, but they are positively injurious
IN many ways. First, they often prevent the
patient from applying for proper treatment
until the skin difficulty has become chronic
second, in a very large share of cases the
variety employed is exactly the wrong one;
and third because IN many instances no soap
at all should be used or if used, it should be
IN particular manner suited to the individual
case. Thus, all physicians see cases of ecze
ma, and other skin diseases which are con
stantly injured by the ipjudiciOus applications
of the soaps advertised to cure this and thai
affection. Now, the public certainly cannot
be expected to discriminate between diseases
which Outlines years of study fail to make
clear to the physlclan nor can druggist OF
friend do any better. The harm, then, result
ing ultimately from these advertised soaps Is
very great.
Another class of soaps, largely advertised
and freely used, is what might be styled
soothing soaps" As examples of these, we
have glycerine, honey, mallow cuticura oat
meal, lettuce, and almond soaps, together with
host of Others, Now, these again are liable
to adulteration, being too often made by un
known and irresponsible parties. At theil
best, they are only bland soaps (Which, in
deed, they often are not, and are in no way
superior to perfectly pure, carefully prepared
soap mihtout these supposed healing additions
In other words, soap is not and cannot be
made healing, and where a healing applica
ton is required 1t certainly should not and