The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-06-22
MAKING SOAP.
How q Very Useful Household
Article is Manufactured.
The Various Operations by Which a Bar
of Soap is Produced.

A' -
operation. Soft soaps are those which
nave for their base potash, while hard
soaps havc for theirs soda, and arc made
by open pan boiling, in which the glyce-
rine is eliminated. This class probably
includes 80 per cent. of the total soap
made in English speaking countries, and
IS divided into three different kinds, viz.
Curd, notified and yellow. Whatever
kind OF hard soap is made the first stages
OF the process are the same for all.
10 commence a boiling of hard soap,
melted fat and caustic soda lcys are SIM
UNANIMOUSLY run into the copper, the
steam is turned on and the contents boil
cd until a small sample cooled between
the fingers has a to crably firm consistcn-
cy, and when applied to the tongue has
no caustic taste or only a very faint one.
The operator is obliged to be very cxpc-
rienccd to judge of tic completion of
this first operation, called by some past
ing and by others killing the goods or
raw material. In this condition the soan
contains about ninc-tenths of the total
soda necessary for complete saponifica-
ton, with a large excess of water, which
Is separated from it by the next operation.
10 effect the separation a quantity of
common salt is sprinklcd into the copper
while still boiling, or the strongest brine
is run in; this addition is made cautious
ly and gradually (care being taken to al
low solution of the SALTY, and continued
until a small sample removed upon a
spatula or trowei allows a clear liquor to
run from it.. During this operation of
gralnlng, the contents Of the copper are
liable to boil over with great violence.
When this point is reached the whole
process is stopped and the steam turned
OIL; the copper is allowed to stand from
two to three hours. Its contents then
divide themselves into two portions, the
upper consisting of soap paste, holding
about 40 per cent. of water, and the
Of asolution known as spent leys,
containing common salt, carbonate and
other soda salts present in the original
leys as Impurities, and nearly all the gly-
cerlne of the fat employed. At this
stage rosin is added for the yellow soap,
being broken into Jumps and shoveled in,
unless 1T is combined with soda in a scpa-
rate copper and mixed with the fat soap
IN the next operation, which is termed
clear boiling. All the goods having been
killed and the spent legs removed, a
small charge of leys is then run in and
the copper boiled for two or three hours.
At the end Of this time the soap has a
faint but decided cauStic taste, and a
small sample on q spatula allows clear
leys to run off it.
This operation communicates addition
al soda to the soap, and washes out as it
were some of the salt cntanglcd in it.
After some hours subsistence the half
spent lcys that sink to the bottom arc
pumped of, and are used in another COP
per for killing more fresh goods; the
soap made from such lcys however IS of
inferior color. The copper is boiled
with open steam until the contents are
perfectly homogeneous and in a state re-
sembing a stiff paste. A small stream
OF leys is now allowed to tricklc in, until
the paste again separates into cakes of
soap and clear leys; the soap now tastes
strongly of caustic soda and feels hard
when cold; this is technically called
'tmaking" the soap. The mode of finish
ing depends entirely upon the kind of
soap required.
The soap having been finished in the
copper the noxt stage is transferring it
into the cooling boxes, or frames, as they
are usually called. Curd soaps arc al
ways carefully SKINNED off the leys by
ladies', as they are too stiff, to pump, and
most notified soaps are in this condition
also. In large factories yellow soaps are
invariably transferred to the frames by
suitable pumping machinery.
Curd and yellow soaps are cooled rap
idly in cast iron frames of any desired
shape or size. One frequently adopted
is almost water tight, the superficial
measure being Asks inches and the
height so to 60 inches. The four sides
are held together by bolts and nuts, and
when the soap is cold (after the lapse of
three to seven days for this size) these
are unscrewed, the sides are removed and
a solid block of soap is left standing on
the bottom of the frame. This is at once