The San Francisco call., 1910-01-08
ABOUT COMMON THINGS
THE COMPOSITION OF A CAKE OF SOAP

stands alone in those giant cakes of
which | told you in the beginning, each
one weighing about $50 pounds. In
this shape it is placed on a travelling
platform and run under sharp steel
wires which are stretched between up-
right posts, and these wires cut it into
bars of the ordinary size which are
then taken to machine where they
are trimmed and pressed into the shape
you see when you get them Nmble
fingered boys and girls wrap them in
paper and pack them in boxes and they
are ready for the market.
Toilet soap requires somewhat
different process. After being cut into
bars it goes into shredding machine
where it is cut into tiny shavings and
chips, and when they feel perfectly
dry and brittle and will fairly rattle
when they are handled. large zinc
boxes holding about or bushels
put in the perfume apd color.
Such little bit Of perfume it takes
to make a sweet smelling soap, and
such tiny speck of color to tint 1t the
delicate cream, pale rose or green. But
each Is carefully measured, and then
perfectly mixed with the dry scraps,
which, you would suppose, would simply
shed them both, but they do not: they
absorb 1T all. after plenty of mixing,
and one lot comes out with delicious
combination. and still others and 9TH
ers, for their name is legion. These
chips that now have such sweet smell
and such beautiful colors. are put
through another machine that grinds
them and subjects them to terrific pres
sure, and from this they come out in
long ribbons about an inch wide as
thin as tissue paper, and as light as air.
These look pretty enough to keep, but
they go into another machine that
looks for all the world like sausage
stuffing machine, and the shavings come
out of this in continuous round bar
This is cut up into proper sized plugs
usually boy does this, and the plugs
are put into machine that molds them
into shape, pressing into each the
name or whatever Is desired. Now
you think, 1t Is finished; but no, they
are dull and lusterless. so girls take
the cakes in hand and with suitable
cloths polish each one And now they
are ready for the fancy wrappers and
boxes.
This is the process for the best dual
ity of toilet soap. In cheaper grades
the perfume and color are stirred In
while the soap is liquid and warm, and
before it is poured into those big iron
boxes to cool: but the lye acts upon the
perfume. and sometimes a very dis
agreeable odor results, especially If the
soap stands a long time
Coal tar colors are used for tinting,
and perfumed oils make the odors oil
of rose, geranium and orris for the
finest. The attractive paper that wraps
your soap serves a double purpose; it
looks pretty, and also preserves the
color. which being aniline, or coal tar
color. would fade.
After boiling soap a large amount of
settings is left in the caldron. and until
recent years this was all waste Now a
process has been devised, and IL goes
through boilers and pumps and pipes
over this and under that, back and
forth, heated by fire and steam, passed
through filter and press, treated with
chemicals and comes out at last as
thick as paint Oil as clear as crystal
and as sweet as syrup, And what do
you think il isg Nothing less than
glycerine.