The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-09-11
roPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM ATION
BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HAzKIN, DirocaaE,
Waahingteu. D. c
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT
SOAP?

7 W A<AA III ~ NV" AoOOA
/ SOAP?
Washington, D. c.. Sept. s.-Who-
ever you are. you will not deny that
you are a regular consumer of soap.
that you have been intimately asso-
Gated with soap every day of your life
since early infancy. and that you
ought to know something about soap.
As matter Of fact. do you know
anything about it at all? Do you
know what is fair price for a piece
OF soap? Do you know what kinds
Of soap are injurious and what are
not? Do you know what kind of soap
will last a long time, and what kinH
will wear away quickly?
| The chances are you do not The
1 consumer almost never knows any,
thing about the article he buys, either
as to their actual value, or as to their
comparative qualities. That is one
reason why he gets so regularly and
thoroly stung.
| II the United States government had
bought the commodities which 1t used
\ during the war in the same spirit of
happy and reckless ignorance which
you bring to your shopping. this ma
/ ton would now be bankrupt But the
government had scientists analyze
everything II bought 1t found out
just what was good and what was not.
II also determined just what Il cost to
produce an article, and refused to pay
more than that amount plus a fair
profit. The result was that the gov
eminent purchased most of its supplies
for fraction of what they cost the
public, and even retailed them again
through it's quartermaster stores at
prices less than half of those that you
and I pay.
! The results Of many of the govern
! ment Studies IF nf
| consumption have now been en-
| balmed in bewildering technical re-
ports, but out of these reports can be
extracted a few facts and ideas COM
| prehensible to the layman. Some of
these facts about soap are offered
| here. in the belief that the general
public will enjoy a little gossip about
such an old and valued friend, and
| will perhaps be enabled to understand
him little better in the future.
! 1t should be added that the govern
ment is not responsible for the concIu-
sions here set forth. They are drawn
by the writer from the technical facts
/ in the reports.
In the first place 1t should be said
| that there is very little poor soap on
the American market. American man
ufacturers make good soap almost ex-
clusfvely. and you are in little danger
/ of getting soap that will injure your
complexion or your hair.
In the second place, it is possible to
buy the very best soap for all practical
when you pay 20 to so cents for a
cake of soap. you are not getting any
| more cleansing value for your money
than you are when you pay 5 cents.
| The more expensive soap may con-
| tain a perfume which the cheaper
lacks, and If this tickles your nose or
your vanity enough, you may be get
| ting your moneys worth. This more
| expensive soap probably also comes
4 in a fancy box or wrapper, and here
again your sense of the beautiful may
| be delighted to fifteen cents worth.
Many of the expensive soaps are
advertised to have medical value All
soap has a good deal of medical value
| inasmuch as soap is one of the best
| of disinfectants, and the medicated
soap may have somewhat more medi-
cal value than the non-me dicated. But
| do not be too much impressed by the
soap which is advertised to confer
upon you any other boon than that of
cleanliness.
For all Of these soaps are made of
about the same things. The fact of
the matter is that when our forefath-
ers boiled tallow and ashes together
to make soft soap, they were doing
| about the same thing that all soap
manufacturers do today. Every soap
is a combination of an oil or fat and
an alkali, which is usually either the
potash the pioneers used or else soda.
Most soap is simply a combination OF
tallow and soda boiled together, and
provided both constituents are pure
and clean, there is no better soap. The
terrific multiplicity of form and shape
and color and smell which you see in
the soap showcase at drug stores, is
nothing more than the contents of the
good old soap kettle of early days in
a host of different DISCUSSES.
The superficial differences between
| these cakes of soap are numerous and
striking, but there are only few fun
damental differences. The chief one
of these is in the amount of water
which the soap contains. Most toilet
soap Is from 20 to % per cent water.
Naturally. the more water. the less
soap. And besides, the water in the
soap makes II wear away more easily.
A soap containing a large percentage
of water will be somewhat softer than
one with a small water content. TO
/ buy for economy, therefore. choose
rather hard. inexpensive soap. 1t will
make you just as clean as any soap
you can buy.
The more expensive soaps are
known as milled soaps. They are
made by grinding the soap and then
Comprising II into cakes The chief
advantage of this process seems to be
that II makes it possible to mix more
perfume with the soap than can be
done by merely boiling 1t.
Floating soap is another mystery to
the average soap user. This attractive
quality is given the soap by blowing II
full of tiny air bubbles while It is still
hot. These bubbles are invisible to
the naked eye. They tend to make the
Observation-Disclosures
SThAGA0roA M