Evening star., 1932-12-09
SOAP INGREDIENTS
WIDELY GATHERED
Many Races Contribute to
Products of American I
Factories.

The United States is "soap con-
Scious"
If all the soap normally used IN the
country In year were equally DIS
tributed, every man, woman and cnnd
would be allotted rs pounds.
In colonial times, nearly every back
yard was soap factory" says bull
letin from the headquarters of the Ma
tional Geographic Society. When the
hardy Colonial housewives accumulated
sufficient fat for a batch of soap, they
placed it in a kettle over fire and
added I've, which they made from wood
ashes. The result was coarse, soft
soap.
ALTHOUGH soap kettles still are in use
In remote regions of this country, soap
making has graduated from the back
yards of America to huge factories en-
ploying thousands of men and women
and maintaining hundreds of railway
cars In which to haul supplies: The
have given way to huge watts, some OF
which hold 10 carloads OF soap.
Despite the growth or the industry,
alkali and fats or oils still are the
basic ingredients of soap. Manufactur-
ers find sufficient supply OF alkalies
within the borders of the United States,
but the demands and whims CT soap
users for soap containing particular
oils, perfumes and other ingredients,
has make soap one of the most inter-
national commodities in the American
home.
Many Races Contribute.
eff representatives of every race
which had a part in the production OF
American-made soap were called To-
gether, they would form q heterogene-
Gus crowd. They would run the gamut
of color and custom. Products Of every
continent except, perhaps, Antarctica,
are used by American manufacturers;
and the islands Of the seas and the
seas themselves make their contriou-
tions
Animal tallow, an old soap makers
standby, comes from the slaughter
houses Of the United states, but vege-
table tallow' is pressed from the seeds
of the Mutszshu tree Of South Central
and Western China. Coconut OIL,
which is pressed from the dry pulp OF
coconuts (copra) Is imported from the
Philippines. Nigeria, Belgian Kongo,
and the Dutch East Indies are sources
of palm oil from the fruit of palm
trees, and palm kernel oil. Palm ker-
nels often are shipped to German,
English or Netherlands factories for
oil extraction.
Spain, Italy, Algeria and Greece are
the sources Of the olive oil used In
American soaps. Peanut oil, although
obtained from Southern United States,
also is imported from China, Africa, In
dia and South America. For soy bean
oil the soap maker depends upon Man
churian, Chinese and japanese sup
plies, while for cotton seed oil he has
to go no farther than our cotton pro-
ducing Southern States.
Musk Preserves Perfumes.
''Rosin, which is used in the manu-
factory of laundry soap, is another con-
tribution from the Southern States,
but some rosin Is imported from
France. Pumice, which became an i'm
portant soap ingredient when workmen
demanded soap that would cat the
dirt without injuring the skin, Is inn
ported from the Lipari Islands which
lie northwest Of the toe of Italy.
Musk makes soap odors last longer.
Soap makers import vegetable musk,
which is made from the dried roots OF
an East Indian plant, as well as ami
NAL musk, which Is taken from small
sacks which grow on the abdomen OF
the diminutive male musk deer. These
animals are found In Tibet and In the
Atlas Mountains of Northwest Africa.
India, Australia and the West In
dies are the sources of sandalwood oil.
which is used as disinfectant in soap.
The fragrant oil OF bergamot is pressed
from the rind of fresh fruit Of the ber-
gamot tree which thrives in Italy and
Sicily, while the lavender plant OF
France gives up lavender oil.
"Oil Of bay is produced from the
bark of the bay tree Of the West In
dies; the Island of Formosa and China
are the sources of oil of camphor, while
red thyme oil comes from an aromatic
shrub which grows in Spain and in the
neighborhood Of Beyrouth, Syria.
Rosemary oil comes to American
SOAP factories from SPAN and the Dali