Evening star., 1942-07-03
Householders 10 Have
Fats Returned in
Unrecognized Form
Explosives Are By-Produet
Of Soop Used in ID
Industry Processes
BY HOWARD w. BLAKESLEE,
Wide World Science Editor.

NEW YORK, July 3-The house.
hold fats, whose collection on ma
tional scale has been announced,
nized-in your clothing. shoes, stew
pans and the paper and ink you use
to write letters.
The purpose of the fats collection
Is to get more glycerine to make ex-
plosives But glycerine Is only a
small percentage of the fats, and
the cheapest way to get it is by
first using the fats to make soap,
Glycerine Is a by-product of the
soap.
The soap is what is coming back
to you. because 1t is an indispensa-
Bile part in the manufacturing
processes of IA great industries. OF
course, in addition, some Of the fat
from your kitchen, on the billion to-
one chance, might return to you in
soap for toilet or tub.
Textiles Biggest User.
Even if small boys felt different
about it. washing would not be the
main use of soap In the United
States. The biggest single customer
is the textile industry.
Name the article: Blanket, uni
form, socks, overcoats. pillows, fine
dresses-all require soap in the
manufacturing process somewhere;
indeed, as a rule, several times. 1t
is used in cleaning securing, bleach
ing and for steps without end In
processing of fabrics.
For your shoes and all leather
products, soap is used in what the
technicians call fat-lquoring COM
positions to impart suppleness and
strength.
The stew pan use of soap comes
from the fact that the metals in
dustry is another big consumer. The
uses are numerous in processing
metal, being mostly cleaning opera
tions. The war will take some OF
your fat in these processes to pro-
duce the casing of shells as well as
the explosives inside.
Place in Letter. Writing.
For your letter. writing, soap has
an important place in some OF the
paper making processes and some
times in the sizing spread over
the paper to give it smoothness.
The chances of any soap being In
your ink are remote. but positive.
Most inks-probably all inks you can
get in this country-are soapless;
but in England some inks are con-
sidered superior due to use OF soap.
Your kitchen fats will come back
to you in a really big way If and
when you get to using those new
synthetic rubber tires. The second
largest use of soap now promises to
be in making synthetic rubber.
In the buna rubbers which Wash
ington reports persistently put forth
as the principal tire synthetic to be
made under the American program
soap Is an essential in the myster-
ious part of the pricess which chem
lists call polymerization. That is the
point where the molecules OF buta-
diene and styrene. both gases, get
together and grow in size.
A catalyst, which is a trade
secret, is the cause of this polymeri-
zation. But the catalyst works best
when undertaking the amalgama-
ton Job in a soapy emulsion. And
there are other uses of soap IN
making various synthetic rubbers.
Use in Lubricants.
Soaps are used in making some
lubricants, notably for rope greases.
AS insecticides, soaps perhaps kill
as many bugs as they destroy
germs on the hands and faces OF
human beings. Soap is used as a
spreader for insecticides. and serves
to choke off the breathing areas of
insects.
Soap for bodybuilding is some
thing fairly new. The old-fashioned
hot tar spray has given way to
asphalt emulsions, and soap is used
in the latter. Furthermore. soap
mixed with fine sand is found in
Michigan State Highway Depart
ment experiments to be good pro-
CeCLlOn against surface uduldec
which is done to roads by the win
ter ice removal chemicals. 1t is used
also to cause oil to mix more
thoroughly with highway soils.
For painting. soap goes into So
called water paints and into the
paint sprays.
Soap is used in making dust
proofing fluids for pulverized coal
it is essentitl in poison gas decon-
tamination.
Oil wells use soap to plug the
pores of underground sand which is
leaking water into the oil
Finally, there are many uses OF
Soap in industrial hygiene, fol
worker protection and plant main,