By W. J. MENZIES.
Potash soaps are generally superior to soda soaps for most purposes, but
more especially in washing wool and woolen goods. The difference between
the use of a potash and a soda soap for these purposes is very marked.
Potash lubricates the fiber of the wool, renders it soft and silky, and
to a certain extent bleaches it; soda, on the other hand, has a tendency
to turn wool a yellow color, and renders the fiber hard and brittle.
It cannot be too strongly insisted upon, therefore, that nothing but a
potash soap (or some form of potash in preference to soda if an alkali
alone is employed) should be used in washing wool in any form--either
manufactured or unmanufactured. This is fully borne out by nature,
who invariably assimilates the most appropriate substances. Wool when
growing in its natural state is lubricated and protected by a sticky
substance called "grease" or "suinte;" this consists to the extent of
nearly half its weight of carbonate of potash, hardly a trace of soda
being present. It is very evident, therefore, that potash must be more
suitable for washing wool than soda, as the teaching of nature is always
correct.
There are certain prejudices against the use of potash soap, which have,
to a great extent, prevented its more extensive use. Many consumers
of soap fancy that because a potash soap is soft it necessarily must
contain more water than a soda soap; this, however, is quite an
erroneous notion. A potash soap is soft, because it is the nature of all
potash soaps to be so, just in the same way that on the other hand all
soda soaps are hard. As an actual fact a good potash soap contains
less water than many quite hard soda soaps that are now in the market.
Another reason is that soapmakers have had every interest in using soda
in preference to potash--particularly when latterly soda has been so
cheap.
Potash not only is a more expensive alkali, but its combining equivalent
is greatly against it as compared with soda; that is to say, that
thirty-one parts of actual or anhydrous soda will saponify as much
tallow or oil as forty-seven parts of anhydrous potash. It will be
evident, therefore, that the use of potash instead of soda is decidedly
more advantageous to the soapboiler, and more particularly in the
present age, when the demand is for cheap articles, often quite without
regard to the quality or purpose for which they are to be used. As far
as consumers are concerned, this has been a mistake. Potash soap, though
it may cost more, is in most cases actually the most economical. Soap is
never used in exact chemical equivalents, but an excess is always
taken. Potash soap is much more soluble than a soda soap; it therefore
penetrates the fiber, and consequently removes dirt and grease much more
quickly. Notwithstanding, also, that its chemical combining equivalent
is greater than that of soda, it is, nevertheless, the strongest base,
and always combines with any substance in preference to soda. For these
reasons--probably combined also with the fact that in the whole realm of
the animal and vegetable kingdoms, to which all textile fabrics belong,
potash is more naturally assimilated than soda--a smaller quantity of
potash soap will do more practical work than a larger quantity of soda
soap.
There are other reasons why potash soaps have not been used; originally
soft soap was made either with fish oil or olive oil. Fish oil is
objectionable, as the strong smell imparted to the soap renders it unfit
for many finishing purposes. Nothing can be better than olive oil soap,
but it is a costly article, and only can be used for finer purposes.
There are now, however, many of the seed oils that are much cheaper.
Linseed, rape seed, and cotton seed all produce a good soap. Cotton seed
oil is particularly suitable for the purpose; the manufacture of this
oil during the last few years has been brought to great perfection, and
the cost is now much less than that of tallow or of any other seed oil.
It is now difficult to distinguish a well refined cotton seed oil from
olive oil; it is therefore in every way suitable for making soft soap.
One of the chief causes, however, why potash soap has not been
more generally made is that a convenient form of potash has been
unobtainable. For many years the only source of potash was from the
ashes of burnt trees. These ashes are collected, mixed with lime,
lixiviated, and the resulting lye boiled down. The result is a very
impure form of potash, also of a very variable composition, depending
upon the trees used for the purpose. Canada has been the principal
source of supply of this form of potash; hence the commercial name
of Montreal potashes. The classification of "firsts," "seconds," and
"thirds" is from the inspection at the warehouse there; this, however,
is exceedingly superficial, the ashes being simply tested for their
_alkaline_ strength, with no discrimination between potash and soda,
which is a difficult and delicate chemical test. Soda being now far
cheaper than potash, and also the alkaline equivalent, as previously
explained, being greatly in favor of soda, there has been every
inducement to "enterprising" producers of ashes to adulterate them with
soda, which, in many cases, has been largely done. Another source of
potash has been beetroot ashes, very similar to wood ashes, and also
German carbonate of potash, which latter about corresponds to a common
soda ash, as compared with caustic soda; with these articles, a tedious
boiling process, very similar to the old process for the production
of hard soap, had to be adopted, the ashes, or carbonate of potash,
previously being dissolved and causticized with lime by the soap maker.
The production of a first-class soft soap was also a very difficult
operation, as the impurities and soda contained varied considerably,
often causing the "boil" to go wrong and give considerable trouble to
the soapboiler.
During the last two years, however, caustic potash has been introduced,
that manufactured by the Greenbank Alkali Co., of St. Helens, being very
nearly pure. With this article there is no difficulty in producing a
pure potash soap, either for wool scouring, fulling, or sizing, by a
cold process very similar to that described for the production of hard
soda soap with pure powdered caustic soda.
The following directions will produce an excellent soap for wool
scouring: Fifty pounds of Greenbank pure caustic potash are put into
eight gallons of soft water; the potash dissolves immediately, heating
the water. This lye is allowed to cool, and then slowly added, with
continual mixing, to 20 gallons of cotton seed oil, mixed with 20 pounds
of melted tallow, the whole being brought to a temperature of about 90°
F. After stirring for some minutes, so as to completely combine the lye
and oil, the mixture is left for two days in a warm place, when a slow
and gradual saponification of the mass takes place. If when examined the
oil and lye are then found not completely combined, the stiff soap is
again stirred and left two days, when the saponification will be found
complete, the result being the formation of about 330 pounds of very
stiff potash soap, each pound being equal to about two pounds of the
ordinary "fig" soap sold. The requisite quantity is thrown into the
scouring vat with about five per cent of its weight of refined pearl ash
to increase the alkali present, the weight depending somewhat upon the
kind of wool washed on purpose for which the soap is required. If the
wool is very dirty or greasy, rather a stronger soap is sometimes
advisable. This can easily be attained by reducing the quantity of oil
used to 18 gallons.
The advantages to be gained by the wool scourer or other consumer making
his own potash soap are that a pure, uniform article can always be thus
produced at a less cost than that at which the soap can be bought.
Potash soap, like soda soap now sold, is much adulterated, in addition
to all the impurities originally contained in the potash used, and
which, unlike soda soap, cannot be separated by any salting process.
Many other adulterations are added to increase the weight and cheapen
the cost. Silicate of potash, resin, and potato flour are all more or
less employed for this purpose, to the gain of the soap maker and at the
expense of the consumer.
The production of potash soap for fulling and sizing, and the most
suitable oils and tallow for the production of the various qualities
required for these purposes, must be reserved for the next
issue.--_Textile Manufacturer._
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