PERFUMED SOAP.
The word soap, or sope, from the Greek _sapo_, first occurs in the works
of Pliny and Galen. Pliny informs us that soap was first discovered by
the Gauls, that it was composed of tallow and ashes, and that the German
soap was reckoned the best. According to Sismondi, the French historian,
a soapmaker was included in the retinue of Charlemagne.
At Pompeii (overwhelmed by an eruption of Vesuvius A.D. 79), a
soap-boiler's shop with soap in it was discovered during some
excavations made there not many years ago. (_Starke's Letters from
Italy._)
From these statements it is evident that the manufacture of soap is of
very ancient origin; indeed, Jeremiah figuratively mentions it--"For
though thou wash thee with natron, and take thee much soap, yet thine
iniquity is marked before me." (Jer. 2:22.)
Mr. Wilson says that the earliest record of the soap trade in England is
to be found in a pamphlet in the British Museum, printed in 1641,
entitled "A short Account of the Soap Business." It speaks more
particularly about the duty, which was then levied for the first time,
and concerning certain patents which were granted to persons, chiefly
Popish recusants, for some pretended new invention of white soap,
"which in truth was not so." Sufficient is said here to prove that at
that time soap-making was no inconsiderable art.
It would be out of place here to enter into the details of soap-making,
because perfumers do not manufacture that substance, but are merely
"remelters," to use a trade term. The dyer purchases his dye-stuffs from
the drysalters already fabricated, and these are merely modified under
his hands to the various purposes he requires; so with the perfumer, he
purchases the various soaps in their raw state from the soap-makers,
these he mixes by remelting, scents and colors according to the article
to be produced.
The primary soaps are divided into hard and soft soaps: the hard soaps
contain soda as the base; those which are soft are prepared with potash.
These are again divisible into varieties, according to the fatty matter
employed in their manufacture, also according to the proportion of
alkali. The most important of these to the perfumer is what is termed
curd soap, as it forms the basis of all the highly-scented soaps.
CURD SOAP is a nearly neutral soap, of pure soda and fine
tallow.
OIL SOAP, as made in England, is an uncolored combination of
olive oil and soda, hard, close grain, and contains but little water in
combination.
CASTILE SOAP, as imported from Spain, is a similar combination,
but is colored by protosulphate of iron. The solution of the salt being
added to the soap after it is manufactured, from the presence of
alkali, decomposition of the salt takes place, and protoxide of iron is
diffused through the soap of its well-known black color, giving the
familiar marbled appearance to it. When the soap is cut up into bars,
and exposed to the air, the protoxide passes by absorption of oxygen
into peroxide; hence, a section of a bar of Castile soap shows the outer
edge red-marbled, while the interior is black-marbled. Some Castile soap
is not artificially colored, but a similar appearance is produced by the
use of a barilla or soda containing sulphuret of the alkaline base, and
at other times from the presence of an iron salt.
MARINE SOAP is a cocoanut-oil soap, of soda containing a great
excess of alkali, and much water combination.
YELLOW SOAP is a soda soap, of tallow, resin, of lard, &c. &c.
PALM SOAP is a soda soap of palm oil, retaining the peculiar
odor and color of the oil unchanged. The odoriferous principle of palm
oil resembling that from orris-root, can be dissolved out of it by
tincturation with alcohol; like ottos generally, it remains intact in
the presence of an alkali, hence, soap made of palm oil retains the odor
of the oil.
The public require a soap that will not shrink and change shape after
they purchase it. It must make a profuse lather during the act of
washing. It must not leave the skin rough after using it. It must be
either quite inodorous or have a pleasant aroma. None of the above soaps
possess all these qualities in union, and, therefore, to produce such an
article is the object of the perfumer in his remelting process.
Prior to the removal of the excise duty upon soap, in 1853, it was a
commercial impossibility for a perfumer to _manufacture_ soap, because
the law did not allow less than one ton of soap to be made at a time.
This law, which, with certain modifications had been in force since the
reign of Charles I, confined the actual manufacture of that article to
the hands of a few capitalists. Such law, however, was but of little
importance to the perfumer, as a soap-boiling plant and apparatus is not
very compatible with a laboratory of flowers; yet, in some exceptional
instances, these excise regulations interfered with him; such, for
instance, as that in making soft soap of lard and potash, known, when
perfumed, as _Crême d'Amande_; or unscented, as a Saponaceous Cream,
which has, in consequence of that law, been entirely thrown into the
hands of our continental neighbors.
FIG SOFT SOAP is a combination of oils, principally olive oil
of the commonest kind, with potash.
NAPLES SOFT SOAP is a fish oil (mixed with Lucca oil) and
potash, colored brown for the London shavers, retaining, when pure, its
unsophisticated "fishy" odor.
The above soaps constitute the real body or base of all the fancy
scented soaps as made by the perfumers, which are mixed and remelted
according to the following formula:--
The remelting process is exceedingly simple. The bar soap is first cut
up into thin slabs, by pressing them against a wire fixed upon the
working bench. This cutting wire (piano wire is the kind) is made taut
upon the bench, by being attached to two screws. These screws regulate
the height of the wire from the bench, and hence the thickness of the
slabs from the bars. The soap is cut up into thin slabs, because it
would be next to impossible to melt a bar whole, on account of soap
being one of the worst conductors of heat.
The melting pan is an iron vessel, of various sizes, capable of holding
from 28 lbs. to 3 cwt., heated by a steam jacket, or by a water-bath.
The soap is put into the pan by degrees, or what is in the vernacular
called "rounds," that is, the thin slabs are placed perpendicularly all
round the side of the pan; a few ounces of water are at the same time
introduced, the steam of which assists the melting. The pan being
covered up, in about half an hour the soap will have "run down." Another
round is then introduced, and so continued every half hour until the
whole "melting" is finished. The more water a soap contains, the easier
is it melted; hence a round of marine soap, or of new yellow soap, will
run down in half the time that it requires for old soap.
When different soaps are being remelted to form one kind when finished,
the various sorts are to be inserted into the pan in alternate rounds,
but each round must consist only of one kind, to insure uniformity of
condition. As the soap melts, in order to mix it, and to break up lumps,
&c., it is from time to time "_crutched_." The "crutch" is an instrument
or tool for stirring up the soap; its name is indicative of its form, a
long handle with a short cross--an inverted 'T', curved to fit the curve
of the pan. When the soaps are all melted, it is then colored, if so
required, and then the perfume is added, the whole being thoroughly
incorporated with the crutch.
[Illustration: Frame and Slab Gauge.]
The soap is then turned into the "frame." The frame is a box made in
sections, in order that it can be taken to pieces, so that the soap can
be cut up when cold; the sections or "lifts" are frequently made of the
width of the intended bar of soap.
[Illustration: Barring Gauge.]
Two or three days after the soap has been in the frame, it is cool
enough to cut into slabs of the size of the lifts or sections of the
frame; these slabs are set up edgeways to cool for a day or two more; it
is then barred by means of a wire. The lifts of the frame regulate the
widths of the bars; the gauge regulates their breadth. The density of
the soap being pretty well known, the gauges are made so that the
soap-cutter can cut up the bars either into fours, sixes, or eights;
that is, either into squares of four, six, or eight to the pound weight.
Latterly, various mechanical arrangements have been introduced for
soap-cutting, which in very large establishments, such as those at
Marseilles in France, are great economisers of labor; but in England the
"wire" is still used.
[Illustration: Squaring Gauge.]
[Illustration: Soap Scoop.]
For making tablet shapes the soap is first cut into squares, and is
then put into a mould, and finally under a press--a modification of an
ordinary die or coin press. Balls are cut by hand, with the aid of a
little tool called a "scoop," made of brass or ivory, being, in fact, a
ring-shaped knife. Balls are also made in the press with a mould of
appropriate form. The grotesque form and fruit shape are also obtained
by the press and appropriate moulds. The fruit-shaped soaps, after
leaving the mould, are dipped into melted wax, and are then colored
according to artificial fruit-makers' rules.
[Illustration: Soap Press.]
[Illustration: Moulds.]
The "variegated" colored soaps are produced by adding the various
colors, such as smalt and vermilion, previously mixed with water, to the
soap in a melted state; these colors are but slightly crutched in, hence
the streaky appearance or party color of the soap; this kind is also
termed "marbled" soap.
ALMOND SOAP.
This soap, by some persons "supposed" to be made of "sweet almond oil,"
and by others to be a mystic combination of sweet and bitter almonds, is
in reality constituted thus:--
Finest curd soap, 1 cwt.
" oil soap, 14 lbs.
" marine, 14 lbs.
Otto of almonds, 1-1/2 lb.
" cloves, 1/4 lb.
" caraway, 1/2 lb.
By the time that half the curd soap is melted, the marine soap is to be
added; when this is well crutched, then add the oil soap, and finish
with the remaining curd. When the whole is well melted, and just before
turning it into the frame, crutch in the mixed perfume.
Some of the soap "houses" endeavored to use Mirabane or artificial
essence of almonds (see ALMOND) for perfuming soap, it being
far cheaper than the true otto of almonds; but the application has
proved so unsatisfactory in practice, that it has been abandoned by
Messrs. Gibbs, Pineau (of Paris), Gosnell, and others who used it.
CAMPHOR SOAP.
Curd soap, 28 lbs.
Otto of rosemary, 1-1/4 lb.
Camphor, 1-1/4 lb.
Reduce the camphor to powder by rubbing it in a mortar with the addition
of an ounce or more of almond oil, then sift it. When the soap is melted
and ready to turn out, add the camphor and rosemary, using the crutch
for mixing.
HONEY SOAP.
Best yellow soap, 1 cwt.
Fig soft soap, 14 lbs.
Otto of citronella, 1-1/2 lb.
WHITE WINDSOR SOAP.
Curd soap, 1 cwt.
Marine soap, 21 lbs.
Oil soap, 14 lbs.
Otto of caraway, 1-1/2 lbs.
" thyme, }
" rosemary, } of each 1/2 lb.
" cassia,}
" cloves,} of each 1/4 lb.
BROWN WINDSOR SOAP.
Curd soap, 3/4 cwt.
Marine soap, 1/4 "
Yellow soap, 1/4 "
Oil soap, 1/4 "
Brown coloring (caramel), 1/2 pint.
Otto of caraway, }
" cloves, }
" thyme, } each, 1/2 lb.
" cassia, }
" petit grain, }
" French lavender, }
SAND SOAP.
Curd soap, 7 lbs.
Marine soap, 7 lbs.
Sifted silver sand, 28 lbs.
Otto of thyme, }
" cassia, }
" caraway, } each, 2 oz.
" French lavender, }
FULLER'S EARTH SOAP.
Curd soap, 10-1/2 lbs.
Marine soap, 3-1/2 lbs.
Fuller's earth (baked), 14 lbs.
Otto of French lavender, 2 oz.
" origanum, 1 oz.
The above forms are indicative of the method adopted for perfuming soaps
while hot or melted.
All the very highly scented soaps are, however, perfumed cold, in order
to avoid the loss of scent, 20 per cent. of perfume being evaporated by
the hot process.
The variously named soaps, from the sublime "Sultana" to the ridiculous
"Turtle's Marrow," we cannot of course be expected to notice; the reader
may, however, rest assured that he has lost nothing by their omission.
The receipts given produce only the finest quality of the article
named. Where cheap soaps are required, not much acumen is necessary to
discern that by omitting the expensive perfumes, or lessening the
quantity, the object desired is attained. Still lower qualities of
scented soap are made by using greater proportions of yellow soap, and
employing a very common curd, omitting the oil soap altogether.
SCENTING SOAPS HOT.
In the previous remarks, the methods explained of scenting soap involved
the necessity of melting it. The high temperature of the soap under
these circumstances involves the obvious loss of a great deal of perfume
by evaporation. With very highly scented soaps, and with perfume of an
expensive character, the loss of ottos is too great to be borne in a
commercial sense; hence the adoption of the plan of
SCENTING SOAPS COLD.
This method is exceedingly convenient and economical for scenting small
batches, involving merely mechanical labor, the tools required being
simply an ordinary carpenter's plane, and a good marble mortar, and
lignum vitæ pestle.
The woodwork of the plane must be fashioned at each end, so that when
placed over the mortar it remains firm and not easily moved by the
parallel pressure of the soap against its projecting blade.
To commence operations, we take first 7 lbs., 14 lbs., or 21 lbs. of the
bars of the soap that it is intended to perfume. The plane is now laid
upside down across the top of the mortar.
Things being thus arranged, the whole of the soap is to be pushed across
the plane until it is all reduced into fine shavings. Like the French
"Charbonnier," who does not saw the wood, but woods the saw, so it will
be perceived that in this process we do not plane the soap, but that we
soap the plane, the shavings of which fall lightly into the mortar as
quickly as produced.
[Illustration: Soaping the Plane.]
Soap, as generally received from the maker, is the proper condition for
thus working; but if it has been in stock any time it becomes too hard,
and must have from one to three ounces of distilled water sprinkled in
the shaving for every pound of soap employed, and must lay for at least
twenty-four hours to be absorbed before the perfume is added.
When it is determined what size the cakes of soap are to be, what they
are to sell for, and what it is intended they should cost, then the
maker can measure out his perfume.
In a general way, soaps scented in this way retail from 4_s._ to 10_s._
per pound, bearing about 100 per cent. profit, which is not too much
considering their limited sale. The soap being in a proper physical
condition with regard to moisture, &c., is now to have the perfume well
stirred into it. The pestle is then set to work for the process of
incorporation. After a couple of hours of "warm exercise," the soap is
generally expected to be free from streaks, and to be of one uniform
consistency.
For perfuming soap in large portions by the cold process, instead of
using the pestle and mortar as an incorporator, it is more convenient
and economical to employ a mill similar in construction to a cake
chocolate-mill, or a flake cocoa-mill; any mechanical apparatus that
answers for mixing paste and crushing lumps will serve pretty well for
blending soap together.
Before going into the mill, the soap is to be reduced to shavings, and
have the scent and color stirred in; after leaving it, the flakes or
ribands of soap are to be finally bound together by the pestle and
mortar into one solid mass; it is then weighed out in quantities for the
tablets required, and moulded by the hand into egg-shaped masses; each
piece being left in this condition, separately laid in rows on a sheet
of white paper, dries sufficiently in a day or so to be fit for the
press, which is the same as that previously mentioned. It is usual,
before placing the cakes of soap in the press, to dust them over with a
little starch-powder, or else to very slightly oil the mould; either of
these plans prevents the soap from adhering to the letters or embossed
work of the mould--a condition essential for turning out a clean
well-struck tablet.
The body of all the fine soaps mentioned below should consist of the
finest and whitest curd soap, or of a soap previously melted and colored
to the required shade, thus:--
ROSE-COLORED SOAP is curd soap stained with vermilion, ground
in water, thoroughly incorporated when the soap is melted, and not very
hot.
GREEN SOAP is a mixture of palm oil soap and curd soap, to
which is added powdered smalt ground with water.
BLUE SOAP, curd soap colored with smalt.
BROWN SOAP, curd soap with caramel, _i.e._ burnt sugar.
The intensity of color varies, of course, with the quantity of coloring.
Some kinds of soap become colored or tinted to a sufficient extent by
the mere addition of the ottos used for scenting, such as "spermaceti
soap," "lemon soap," &c., which become of a beautiful pale lemon color
by the mere mixing of the perfume with the curd soap.
OTTO OF ROSE SOAP.
(_To retail at 10s. per pound_.)
Curd soap (previously colored with vermilion), 4-1/2 lbs.
Otto of rose, 1 oz.
Spirituous extract of musk, 2 oz.
Otto of santal, 1/4 oz.
" geranium, 1/4 oz.
Mix the perfumes, stir them in the soap shavings, and beat together.
TONQUIN MUSK SOAP.
Pale brown-colored curd soap, 5 lbs.
Grain musk, 1/4 oz.
Otto of bergamot, 1 oz.
Rub the musk with the bergamot, then add it to the soap, and beat up.
ORANGE-FLOWER SOAP.
Curd soap, 7 lbs.
Otto of neroli, 3-1/2 oz.
SANTAL-WOOD SOAP.
Curd soap, 7 lbs.
Otto of santal, 7 oz.
" bergamot, 2 oz.
SPERMACETI SOAP.
Curd soap, 14 lbs.
Otto of bergamot, 2-1/2 lbs.
" lemon, 1/2 lb.
CITRON SOAP.
Curd soap, 6 lbs.
Otto of citron, 3/4 lb.
" verbena (lemon-grass), 1/2 oz.
" bergamot, 4 oz.
" lemon, 2 oz.
One of the best of fancy soaps that is made.
FRANGIPANNE SOAP.
Curd soap (previously colored light brown), 7 lbs.
Civet, 1/4 oz.
Otto of neroli, 1/2 oz.
" santal, 1-1/2 oz.
" rose, 1/4 oz.
" vitivert, 1/2 oz.
Rub the civet with the various ottos, mix, and beat in the usual manner.
PATCHOULY SOAP.
Curd soap, 4-1/2 lbs.
Otto of patchouly, 1 oz.
" santal, }
" vitivert, } of each, 1/4 oz.
SAPONACEOUS CREAM OF ALMONDS.
The preparation sold under this title is a potash soft soap of lard. It
has a beautiful pearly appearance, and has met with extensive demand as
a shaving soap. Being also used in the manufacture of
EMULSINES, it is an article of no inconsiderable consumption by
the perfumer. It is made thus:--
Clarified lard, 7 lbs.
Potash of lye (containing 26 per cent. of caustic
potash), 3-3/4 lbs.
Rectified spirit, 3 oz.
Otto of almonds, 2 drachms.
_Manipulation_.--Melt the lard in a porcelain vessel by a salt-water
bath, or by a steam heat under 15 lbs. pressure; then run in the lye,
_very slowly_, agitating the whole time; when about half the lye is in,
the mixture begins to curdle; it will, however, become so firm that it
cannot be stirred. The crême is then finished, but is not pearly; it
will, however, assume that appearance by long trituration in a mortar,
gradually adding the alcohol, in which has been dissolved the perfume.
SOAP POWDERS.
These preparations are sold sometimes as a dentifrice and at others for
shaving; they are made by reducing the soap into shavings by a plane,
then thoroughly drying them in a warm situation, afterwards grinding in
a mill, then perfuming with any otto desired.
RYPOPHAGON SOAP.
Best yellow soap, }
Fig soft soap, } equal parts melted together.
Perfume with anise and citronella.
AMBROSIAL CREAM.
Color the grease very strongly with alkanet root, then proceed as for
the manufacture of saponaceous cream. The cream colored in this way has
a blue tint; when it is required of a purple color we have merely to
stain the white saponaceous cream with a mixture of vermilion and smalt
to the shade desired. Perfume with otto of oringeat.
TRANSPARENT SOFT SOAP.
Solution caustic potash (_Lond. Ph_.), 6 lbs.
Olive oil, 1 lb.
Perfume to taste.
Before commencing to make the soap, reduce the potash lye to one half
its bulk by continued boiling. Now proceed as for the manufacture of
saponaceous cream. After standing a few days, pour off the waste liquor.
TRANSPARENT HARD SOAP.
Reduce the soap to shavings, and dry them as much as possible, then
dissolve in alcohol, using as little spirit as will effect the solution,
then color and perfume as desired, and cast the product in appropriate
moulds; finally dry in a warm situation.
Until the Legislature allows spirit to be used for manufacturing
purposes, free of duty, we cannot compete with our neighbors in this
article.
JUNIPER TAR SOAP.
This soap is made from the tar of the wood of the _Juniperus communis_,
by dissolving it in a fixed vegetable oil, such as almond or olive oil,
or in fine tallow, and forming a soap by means of a weak soda lye, after
the customary manner. This yields a moderately firm and clear soap,
which may be readily used by application to parts affected with
eruptions at night, mixed with a little water, and carefully washed off
the following morning. This soap has lately been much used for eruptive
disorders, particularly on the Continent, and with varying degrees of
success. It is thought that the efficient element in its composition is
a rather less impure hydrocarburet than that known in Paris under the
name _huile de cade_. On account of its ready miscibility with water, it
possesses great advantage over the common tar ointment.
MEDICATED SOAPS.
Six years ago I began making a series of medicated soaps, such as
SULPHUR SOAP, IODINE SOAP, BROMINE SOAP, CREOSOTE SOAP, MERCURIAL
SOAP, CROTON OIL SOAP, and many others. These soaps are prepared by
adding the medicant to curd soap, and then making in a tablet form for
use. For sulphur soap, the curd soap may be melted, and flowers of
sulphur added while the soap is in a soft condition. For antimony soap
and mercurial soap, the low oxides of the metals employed may also be
mixed in the curd soap in a melted state. Iodine, bromine, creosote
soap, and others containing very volatile substances, are best prepared
cold by shaving up the curd soap in a mortar, and mixing the medicant
with it by long beating.
In certain cutaneous diseases the author has reason to believe that they
will prove of infinite service as auxiliaries to the general treatment.
It is obvious that the absorbent vessels of the skin are very active
during the lavoratory process; such soap must not, therefore, be used
except by the special advice of a medical man. Probably these soaps will
be found useful for internal application. The precedent of the use of
Castile soap (containing oxide of iron) renders it likely that when
prejudice has passed away, such soaps will find a place in the
pharmacopoeias. The discovery of the solubility, under certain
conditions, of the active alkaloids, quinine, morphia, &c., in oil, by
Mr. W. Bastick, greatly favors the supposition of analogous compounds in
soap.