In our last article, under the above heading, the advantages to be
gained by the use of potash soap as compared with soda soap were pointed
out, and the reasons of this superiority, especially in the case of
washing wool or woolen fabrics, were pretty fully gone into. It was also
further explained why the potash soaps generally sold to the public were
unfit for general use, owing to their not being neutral--that is to say,
containing a considerable excess of free or unsaponified alkali, which
acts injuriously on the fiber of any textile material, and causes sore
hands if used for household or laundry purposes. It was shown that the
cause of this defect was owing to the old-fashioned method of making
potash or soft soap, by boiling with wood ashes or other impure form of
potash; but that a perfectly pure and neutral potash soap could readily
be made with pure caustic potash, which within the last few years has
become a commercial article, manufactured on a large scale; just in
the same manner as the powdered 98 per cent. caustic soda, which was
recommended in our previous articles on making hard soap without
boiling.
The process of making pure neutral potash soap is very simple, and
almost identical with that for making hard soap with pure powdered
caustic soda. The following directions, if carefully and exactly
followed, will produce a first-class potash soap, suitable either for
the woolen manufacturer for washing his wool, and the cloth afterward
made from it, or for household and laundry purposes, for which uses it
will be found far superior to any soda soap, no matter how pure or well
made it may be.
Dissolve twenty pounds of pure caustic potash in two gallons of water.
Pure caustic potash is very soluble, and dissolves almost immediately,
heating the water. Let the lye thus made cool until warm to the
hand--say about 90 F. Melt eighty pounds of tallow or grease, which must
be free from salt, and let it cool until fairly hot to the hand--say
130 F.; or eighty pounds of any vegetable or animal oil may be taken
instead. Now pour the caustic potash lye into the melted tallow or oil,
stirring with a flat wooden stirrer about three inches broad, until both
are thoroughly mixed and smooth in appearance. This mixing may be done
in the boiler used to melt the tallow, or in a tub, or half an oil
barrel makes a good mixing vessel. Wrap the tub or barrel well up in
blankets or sheepskins, and put away for a week in some warm dry place,
during which the mixture slowly turns into soap, giving a produce of
about 120 pounds of excellent potash soap. If this soap is made with
tallow or grease it will be nearly as hard as soda soap. When made by
farmers or householders tallow or grease will generally be taken, as it
is the cheapest, and ready to hand on the spot. For manufacturers, or
for making laundry soap, nothing could be better than cotton seed oil. A
magnificent soap can be made with this article, lathering very freely.
When made with oil it is better to remelt in a kettle the potash soap,
made according to the above directions, with half its weight of water,
using very little heat, stirring constantly, and removing the fire as
soon as the water is mixed with and taken up by the soap. A beautifully
bright soap is obtained in this way, and curiously the soap is actually
made much harder and stiffer by this addition of water than when it is
in a more concentrated state previously to the water being added.
With reference to the caustic potash for making the soap, it can be
obtained in all sizes of drums, but small packages just sufficient for
a batch of soap are generally more economical than larger packages, as
pure caustic potash melts and deteriorates very quickly when exposed
to the air. The Greenbank Alkali Co., of St. Helens, seems to have
appreciated this, and put upon the market pure caustic potash in twenty
pound canisters, which are very convenient for potash soft soap making
by consumers for their own use.
While on this subject of caustic potash, it cannot be too often repeated
that _caustic potash_ is a totally different article to _caustic soda_,
though just like it in appearance, and therefore often sold as such.
One of the most barefaced instances of this is the so-called "crystal
potash," "ball potash," or "rock potash," of the lye packers, sold in
one pound packages, which absolutely, without exception, do not contain
a single grain of potash, but simply consist of caustic soda more or
less adulterated--as a rule very much "more" than "less!" It is much
to be regretted that this fraud on the public has been so extensively
practiced, as potash has been greatly discredited by this procedure.
The subject of fleece scouring or washing the wool while growing on
the sheep, with a potash soap made on the spot with the waste tallow
generally to be had on every sheep farm, seems recently to have been
attracting attention in some quarters, and certainly would be a source
of profit to sheep owners by putting their wool on the market in the
best condition, and at the same time cleaning the skin of the sheep. It
therefore appears to be a move in the right direction.
In concluding this series of articles on practical soap making from a
consumer's point of view, the writer hopes that, although the subject
has been somewhat imperfectly handled, owing to necessarily limited
space and with many unavoidable interruptions, yet that they may have
been found of some interest and assistance to consumers of soap who
desire easily and readily to make a pure and unadulterated article for
their own use.
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