Soap-Making.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 67, 20 February 1885, Page 4

Soap-Making.

(Paper read by Mr. T. D. Cummings, at the Wanganui Progress and industrial Association on the 1 Ith February, 1885), ' : ' i<! - n !ln preparing this. paper, 90 so, interesting a subject, and to make 'it more readityle, I, have .not ponfined 1 myself to ,a bare : cpmpcndium of sta- ; |istics and facts, but have introduced a superficial treatise .^on, the e,arty origin of soap-making.'. I have been assisted in my , task .by. iriforniation gleaned from works ' by i:reliajile\'authbrs. The manufacture of soap has been in a v rneasu're known and followed for many "ages, proving V a source of industry to various Rations and individuals, tt may' therefore ye interesting if I attempt trace, its origin and progress" as indicated by the writings of the earliest .authors. Pliny, the Roman jiistorian, informs us that the art of :sbap- ' making was the, invention of |tlVe G&uls, and that the article made &y them was a eom.bjnatiqn. o£ goa€s fat and the ashes of the beech tree. [The Romany- jeyen^tually /acquired; this knoAyJe&ge.fVqm the Gauls, by whopfi this of. ,-industry . . s oon spread' over Europe. Who ever may have been the originators of soap- making the Romans were un-doiibtedly-l^rnliat^with^^ Jspfi $e read that a soap-maker's shop with itsi utensils and*prodiicts erod among the ruins and ashes of Pompeii which wasdesift^oyedby-an eruption of Mount 1 Versurvius in the ; first century -of, the /Era. , Before I deal further with less remote times, 1 wdi ' endeavour 'to answer the' ijuestioii, '" w hat 'substi-tutes-were iitiployed' previous to the 4nveptj(ni 6f ! s,oap f* &)ap both hard find asr ibis' well known' is produced ;by tfie' tinjon of fats and alkalis; by hard* soap t mean as is made with' spcla, ,spft soap 1 being made _ wJtn^'potash'VifQir,.' its,, tyasi.s. ; Wjater^a^n.^jw.ni not re,mpye .greasy . surface to which it may adhe^,* ; .\>ut.,-a eolation;, of soap being always more or less, alkaline w,i)l render the ; greese or, ? dirt freely '^nSisci^le' in ; WaW,' 'so. that it can be 'easily' erased. The,, gall >of animus .and ttye ;i jujce of ,, certain plants also possess the properties of removing dirt and dust. In Mexico atlthe present time' the pitch oi : «t tree is used for i cleansing 1 purposes, and the office in a 1 remark--<ably;M satisfactory- manner; r The : ancients : iised a peculiar kind of clay j f> r which was pounded in the' clothes, to be cleanse'd ' by a round stone in waterj and;l a m inforrned thafcVtlie'Fijiaris and' natives of* the SbutK Sea Islands use .a similar methofii. In ancient writings, we are informed that the , ashes, and ; lyes made from ashes,, was used as a detergent. This simple method of cleansing is not unfrequently now « used for scouring foiled paint/ The cheapest and most common article, "nojwever used 'as I 'a detergentj was the urine of men. and animals. This wp, not ;1 00 .y ( ears. s}nce., t . actuary employed in the clotli manufactories of Leeds and Halifax . rand ;ptjier. : . places in .England. To obtain' a supplyi of it,, the ancients del ■ posited at 'the, epenqrs of the, streets special , vessels,- fwhicli, .they emptied as sppn as filie4]by .the . passers-by, who were at liberty— even expected to use them. It has been authentically established that hr the eighth Vcentury ,ther(B were numerpus, soap factories in Italy, and Spain, \ in ; ; tlie /thirteenth'-. century soap bwas in.tro- ; :duced into France. The first soap factories' were established at - M ariseilles, which ancient^city was, as ; it fwefre,- 'the" 'cradle of industry. The •abundance of olive oil and 'barilla^ a naUyje^^ifida^jisL^^dpjabX^^addJiig. -materially to the cause. Frpm France •iße 6 »ar^"*' so6n ** spread to 'England, some time prior, to the year '1 500. Soap ' was for a ; fo'rig time 'made there i^'pm sodas obtained by burning sea shore plant,, kelp, aiid "lea- weed, wfiich 'generally produces more strerigth bf soda from their , : 9slfes~THarr dflfer ' lei ii'ds. In tlVe , jieav. ity rti mi)ered parts of America, ' .where the settlers have to clear off /their Lands' by bufmiig, large quah- ; tities of spda are. gathered from the ashes,' or astrpng lye made ,ty fir. tration,'"aiHTit / i& a co'mmdri' thing there for housewives to make their p wiretap" iff "n "simple" iffatinw ~by " beiling the : resulting lyes ' with the refusefat'fVom the kitclten 1 : I have seen feirly^good potashes made—inthe Manawatu district, but my own pbservatioh' goes t6 'show ♦ asHfes frpm New Zealand timbers give a very small percentage of '•'•po&isK.f Tiill within the last 20 years or so,^ the 'preparation of lyes frdhi potash' was' a most tedious operation td the soa'p maker, as it had to be causticis|ed with lime before hard soaps could Ibe manufactured, aud tlie strength washed' from the mixture of limc.and potash to prevent waste. „The s.oap maker is , now saved all this laborous work by the .use of prepared caustic soda for making hard soaps. It is principally " manufactui'ed from s^alt or sea water. Soda is also found. in a natural state on the continent of America ; in Venezuela, and Mexico. The amount of native soda is, however,, wholly inadequate to the. demand. I The best quality of native spda is ' - fouufl in Spain and the Levant j and is called Barrijla, ' The art of soapmaking has been completely revolur tionized during the past 25 vears ; i^n'rst, through" the use of prepared caustic sodi# and^secoridl v,' thVough the introduction .of soluble .glass Into its manufacture. This latter article was first brought into use at 'the^ime^ the* American-' War,' when resin rose to such, a price as to practically* put it,'otft of tlle^each of the soap nicker,; ft' is' 'claimed 'by . so rife;; aiid ? think rightly 'too^iliat; silj^ate.pf sosjaii J an adulterant^ that,

is iused solely , for the purpose of adulterating pure soap wiih a view cf mailing it at>a- lesser.price to thef consifrfier. ' In c6min r crce,ii6w, s\vch' a commodity as pure soap is not to :- bq found,' ; because' the, consumer wpuld not pay the price required tQ produce it. The various grades, denominated as, say, Household, Crown, .--Double .(Jvqwn,(&t?.^are simply. p.urV soap \adiliter*atM Mth a* soluUdit'of silicates of soda, m such a degree as, to suit the price and quality dc-sij-ed. -by -r the-merchant, and colored wittipajin.pil. The materials . used-, m the manfacture of soap are tallbw', or animal 01: vegetable oils, caustic of soda* (potash for soft soaps), p'aliii' oil, silicate of soda, resin.*''and cdm^-; monsalt.: It will be noticed therefore that thb only product we hafvc within ourselves entering into its composition is tallow, and this artiple m a niuch; siiialler degree than is eummonly supposed^ ' the cheap grades not containing mqrq/thap) 25 per cent of tallow, the remaining 75 per cent being filled up in ■>resini soda, and solution of silicateof soda. The question has <been -irepeatedly aspd me: Will soap-maid rig >pay''in Wanganui ? and, Why have we riot a soap factory ? It may seem i ab^ surd'atfirst sight, 4 taking^ll to consideVaiTion the univ^saHty -'of the'tike of; sdap and'the qiiahtities' that must be sold! on this Coast; but .itis a fact'nevertheless' that the industry will never pay more;than 1 {j-.bare interest on the capital.,.expended tjili Wangariuijs m a con^itjon to an export trade. To cam pete . successfully, agajnst the large, qenjresj of population where..eveyy facility is at hand for importing material .and^expqrting soap, it would be necessary tojhave an output of 10 to 15 tons per week;- The;whole consumption of .this Coast is considerably- 1 less than that; aqd it would be found impracticable to retain 50 per cent, of the trade, prejudice against local manufacture, ahd other causey the freights on; 'material inwards and outwards, freight bn soap^ and otb.er charges beihg taken into consideration.. The argument is Wjte'n {iised,, we can purchase fat or tallow cheaper; m Wanganui ,tlian( elseyliei^e; this .idea, is very niythical when put iritp( practice. Again, there are several factories within, the colony that manufacture stearine candles as well as soap, and these factories have a big pull-over soap factories alone isasmuch as the: large profits made m the manufacture of candles allows the manufacturer to sell the soap at a lower rate than one who mariufacr itures soap alone, inasmuch as tHe soap is manufactured from the refuse after the extraction of the stearine for candle-making purposes. I have endeavoured to ascertain,from the" Registrar-General the amount of soap, manufactured within, .the colony annually, but have been, unable: to get a correct return, ;from tlie fact that some manufacturers have returned m, tons: and others, m money value; others again m .tons and money value, including candles. I'estimate the amount at 22,500 ,tons> There &Fe '■ fifteen soap factories, five of which manufacture as well stearine candles. The value of those machinery building's,'&c.', was, >t April Ist, 1881, «i J37,320. The number of hands employed are 108 males; of these factories 4 are m Auckland, 1 Wellington, 1 Nelson, 1 Masterton, 1 Christ'cinirch, 1 Invercargillj 1 Dunedin, and 1 Palmefstori North. The return is scar- , cely, ..ho\jewer, complete, as at. that time there .were $ m Dunedin incstead qf one, as returned. Some eigljt years ago there.iWere.also.Jrin ;Wanganui vl Taranaki, and 1 Napier; these latter have all closed, principally from the-fiict that they 'were unable to compete against the larger factories, m. the centres of population. Since, penning; the foregoing, the ,Palmerston North Factory has suspended operations, and the company is now m liquidation, finding it impossible -to make the ventnre pay, thus bearing out'the arguments.adduced by me; Should however, m the face of these facts, any citizen be anxious to embark m the industry, I shall be most happy t6 aftpcd.any information that is m my pqwer. ;, , ; ; : : •.^