14-05-2013, 02:35 PM
SOAPS
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INTRODUCTION
Soaps are useful for cleaning because soap molecules have both a hydrophilic end,which dissolves in water, as well as a hydrophobic end, which is able to dissolvenonpolar grease molecules. Although grease will normally adhere to skin or clothing,the soap molecules can form micelles which surround the grease particles and allowthem to be dissolved in water. The hydrophobic portion (made up of a longhydrocarbon chain) dissolves dirt and oils, while the ionic end dissolves in water.Therefore, it allows water to remove normally-insoluble matter by emulsification.
SOAP HISTORY
Traditionally, soap has been manufactured from alkali (lye) and animal fats (tallow),although vegetable products such as palm oil and coconut oil can be substituted for tallow. American colonists had both major ingredients of soap in abundance and sosoap making began in America during the earliest colonial days. Tallow came as a by- product of slaughtering animals for meat, or from whaling. Farmers produced alkali asa by-product of clearing their land; until the nineteenth century wood ashes served asthe major source of lye. The soap manufacturing process was simple, and mostfarmers could thus make their own soap at home.The major uses for soap were in the household, for washing clothes and for toiletsoap, and in textile manufacturing, particularly for fulling, cleansing, and scouringwoolen stuffs. Because colonial America was rural, soap making remained widelydispersed, and no large producers emerged.The growth of cities and the textile industry in the early nineteenth century increasedsoap usage and stimulated the rise of soapmaking firms. By 1840, Cincinnati, then thelargest meatpacking center in the United States, had become the leading soap-makingcity as well. The city boasted at least seventeen soap factories, including Procter andGamble (established 1837), which was destined to become the nation's dominant firm.A major change in soap making occurred in the 1840s when manufacturers began toreplace lye made from wood ashes with soda ash, a lye made through a chemical process. Almost all soap makers also produced tallow candles