Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

SOAP-MAKING. 249 tions. In perfuming, essential oils are most commonly used in combinations, and the aim of the perfumer is so to blend the oils that the distinctive odours are retained and rendered effective without harming- the tout o ensemble. Among the oils most frequently employed are oil of lavender, spike oil, Citronelle oil, oil of thyme, and oil of China cinnamon. In the matter of colours we are all acquainted in some degree with the variety which the soap-maker produces. Formerly the manufacturer was restricted to mineral pigments, which had a tendency to colour unequally and to fade on exposure to light. Coal- tar colours, how- ever, which are now employed, have made it possible to pro- duce the most varied, beautiful, and lasting tints. When the soap falls from the drying machine, it is carried in quantities, ac- cording to the system in vogue in the factory, to the perfumer and colourist. He, as the result of careful experiments and tests, has his materials in readiness, and pours the necessary quantity among the creamy white soap. As one watches the operation, one is surprised at the small amount of perfume and colour that is required to permeate the mass. Of colour, for example, ten or twelve ounces suffice for ten hundredweight. Thoroughly to work in the perfume and colour, the soap is taken to the crushing mill, where by passing through a series of heavy rollers it is brought into a pasty condition. Again it is cut up into ribbons, and pours out of the mill like a tinted waterfall—a charming sight. This uniformly perfumed and coloured soap is forced through a tube to mould it into a continuous bar, which is cut into lengths for stamping as tablets. 32 Of the stamping of soap little need be said. It is accomplished either by steam or hand worked machines which are operated by boys or girls. The highly finished tab- lets of toilet soap are generally stamped by hand machines. Nor is it necessary to dilate on the wrapping of the soap, on which so much art is nowadays expended. Wrapping, packing, etc., are the minor operations of every firm dealing in household requisites of convenient size. The work has been on all hands brought to a high state of perfection, and the rapidity with which the girls and boys manipulate the various articles is amazing. The lot of the worker in a soap factory is comparatively pleasant, though, of course, much depends on the character of the accom- modation provided for him. In the larger factories, the conditions are excellent, and the worker has little to complain of. Then, all things considered, the work is not particularly trying. The soap-boiler requires to have an intimate acquaintance with the appearance of his material, so that he may observe the signs of gradual saponification ; but, with the exception of the chemistry of soap and the colouring and perfuming, machinery is so largely used that the worker has a clean, healthy, and comparatively easy task. John Macleay.