ROSIN Soap {yellow soap}.–Fifteen per cent, of rosin can be saponified with potash or soda lye, and mixed with clear, warm tallow soap to a good purpose; more would deteriorate it, although for the cheapest grade of soaps, thirty-three per cent is often added; but such soaps remain soft and clammy, and are unsatisfactory to the consumer. Twelve gallons of strong lye (30° to 36° Beaume) are needed for l00 lbs. of rosin. Some soap-makers melt it with the fat in the commencement of the boiling of the soap, but experience has shown that it is best to prepare a pure tallow soap first, and afterward mix with it the rosin soap, made in a separate kettle. Both soaps in the hot state are to be thoroughly incorporated, by stirring and beating intimately for half an hour, and the whole passed through a wire sieve before transferring to the frames, and therein also well stirred with the crutch. Some palm oil, when saponified along with the tallow, will much improve the appearance of such a soap.
The rosin, previous to its being put in contact with the lye, should be ground fine, and while one workman is occupied in throwing it into the boiler containing the hot lye, another should be constantly occupied in stirring it in, as the mixture easily rises. The heat must not be too rapidly increased, nor is it necessary that it should boil all the time, but merely kept near the boiling point, but it is indispensable to keep stirring the mixture all the time, otherwise caking of the rosin will interfere with the progress of the operation. Saponification will lie completed in about two hours, and then it may be added to die fat about being converted into soap, as above described.
PALM Soap (superior).–Cut thin two pounds of yellow soap into a double saucepan, occasionally stirring it till it is melted, which will be in a few minutes, if the water is kept boiling around it; then add quarter of a pound of palm oil, quarter of a pound of honey, and six cents worth of true oil of cinnamon; let all boil together another six or eight minutes; pour out, and stand it by till next day. It is then fit for immediate use.
CINNAMON Soap.–Palm oil soap, 2 parts; good tallow soap, 3 parts. Reduce to shavings, then liquefy by adding a little water, and placing the mixture in a water bath until perfectly united; next cool to about 135° Fahr., and add finely powdered yellow ochre to color, and a sufficiency of the following perfume : Essence of cinnamon, 7 parts ; essence of bergamot, 2 parts; essence of sassafras, I part. Well mix the whole together and mould.
ORANGE FLOWER Soap.–Palm soap, 2 parts; tallow soap, 3 parts. Mix, as for cinnamon soap, and perfume with the following essences : Essence of Portugal, 8 parts; essence of amber, 7 parts. Mix. Color with the following, as required: Red Lead {Note: use a substitute for this color since this is toxic}, 5 parts; yellow green, 33 parts. Mix.
HONEY Soap. — Cut thin two pounds of yellow soap into a double saucepan, occasionally stirring it till it is melted, which will be in a few minutes if the water is kept boiling around it, then add a quarter of a pound of palm oil, quarter of a pound of honey, three pennyworth of true oil of cinnamon; let all boil together another six or eight minutes; pour out and stand it by till next day; it is then fit for immediate use. If made as these directions it will be found to be a very superior soap