IN THE OLD-FASHIONED SOAP KETTLE, ONLY A FEW GALLONS OF SOAP COULD BE MADE AT ONE TIME. Soap and Soap Making Wxeneven YOUR HANDS got dirty, it is an easy matter to get them clean. All you need is water and plenty of CH,CH,CH,CH,CH,CH,CH,CH,CH; (CH,CH,CH,CH,CH,CH,CH,CH,COONa— C,;H,,COONa for short, the sodium salt of stearic acid, a substance more generally known as soap. Soap has been used for cleaning for thousands of years. No one knows who invented it — but the method for making it was passed down from father to son, from mother to daughter. The early soap makers first had to burn wood to get potash (K.CO,—see page. 59) or dried seaweed to get soda ash (Na,CO,).This was treated with lime to make potassium or sodium hydrox- ide (KOH or NaOH — see page 45), and this, in turn, was boiled with fat to make soap. Very much the same method is used today — except that the boiling is done in tremendous soap pans under steam pressure. IN MODERN SOAP PANS, SEVERAL STORIES HIGH, UP TO 100 TONS OF FAT CAN BE TURNED INTO SOAP. STRONG SOAP BUBBLES RESULT WHEN YOU ADD GLYCERIN TO THE SOAP SOLUTION. HERE IS A RECIPE: 5g SOAP, 100 ml WATER, AND 10 ml GLYCERIN. Tis 1s THE WAY SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT SOAP ACTS: ONE Qe END OF THE SOAP MOLECULE IS SOLUBLE IN WATER, THE OTHER END Ih Ol, Whe OIL Is SHAKEN UP IN SOAPY WATER THE SIL oRoE Ane SURROUNDED By Tne SOA? NOLECULES PING © © eowa stints ates nro wae gute waren sone Bibs HOLD THe OL DROMETS SUSPENDED. 4MAKING SOAP MAKE A WATER BATH BY POURING 1 INCH WATER INTO A TIN CAN, @ MELT 10 g SHORTENING (“CRISCO” OR SIMILAR PRODUCT) IN‘A CUSTARD CUP ON THE WATER BATH, @ osowe 5 g SODIUM HYDROXIDE (NaOH) IN 15 WATER. ADD 15 ml DENATURED ALCOHOL (TO SPEED UP THE ACTION). FOUR THIS SOLUTION INTO THE MELTED SHORTENING WHILE STIRRING. CONTINUE. HEATING AND STIRRING UNTIL A SMALL SAMPLE DIS. SOLVES COMPLETELY IN. TEST TUBE WATER. THE SOAP MAKING [SAPONIZATION) IS THEN COMPLETED, TESTING SOAP AND DETERGENTS ms yar @ Tp F A JAR. POUR THE DISSOLVE 1 g OF YOUR HOME. P ‘SOAP CURDS INTO CHEE: MADE SOAP IN 50_ml LUKE- LUTION DRAIN OFF. Ws WARM WATER. ALSO. MAKE TWO TEST TUBES OF IC SOLUTIONS IN’ 50 mi WATER , TO REMOVE MOST OF OF 1 g TOILET SOAP, I g SOAP FLAKES, 1 g SOAP POWDER, FINALLY, SQUEEZE O SPREAD 1g POWDERED DETERGENT, IT THE CHEESE CLO DRY. AND 1 mil LIQUID DETERGENT. POUR 1001 OF mH Soar ano ome Ia i (er Sa SMB aa ie Ho LL WITH LITMUS PAPER AND PHENOLPHTHALEIN. z @ sues 5 ozors oF o1 ITO each sow. IN. NOTE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY THE SOLUTIONS MAKE EMULSION WITH OIL. le le AGAIN, POUR 10 ml OF EACH SOLUTION TO SEPARATE TEST TUBES. ADD 5 ml UIME- WATER TO EACH. SHAKE AND NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE AMOUNT OF FOAM MADE BY EACH SOLUTION IN THIS “HARD" WATER,