SOAP-ITS MANUFACTURE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Issue 12888, 26 June 1913, Page 2

SOAP-ITS MANUFACTURE.

GILBEUD AND SONS' WORKS

A SMART RECOVERY

LARGE QUANTITY OF WORK

Messrs Gilberd and Sons, soap manufacturers, have mado a isima-rkable recovery after the destructive fire which three months; ago reduced their fine works at Castlecliff to a heap of ruins, and to-lay large new works, fitted with tho most tip-to-date machinery, are in full swing and a large staff is endeavouring, with feverish haste, to overtake tno great number of orders which accumulated during the time the work wns at a standstill. A "Chronicle" reprter visited the works yesterday and spent an interesting hour in watchine: the manufacture of chis most useful, frequently used cleansing agent,_ soap. Tho work-! stfand on the site occupied by the buildings which were gutted by fire, i They consist chiefly of four -oompartI nioiits, namely, the main factory, tallow house, sand-soap room, and store room. The main factory is a large I roomy place of two storeys occupying a floor area of 116 ft Gin x 121 ft. Separated from tho main factory, but connected overhead by a tram line is tho tallow house, which has a floor space of 22ft x 20ft. Adjoining, on the west side, is ! tho sand-soap room 90ft by 28ft 6in., i v.hile apart from the main building is [ the store-room, with .'»n orea of 89ft x 4."> ft. The buildings have a frontage facing the river of 188 feet. The eoap plant is driven, and steam is provided by a4O h.p. multitubul'ar boiler of Murray make." In the stokehole, and imbedded in the ground, is a huge concrete tank .which is supplied with pure eriesian water. Water is pumped from this reservoir to raised iron tanks, from which water is drawn all over the works. Ik.;balled in the stokehole is a powerful pump, which is capable of throwing water fifty feet high. Connected with this is a complete fire fighting plant. A further precaution that has been taken to guard against tho recurrence of fire, which has twice destroyed Messrs Galbcrd and Sons' soap works, is that ail steam pipes are coated with asbestos and placed well away from timber. An engine, which went.through-the fire, and is in fcplendid working order, drives the plant. In the tallcv room over 1000 tins of rough fat and tallow are brought from the butchers and farmers _ every month. Tho tints are dumped into a large pan, the heat is turned on, and the fat is rendered. In this room tho material is purified and cleaned, and while yet in "a liquid state, it is forced thaough a pipe to one of the five huge sc-ap-pans situated upstairs in the main factory. Thp largest of theso pans is capable of holding fourteen tons of tal,lc.w. . Tho brand and varieties of soaps ■made'aro numerous;, the purposes to which, they are .are varaed ; the rr.ater.'-als employed embrace, a:'consider-able'r-ari go of oils, fkts, >and'other bodies, and the processes ladopted undergo many modifications. Soap.is.produced by the combination 'of fatty acids, separated from oils, with alkaline. The soap pan ih charged with tallow and the steam, which is injected from perforated pipes coiled within the pan, is turned on. As soon /as the tallow is melted a quantity of weak lye is added, and the agitation of the injected steam causes the fat and lye to become intimately mixed and produces" a milky emulsion. ~As the lye becomes absorbed, a condition indicated by the taste of the goods, additional quantities of lye of increasing strength aro added. After some time the contents of the pan begin to clear, and become in the end' very transparent. Lye still continues to be poured in till a sim/ple tastes distinctly alkaline, —-a test which indicates that the whole of the fatty acids have been taken up by and combined with the alkali. Then, without farther addition of alkali,- the boiling is continued for a few minutes, when the. soap is ready f oir salting out or "graining." Either oommcln sailt or strong brine in measured quantity is added to the charge, and, the soap being insoluble in such salt solution, ' a separation of constituents takes place: the soap collects on the surface in an, open granular condition and the spent lye sinks to the bottom taf ter it has been left for a short time to settle. The soap is grained off or salted out and the under-lye so thrown down carries with it coloured Impurities which may have been in the materials or which arise from contact with the boiler. The spent Ivo of the washing being drained olf, the soap now receives its strengthening boil. Steam is turned on, and, the mass being brought to a clear condition with weak lyo or water strong lye is added and the boiling continued with cios© steam till: the lye attains euch a stata of concentration that the soap is no longer soluble in it, and it will separate from the caustic lye as from a common salt solution. The contents of the pan are once more allowed to settle, and the soap as now formed, constitutes a pure curd soa-p, carrying with it some proportion of uneombincd alkali, !>>ifc containing the minimum amount of water. The soap is then passed through a crucher where silicate of soda, cmd adulterated mixings, common featnr<;fj to the manufacture, are added. The .soap, after passing through thecrutche.r, whe.ro the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, is passed into iron frames each holding half -a ton. The soap is allowed to harden, and when solid, is cut into slabs and bars. It is then branded and packed for shipment. An interesting by-maaiufacfcur*> is t T<'it of fnrl" "i,,...=+n|.----or washing soda. The ingredients aro placed in a large tank rand a« a result of a simple process of iniectme steam, the constituents chrystallise. The mixture is poured off into vats and allowed to stand. When hard tho solid contents of tiie vats are broken, and some pretty ehrystalline specimens are soon. Tho firm stock about 30 tons of soda. Sand soa-p is manufactured ar»a-rt from tho principal cammoditv. Roup-h mimice, which is procured from the firm's large deposit up the river, is put through a rotary and dried. It is cleaned nnd mixed with the curd so,ap, cut into cakes, dried, and wrapped i'or slrinment

A feature of Messrs Gilbord arid finna' new works is tbo facilities for lvmdling ttio material. Goods f..re rcp-eivod from tho Gastl<?cliff train at tbe door of tho factory nv.d plaoed on «• truck. If tho ■material ha*; to go upstairs the truck-is wlieelfl:! into n l:.ft opsr:ited by a powori'ul winch and tli? truck-load is wheeled to -any r»^rt of the establishment. The firm makes its o*vn boxes, n*"! has ."i Jiand -Rverv m>?inns for dealing wi)th the commodity it ■manufactures. Th-ore i;; a lurfrp Rtoro-inom, n. ro^'iv offi"\ cosy appointments for the girl omulovogs. and every convenience. Outside tho factory is m l.vge quantity of resin which forturoatttly escaped the flro. A whole ti'in-in-load of tallow wa<s on tho mils ready to bo drawn to Castlecliff to be taken away by the Niwaru. Gili>^ixl and Sons' turn out an overage of r<o tons of snap per month, and their well-known brands hav-e an excellent clonwiml whorove-r they are known. The fifm hns orders for t^velve months ahead, and the plant is goinc; at high pressui-C' in order to get out the orders as early as possible.