Soap: In our daily life we use different forms of soap. We can’t imagine a single day without the use of soap. It is an essential part of cleanliness in our civilized society.
There are three different forms of soap available in the market. These are Soap Bars, Detergent Powders and Liquid Soaps. Now we will discuss how these are manufactured in detail.
Bar Soap: The raw materials in bar soaps are fats, fatty acids and inorganic water-soluble bases. Fats are extracted from mutton tallow, beef, coconut, palm and palm kernel oils. After extracting the raw material it goes to a treatment plant to make it pure.
A continuous process makes it into a liquid form of soap. During the process glycerin is produced as a byproduct. The neat liquid soap then goes through a process called vacuum spray drying, to form dry soap palette.
In the final phase the dry palettes go to the finishing line. An amalgamator blends soap palettes with all other ingredients, colorants and fragrance. In a rolling mill and refining plodder the soap palettes are then homogenized and refined. In this section the soaps palettes get the desired texture. Then the palettes are cut into the bar size and in a press unit the stamping process is done.
Detergent Soaps: In the case of powder detergents three processes are used. These are dry mixing, spray mixing and agglomeration. Spray drying process combines all constituents into a thick suspension in a big tank. The thick suspension is then heated and lifted to the top of a tower by pumping it. At the top of the tower small nozzles spray the suspension with high pressure. It creates small droplets. These droplets fall from the top of the tower. When they fall, they pass through hot air. It makes the droplets into dry granules. These granules are then collected from the base of tower and run through a screening process. This process makes all the granules uniform in size. These uniform sized granules are cooled and some enzymes, fragrance and bleach are added.
Using new and latest technology in soap manufacturing makes high-density granules. In these granules percentage of air is very low. By doing this the granules can be packed in a smaller packet.
Liquid Detergents: To make Liquid Soaps two processes are used. These are continuous blending process and batch kettle boiling process. Added stabilizers ensure the stability and uniformity of the end product.
During the continuous blending process in a mixer dry and liquid ingredients are blended to make a stable and uniform mixture. In recent times, high-energy mixing processes have been introduced. In this process some stabilizing agents are used.
Packaging: Packaging is the final step of soap making. Bar soaps are first packed in single packs. Large numbers are packed in cartons. Detergent powders are packed in pouches, cans or bags. Good packaging can increase sales and hence soap manufacturers lay emphasis on good packaging.
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