US1719251A - Saponified composition - Google Patents

Description

Patented July 2, 1929.

PATENT oFFIcE.

HARRY MI. WEBER, OF BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 ELLIS-FOSTER COM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SAPONIFIED COMPOSITION.

No Drawing.

This invention relates to a process of making asaponified product containing unsaponified oil adapted for use as a shampoo cream or paste and relates in particular to a product containing saponified cocoanut or pa m kernel oil incorporated with unsaponified oil in such amanneras to produce a substantially smooth paste having free lathering properties.

In the preparation of soaps intended for shampoo purposes it has been proposed in the past to completely saponify an oil such as cocoanut oil and make a solution of such saponified product either aqueous or alcoholic to yield a preparation-which is placed on the market forshampooing purposes. Such products oftentimes contain excess alkali which has injurious effects and they are also bulky due to the large amount of water or other solvent employed. In the present invention it is particularly the object to produce a highly concentrated shampooing material which will have no objectionable amounts of free alkali and which will have a tendency to leave in the scalp a beneficial amount of a vegetable or mineral oil. The product also may be suitably medicated if desired and likewise suitably perfumed but in the present invention it is especially an objectto carry out the process under conditions which will afford a composition that has a pleasing odor in itself or one which has no objectionable odor but has an odor indicative of the origin of the oil employed,

thus the use of strong perfumes to cover up the odor of ill smelling oils or rancid soaps is avoided and a product obtained which will immediately indicate to the user the nature of the materials employed and also that they have been; derived in a cleanly manner without rancid conditions.

The basis of the lathering component of my composition is preferably cocoanut oil. This when saponified has remarkable lathering properties and such oil together with palm kernel oil have lathering qualities greatly superior to the other common saponi fication oils, The preparation of cocoanut oil soap which has no objectionable odor is however not an easy matter. Oocoanut oil 1 as obtained is often rancid and in boiling down withalkali to make a soap further rancldification may occur. Alsoif any un-' saponified cocoanut or similar kind of oil is present during the drying. out process em- Application filed October 4, 1920, Serial No. 414,616. Renewed March 6, 1926.

place imparting a very undesirable odor to the soap. Furthermore it is preferable to have the soap practically free from free alka-. li so that the only alkali developed in use is substantially that produced by hydrolysis of the soap. In order to produce a substantially neutral'product I prefer to proceed in the following manner. The cocoanut oil is saponified with an excess of alkali preferably caustic soda when a hard soap is desired. In some cases for particularly soft preparations caustic potash may be employed but in the preferred embodiment of the in vention caustic soda is the alkali used. The cocoanut oil may be saponified as stated with an excess of caustic soda, using suflicient water, boiling being continued until the oil is as nearly completely saponified as possible.

brine and the soap precipitate thus obtained re-dissolved and again precipitated by the addition of brine or salt. The product then is practically free from free alkali and may be dried. Preferably a temperature of 100-110 C. is employed in drying the soap.

As ordinarily prepared from the grades of cocoanut oil available the dried product will have an odor slightly to strongly rancid and if the product is incorporated with sweet vegetable oil (i. e. vegetable oil substantially free from acidity) under these conditions the latter may have imparted to it an objectionable odor. In order to remove the hydrocarbons, aldehydes or other bodies giving this rancid odor the dried. soap may be washed with a solvent for these bodies (for example ether) which removes all such rancid smell and gives a white powder practically free from odor and which may be 1ncorporated with the oil without sacrificing the odor of the latter.

Powder so obtained is then mixed with the oily base, the latter being a clean peanut oil, well refined cocoanut oil,,olive oil, or similar vegetable oil or it may be petroleum oil of a refined character such for example as white mineral oil or Russian mineral oil, petrolatum or purified soft greasy material from mineral oil. Preferably the composition contains a greater proportion of the soa than the oil. Oils such as here'mentioned are liquid or of a soft conslstency, and are hereinafter referred to s s l as distinguishing from normally hardand solid oils. The oils above mentioned are substantially stable when exposed to the at lathering properties and containing only a moderate amount of the healing or medicating oil. Hence a major proportion of the soap powder is used, preferably two to three parts of the powder to one part of the oil. This is preferably ground with the oil until a smooth paste results, depending on the consistency of the oil. The proportion of the latter may be varied according-to conditions. Enough soap is preferably used to afford a paste which holds its consistency well without separation of oil from the solid soap. Hence an oil of the nature of Russian petroleum oil requires a greater amount of the soap powder to produce such a paste than does an oil of more consistent character such as cocoanut oil. powder with the oil in this mannerappears to be a highly useful step in producing a composition of the desired consistency, as it not only enables the use of a lesser amount of oil but also affords a composition from which the oil component does notrun or separate in an objectionable manner;

As an illustration of the manner in which the process of the present invention may be carried out and a desirable product produced the following is given: 1

50 parts by weight of cocoanut oil was saponified with 12.5 parts by weight of canstic soda. The caustic soda was first dis-' solved in sufiicient water to make a 20% solution. The saponification was started by diluting a portion (say half) of the 20% solution with double its volume of water, heating the dilute caustic soda solution to the boiling point and the cocoanut oil. was then added slowly. After saponification had started the'rest of the alkali in. the form of a strong 20% solu tion'of caustic soda was gradually added, while maintaining the solution at the boiling point. When the saponification was complete the soap formed was salted out by meansof a strong salt brine. The soap was separated from the spent lye and brine solution. It was thenredissolved in boiling water and again thrown out of solution by means of a strong salt brine. The soap was then dried at 100-110 ;C. until the product crumbled readily on crushmg. The soap was. then ground to pass a 50 mesh screen and. was then extracted in the cold wlth ether. The soap product obtamed was a white odorless powder.

r 24 parts by weight of the abovesoap stock (1. e., the purified whitesoap) was then ground with 14 parts by weight of a highly refined cocoanut oil until a smooth creamy Grinding the dry soap paste was obtained. There was no difference in the odor of the shampoo paste formed and the, odorof the original highly refined cocoanut oil. The product obtained was eminently suited for purposes of shampoomg.

lVhile I have mentioned ether as an extraction medium to remove rancid material I may also use other volatile solvents which do not dissolve soap readily and which do not leave any objectionable odor in the product as for example well rectified carbon bisulphide or benzol may be used.

In carrying out the foregoing operations I prefer to obtain an anhydrous product or one that is practically free from moisture especially when the oil employed is of vegetable origin. For example cocoanut oil directly obtained from thefresh fruit has a very pleasing cocoanutoil odor which is quickly destroyed in contact with moisture or alkali. Therefore in order to preserve this odor for a considerable time at least I prefer to have the oil dry and the dcodorized soap powder free from moisture. To this end strong drying should be resorted to, to give a well desiccated product.

salts of thefatty acids, prepared for ex- 9 ample by saponifying a fat with an alkali. It is not intended to employ this term to embrace fatty acid salts nor resin acid salts of the alkaline earth metals, such alkaline earth metal compounds being generally insoluble in water. It is furthermore not in tended to cover in this specification compositions in which resin acids are used in large amounts (i. e. inamount equal to or in excess of the amount of fatty matter) in preparing the soap.

lVhat I claim is 1.. The process of making a shampoo composition which comprises saponifying cocoanut oil with an excess of caustic soda, salting out to separate the soap from free alkali, drying and extracting with a solvent capable of removing rancid material, eliminating the solvent and grinding the-prod uct with a minor proportion of an voil vehicle to produce a paste.

2. A process of .making a composition suitable as a shampoo in the form of a creamy mixture, which comprises the step of mixing together substantially anhydrous water-soluble soap substantially free from rancid constitutents commonly present in cheap soaps, with a dry non-rancid cleansmelling vegetable fatty oil substantially stable in the atmosphere, in such proportions as to :form a creamy mass, the mixing being conducted so as to produce a substantially uniform mixture.

3. A process of making a shampoo material which comprises mixing together tially free from rancid constituents con'h;

monly present in cheap soaps, from which the odoriferous compounds have been re- 5 moved, together with a clean highly refined,

. dry'non-rancid oil substantially stable in the atmosphere, the mixing being so conducted as to produce a substantially uniform mixture o'f'said materials.

LA shampoo composition, Comprising a liquid to pasty mass comprisingra minor pro-- substantially neutral dry water-soluble soap,

free from the rancid odor-normally present in soaps made from somewhat rancid grease.

HARRY M. WEBER}