TESTS FOR MILDNESS OF SOAP

Abstract

The importance of using a mild soap is appreciated by almost every one who has used a variety of soap products. The United States leads the world in soap consumption, and a considerable part of the 25 pounds (11.3 Kg.) of soap per capita used every year in this country comes into contact with human skin. This soap varies in kind, as well as in composition, from the milder toilet bars to the heavy duty laundry products. The superiority in mildness of good toilet soaps over the strong powders and granules used for laundering is generally accepted, but differences among soaps intended specifically for cleansing the skin are not apparent to such a large proportion of the population. Such differences do exist, however, and it is the purpose of this paper to present methods devised especially for the controlled measurement of small differences in mildness of soap. In view of