STAMPING MACHINE

This is used to print the name and trade mark of the producer into products. Stamping machine is in various sizes and designs. It could be automated or manual.

CARTONS

These are containers used for packaging our products to the market.

MESURERING INSTRUMENTS

These are containers used for measuring the proportion of chemicals needed to produce a quality product, the same container must be used to measure the required quantity of chemicals needed for the production.

NOTE: Aluminum containers must not be used as measuring instruments in soap factories because of the chemical effect on caustic soda on aluminum, instead, plastic or metal containers are used.

FERMENTING TANKS

FERMENTING TANKS

Some chemicals are in solid or powdery state and need to be converted to liquid before use e.g. caustic soda, soda ash e.t.c. Conversion of the powdery or solid chemical to liquid is done by aiding a specified quantity of water to it inside the fermenting tanks for a specified period of time. Fermenting tanks are found in various sizes and capacity.

MOULD

MOULD

This is where soap solution is kept to solidify after mixing properly.

There are three types of moulds namely;

· Plastic moulds

· Metal moulds, and

· Wooden moulds.

The best is the plastic mould which is not only durable but guarantees the standard and size of the soap. As for the partitioned mould, trade mark is engraved into it. Below are the comparisons of the three types of moulds.

Comparisons of Plastic, Metal and Wooden Moulds

Plastic	Metal	Wooden
It costs most.	It costs lesser	It costs least
It lasts most	Its equally last	It does not last
It does not rust	It rusts after using and must be oiled	It brings out mucous
It retains the size of the soap	It does too	Soaps produced with this do shrink.
Soap produced here is always smooth	Soap produced is little a bit smooth	It is not smooth
Soap here does not dry in time.	It does dry in time	It does dry in time

CUTTING MACHINE

CUTTING MACHINE

It is used to cut soap into tablets after it has solidified well. The setting of the machine to cut into any size depends on the manufacturer, that is to say cutting machine is adjustable. Cutting machine could be found in various sizes and designs. It could be automated or manual. While the manual has strings fabricated to the cutting table at the centre which cuts soap into sizes when pulled across it with human effort, the automated type pulls the soap across the strings with the aid of electricity. The latter saves time and labor. Cutting is avoided if inbuilt partitioned moulds are used.

HYDROMETER

HYDROMETER

This instrument is used to determine the concentration of the chemicals e.g. caustic soda, soda ash e.t.c. It is the chemical concentration that determines the quality of the final product. Likewise, the quality of the chemical solution in grams or kilograms depends on the chemical concentration determined by hydrometer which may call for addition of more water or chemical. To have accurate concentration so as to avoid the corrosive effect, the importance of hydrometer cannot be over emphasized. Hydrometer is fragile and such must be handled with care.

In using hydrometer, if the chemical solution level is above the expected number on the scale of the hydrometer, its concentration is said to be high, more water is added in order to achieve the desired concentration. On the other hand if the chemical solution is below the expected number on the scale of the hydrometer, its concentration is said to be low so more chemical is added to give the required concentration.