however, waste so much time and trouble in effecting the end in view,
and, as you know, "Time is money" in these days of work and competition.
After making a soap test as described above, and knowing the quantity of
water used, it is, of course, easy to calculate the annual loss of soap
caused by the hardness of the water. The monthly consumption of soap in
London is 1,000,000 kilograms (about 1000 tons), and it is estimated
that the hardness of the Thames water means the use of 230,000 kilograms
(nearly 230 tons) more soap per month than would be necessary if soft
water were used. Of course the soap manufacturers around London would
not state that fact on their advertising placards, but rather dwell on
the victorious onslaught their particular brand will make on the dirt in
articles to be washed, in the teeth of circumstances that would be
hopeless for any other brand of soap! I have referred to the sticky and
adhesive character of the compounds called lime soaps, formed in hard
waters. Now in washing and scouring wool and other fibres, these sticky
lime soaps adhere so pertinaciously that the fibres, be they of wool,
silk, or any other article, remain in part untouched, impermeable to
mordant or colouring matter, and hence irregular development of colour
must be the consequence. Also an unnatural lustre or peculiar bloom may
in parts arise, ruining the appearance of the goods. In some cases the
lime soaps act like mordants, attracting colouring matter unequally, and
producing patchy effects. In the dye-baths in which catechu and tannin
are used, there is a waste of these matters, for insoluble compounds are
formed with the lime, and the catechu and tannin are, to a certain
extent, precipitated and lost. Some colours are best developed in an
acid bath, such as Cochineal Scarlet, but the presence of the
bicarbonate of lime tends to cause neutralisation of the acidity, and so
the dyeing is either retarded or prevented. Such mordants as "red
liquor" and "iron liquor," which are acetates of alumina and iron
respectively, are also wasted, a portion of them being precipitated by