ABSTRACT
Glycerine is widely used in many kinds of bar soaps, often at relatively high levels, particularly in transparent soaps. Economic recovery of the glycerine is important because of the higher value of the glycerine than the finished soap. A slight reduction in throughput can be expected because glycerine reduces the vapor pressure and heat capacity of soap. Enhanced transparency and translucency, skin conditioning, lather improvement, improved appearance and processing are some of the important functions of glycerine in bar soap formulas. The prerefining step is necessary when a high level of glycerine is blended into soap pellets. More evidence of the benefit of glycerine to skin came from visual analysis of photographs of skin replicates which revealed fewer features associated with roughness from the glycerine bar. Opaque and translucent soaps may also contain therapeutic levels of glycerine, although this requires special process considerations.
