Soaps, Inks, Detergents and Cosmetics:

SOAPS:
Since ancient times Ultramarine Blue has been used for tinting soap.

The incorporation of Ultramarine Blue in soap is made by a suspension of the pigment in water or in a sodium silicate solution. When Ultramarine Blue dispersion is done in tanks with soap, the suspension must be stirred constantly.

In the pigmentation of washing soap Ultramarine Blue is used at levels of 0.5% to 1% on the dry weight of the soap, depending on multiple factors as colour and quality of the fats, desired colour to be obtained, etc.

With Ultramarine Blue a MOTTLED blue soap can be obtained, introducing the Ultramarine to the soap in liquid state and forcing it to coagulate. The random formation of pigment aggregations gives to the soap a mottled appearance.

By Injecting the Ultramarine Blue suspension in water or silicate solution during the soap extrusion, striped soaps are made, it means that blue stripes of one shade appear, or a range of hues if it is combined with other pigments or colorants.

In bath and toilet soap the good properties of the Ultramarine Blue from the point of view of the toxicity foment their use, though it is must lower for this type of soaps than for the cloth washing consumption ones.

The great advantage of the use of Ultramarine Blue in soaps is the high whiteness of the washed clothes. When rubbed on the humid clothes and posterior rinsing. the fine particles of Ultramarine Blue are suspended in the water and are retained by the cloth fibres. When the clothes are dry, the fine, imperceptible particles of the Ultramarine Blue absorb the yellow wavelength and do not allow it to be reflected, with that the whiteness effect is higher when the reflection of the yellowish bands that gives a dirty aspect is eliminated. The yellowing the clothes is produced by the cloth itself with time.

For soap colouring,all types of Ultramarine Blue can be used, though traditionally the reddish shades with less tinting strength have been preferred. When the soap is coloured with blue it is to give intense blue shades and no other pigments take part, neither white nor coloured, for that reason it can be compared to a paint, ink or plastic that just use the ultramarine in its full shade. The tinting strength, in this case, is not important, rather the shade intensity. As is known, the reddish shades and the ones of less strength are of a more intense hue than the light ones, and this property is which most soap manufacturers give importance to.

INKS:
Ultramarine Blue is appropriate for many types of printing inks. Given the fineness of the film printed, the types of Ultramarine Blue used in this sector must be the most micronized ones and with the highest tinting strength.

The "P" types have a very oleophilic particle surface. But the standard Ultramarine Blue types have a very hydrophilic particle surface, so they go from the ink to the water solution during the lithographic printing. The "P" types have an excellent water resistance, being specially indicated for lithographic inks.

In typographic inks the ‘P’ types can be used due to their better affinity for the vehicle, although standard types can be used as well.

The characteristic shade, good pigmentary properties and the atoxicity of the ultramarines the new qualities of best tinting strength and present the possibility of increasing use in this industry. The low opacity of the Ultramarine Blue is a benefit for printing in the three-colour process and certain inks which must not be opaque. In thick printings the low opacity of the Ultramarine Blue is not a problem.

Because of its, heat resistance Ultramarine Blue can be used in metaloggraphic inks which are rapidly cured in an oven, Ultramarine Blues are universally approved for use in printing inks for food containers.

Ultramarine Blue has excellent rheologic properties, in liquid inks as well as in fat ones. The best possibilities of use for the Ultramarine Blue in liquid inks is in the ones oriented to the flexographic printing, where it is very used. In this type of inks the pigmentation levels of Ultramarine Blue can reach the 40%. To improve the opacity of a flexographic ink, formulated only with Ultramarine Blue, a 5% of titanium dioxide must be added on the total percentage of blue.

The addition of titanium dioxide decreases the colour intensity but increases the opacity. Applying of film of ink of 2-3 microns it is more intense with titanium dioxide than without. Despite the decrease of intensity produced by the titanium dioxide, the Ultramarine shade is clear and with is characteristic blue.

DETERGENTS:
Detergents incorporate Ultramarine Blue in their formula to obtain best whiteness results and correct the natural yellowing or produced by wear, in textile fibres.

For this aim, optical whiteners are also used, which improve the white of the fabrics, but exposition to sunlight degrades them. The optical whiteners absorb invisible ultraviolet light, emitting visible light and thus increasing the total reflectance of the white surface, giving a luminous appearance. Ultramarine Blue works differently by absorbing the yellow light, avoiding its reflection.

The Ultramarine Blue is caught mechanically in the fibre structure, meaning that a physical introduction in the fabric is done, while the optical whitener has a surface incorporation. Because of the lowest particle size of the Ultramarine Blue and its water affinity it can be eliminated with further washings, forming a little structure with repeated washes and rinses. For this reason and for its high light resistance the ultramarine is better than the optical whiteners for this application, and moreover they tend to degenerate optically, when they are exposed to light, producing by themselves yellow hues.

The synergy between optical whiteners and Ultramarine Blues recommended, which complement their actions and give good results. They are two products totally compatible that join their whitening effects and cover a wider spectrum under solar and artificial light.

The notion of whiteness is very subjective and though it is instrumentally possible to determinate the degree of whiteness, it is surprising how unanimously people rate the whiteness of a fabric washed with detergent without Ultramarine Blue. It is popularly known that "blue means whiteness" and that white-blue looks cleaner.

Pretty blue coloured granules in detergents can be obtained by adding 0.15 to 0.25% of Ultramarine Blue. The incorporation is made preparing a concentrated solution of Ultramarine Blue in water, which is added in a little proportion to the non-coloured detergent powder, before atomisation.

Darker granules can be produced increasing the proportion of ultramarine in the mixture or covering the surface of tripolyphosphate in granules with an aqueous solution of Ultramarine Blue. The operation can be done in a belt mixer. The tripolyphosphate will absorb 10% of its own weigh from the water and so a further drying will not be needed. Coatings with more than 5% of Ultramarine Blue can be obtained. Mixing a part of these granules with the non-coloured granules of the detergent, the characteristic mottled product is obtained.

COSMETICS:
The bright shade and low toxicity of ultramarine Blue is the most appreciated quality in this peculiar industry.

For its use in cosmetics, ultramarine has to be free of a certain number of impurities and should also have no more than 20 ppm of lead, no more than 3 ppm of arsenic and no more than 1 ppm of mercury.

Ultramarines are used in eye shadows, face powders and artistic make-ups. They disperse easily in all kinds of products : oil, water or basic giving blue, violet and pink colour which are very popular for these applications.

International normative admits the use of Ultramarine Blue in this industry.