Journal of Science and Technology Research 1(3) 2019 pp.

117-123 ISSN-2682-5821

Shoes polish production using the concept of chemical engineering process

Ofunne Charles
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Benin, Ugbowo, Edo State Nigeria.

ARTICLE INFORMATION ABSTRACT

Article history: The popularity of shoe polishes started in mid-19th century and continued
Received 19 June 2019 throughout the 20th century leading to the rise of leather and synthetic shoe
Revised 02 July 2019 manufacture. Substances like wax and tallow have been used as starting
Accepted 15 July 2019 materials for shoe polish hundreds of years ago, and these material
Available online 6 Dec. 2019 combinations are still in use today. Modern shoe polish production
employed a mixture of natural and synthetic materials that include wax,
lanolin, naphtha, ethylene glycol; turpentine, oil soluble dyes, and gum
Keywords: Arabic were processed by straight forward chemical engineering method.
Shoe polish, leather, Flow charts are drawn to show typical industrial process; the material
synthetic/starting materials, balances are conducted through accumulation in which 70% and 30% feed
material balance, flow chart, solutions of MA and MB streams contained 2kg and 1kg respectively were
water balance, law of mass mixed then fed into the heater unit at 100°C. The batch process showed
conservation, flow in, that the law of mass conservation exists where input is equal to output.
flow out, accumulation, Laboratory determination of product quality was carried out, the shoe
production and consumption. polish showed density ≤ 0.99kg/L, specific gravity of 1.01, flash point
>93°C using setaflash closed cup, 84-89% of kiwi liquid wax shoe polish
was volatile, shoe polish was dispersible in water. Appearance: liquid wax
ISSN-2682-5821/© 2019 NIPES Pub.
All rights reserved shoe polish can be neutral, black, brown, blue, or red.

1. Introduction

The World Wars witnessed a surge in demand for polish products in order to polish army boots.
Shoe polish is a waxy paste, cream, or liquid used to polish, shine, waterproof, and restore the
appearance of leather shoes/boots, thereby protecting the footwears against abrasion. Shoe polish
can be made of a waxy colloidal emulsion, a substance composed of a few partially immiscible
liquids and solids mixed together. It is usually made from ingredients including some or all of
naphtha, lanolin, turpentine, wax (often carnauba wax), gum arabic, and ethylene glycol, and if
required a colourant, such as carbon black or an azo dye (such as aniline yellow) [1]. The high
amount of volatile substances means that the shoe polish will dry out fast, and harden after
application, while retaining its shine [2]. Due to surface tension forces, a glossy surface is created
after polishing, dries up to give the shoe the required luster. The polish should be resistant to
abrasion, smooth, transparent, uniform in colour, be adhesive and thin. Most polishes depend on
wax or oil for their polishing properties. Wax polishes are more long lasting [3]. Shoe polish can be
manufactured using large heaters and air conditioners. There is no set method of manufacture,
although most methods use pressures of two atmospheres to ensure that naphtha does not boil off,
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and temperatures of up to 85ºC [4]. In the manufacture of shoe polish, wax is reacted with resins
which provide the thin film on the shoe after polish has been applied and shined, volatile solvents
are used to give it a quick drying effect. Water acts as a solvent while different dyes can be used to
give it the colouration [3]. But, a chemical process is any single processing unit or a combination of
processing units used for the conversion of raw materials through any combination of chemical and
physical treatment changes into finished products; and the process employed in this research work
is a straight forward chemical engineering process [5], using simple equipment in the chemistry
laboratory.

In the 18th century leather with a high natural veneer and glossy surface finish was used for shoes
and boots making, which required in most cases variety of homemade polishes like lanolin to
provide shine surfaces [6]. In the 19th century many forms of shoe polish were available often called
‘blacking’ and dubblin when animal by product tallow is mixed with lampblack, being that 82% of
the meat consumed in the United States was processed in Chicago, Illinois stockyards, these cities
turned out to be major shoe polish producing areas [6]. The popularity of shoe polish lead to the rise
of leather and synthetic shoe production, which started late 19th century, then continued throughout
the 20th century, the World Wars witnessed a surge in demand for polish products that were used
for army boots [7]. An American war correspondent Walter Graeber wrote for TIME magazine that
shoe polish was found everywhere Allied troops ventured [8], and that in 1942 “old tins of British-
made KiWi polish lay side by side with empty bottles of Chianti” [9]. Scottish boot polish makers
in Melbourne, Australia made polish in a small factory and their formula was a major improvement
on previous brands, it preserved shoe leather, made it shine, and restored colour of shoes [10]. KiWi
was the first shoe polish to resemble the modern varieties aimed primarily at inducing shine, the
practice of shining people’s shoes grew up in city streets as many shoeshine boys offer shoe shines
using a basic form of shoe polish along with polishing cloth [9] [11]. The popularity of KiWi shoe
polish spread throughout British Commonwealth Nations, United States of America, rival brands
began to emerge which include Shinola and Cavalier (United States), Cherry Blossom (United
Kingdom), Parwa (India), Jean Bart (France) and many others [9] [12]. In recent years, there are
numerous brands of shoe polish available and the demands are declining due to gradual replacement
of formal foot wears with sneakers for everyday use [13]. The two chief areas of shoes polish sales
to the general public, specialists, and trade are through the shoe repairers and cobblers, the sales
percentages between the two outlets are roughly comparable [14]. The physical definition of wax
comes from a substance between resins and fats, chemically it is defined as an ester of a long chain
aliphatic acid with a long chain aliphatic alcohol [15]. A better definition also state that wax is the
collective name for a series of natural or synthetically produced substances that possess the
following properties, kneadable at 20ºC, brittles to solid, coarse to finely crystalline, translucent to
opaque but not glass like, melts about 40°C without decomposition, of relatively low viscosity even
slightly above melting point, not tending to stringiness, consistency and solubility depending on the
temperature and capable of being polished by slight pressure [16]. Shoe polish produced is
flammable, toxic, if misused it can stain skin; it is applied to shoes in a well-ventilated area taking
care of clothes, carpet and furniture.

2. Methodology

The materials used were bought from chemical stores and local livestock market, lanolin hydrophilic
grease (fat) obtained from slaughtered cow, distilled water, gum arabic a substance from sub-
Saharan species of acacia tree, oil soluble azo dye, turpentine, paraffin was made by Sigma-Aldrich
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(M) Solution, BDH, ethylene glycol 99+%, MW 62.07 was made by Aldrich Chemical Co. Ltd.,
England, UK., Ohaus AR2130 Adventurer electronic laboratory balance, USA. Water bath HH-2
B-Scientific, USA.

2.1. Preparation of Samples

The carnauba wax known to be thickener was weighed and heated to melt at 85ºC on electric water
bath, then if necessary, all other waxes may be added by descending order of melting point. The
lanolin (fats) and paraffin of known weights were mixed with some measured quantity distilled
water to form emulsion, which was poured and stirred into the molten wax at 85°C. Measured
volume of turpentine, ethylene glycol, gum arabic and oil soluble dye were mixed together then
poured into the mixture and further heated to 80ºC; in addition, gum arabic increases viscosity of
the molten polish. If neutral polish is desired no azo dye (such as aniline yellow) should be added
to the batch mixture. This mixture slowly forms molten mass of shoe polish on continuous stirring
for 15 - 30 minutes on water bath at 50°C, then it is finally poured into flat round tins often use as
shoe polish.

2.2. Product Quality

The laboratory experimental methods involving density, relative density, flash point, volatility,
water solubility and appearance were employed to determined physical properties of the shoe polish
produced: Relative density known to be specific gravity: Kiwi liquid wax shoe polish specific
gravity is 1.01. Flash Point: Kiwi liquid wax shoe polish is flammable in air at temperature >93°C
using setaflash closed cup. Volatility: 84-89% of kiwi liquid wax shoe polish is volatile. Water
solubility: this test show that kiwi liquid wax shoe polish is dispersible. Appearance: liquid wax
shoe polish can be neutral, black, brown, blue, or red. Kiwi Brands Inc. (1990) [1],

2.2.1. Determination of Shoe Polish Density

Weight of dried empty nickel crucible (Wo) in air and weight of nickel crucible and a quantity of
shoe polish were recorded (W1) in air, then record apparent weight of empty crucible (W2) immersed
in a 250mL beaker containing water placed on the chemical balance. At the end of 30min remove
crucible containing sample from bath at test temperature; weighed (W3) to 0.001g at 60ºC. The
density is calculated from the mass of the shoe polish sample and its apparent mass when weighed
in water.
Wo = mass of empty crucible in air, W1 = mass of crucible containing sample in air
W2 = apparent mass of empty crucible in water, W3 = apparent mass of crucible containing sample
in water. WT = density of water (ρwater) at test temperature observed at 15ºC and 25°C, taken as
0.9991kg/L and 0.997kg/L respectively).
𝑊 −𝑤
Relative density = (𝑊 −𝑊 1)−(𝑊0 −𝑊 ) g/cm3 (1)
1 0 3 2

Density = Relative density x WT (2)

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2.3.1 Method of Application

Clean and dry footwear before vigorous rub of shoe polish using rag, cloth, or brush on it, further
buffing with clean dry cloth or brush provide good results [1]. Sometime slight polish with few
drops of water rubbed on footwear gives mirror-like, high-gloss finish surface on leather; this
method is known as spit shine or bull [1], [11], [14].

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Results

70% and 30% feed solutions of each batch material contained 2kg and 1kg in MA and MB streams
respectively were mixed then fed into the heater unit at 100ºC; conversion ratios in problem
statement was performed to determine values for the water vapour XWV removed and product MSP
which were the two unknown variable streams.
INPUT: Total Mass Balance on Mixer Unit (∑MT) (3)
∑MT = ∑(MA1 + MA2 + MA3 + MA4) + ∑(MB1 + MB2 + MB3 + MB4)
∑mMT = MA(TOTAL) + MB(TOTAL) (4)
∑MT = 3000g
OUTPUT: Water Balance (∑MT × XWV) (5)

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Table 1: 70% Feed Solution of Batch MA in 2kg Stream

Material Measured Ratio Conversion

Serial weight (g) and units in (g/kg) and 70% Product Solution
Number Material used Volume (cm3) cm3/kg per kg Feed Solution
MA1 Wax 1000 0.50 0.350
MA2 Lanolin 300 0.15 0.105
MA3 Parafin 600 0.30 0.210
MA4 Water 100 0.05 0.035

Table 2: 30% Feed Solution of Batch MB in 1kg Stream.

Material Measured Ratio Conversion

Serial weight (g) and units in (g/kg) and 30% Product Solution
Number Material used Volume (cm3) cm3/kg per kg Feed Solution
MB1 Ethylene glycol 250 0.250 0.075
MB2 Turpentine 350 0.350 0.105
MB3 Gum Arabic 300 0.300 0.090
MB4 Oil Soluble Dye 100 0.100 0.030

By substituting into Equation 3, value for water lost as vapour (XWV) is obtained.
3000(XWV) = 2000*0.700 + 1000*0.300
(XWV) = 0.567g/kgH2O
Since the Law of Conservation is obeyed, it follows that input is equal to output [18], [19], [20].

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Amount of Feed Stream = Amount of Product Stream [18], [19] (6)

By substitution,

It follows that,
1700 = 1701

The stream product obtained containing gum Arabic increases viscosity of the melt, wax acts as
water proof, bonding agent, giving the shoe polish its greasy feel and texture and it also provides
prolong reflective surface of the leather shoe. Turpentine and ethylene glycol being volatile at high
temperature are tapped within the shoe polish cavity thereby decreasing its average density
calculated to be 0.89kg/L; also, trapped volatile materials further enhance the fast drying, improve
the surface shoe shine. Shoe polish contains chemical substances which can be absorbed through
the skin, or inhaled, it should be handled with hand gloves, and in a well-ventilated area. Shoe polish
should be kept out of reach of children and animals. It can stain the skin for a protracted period, and
it can cause irritation to the eye if there is direct contact [2].

4. Conclusion

In chemical process involving shoe polish production, the amount of input materials equals that of
output streams which indicate existence of law of mass conservation. The engineering method of
processing shoe polish is viable for small and large scale productions; because negligible amount of
the input materials was lost as steam (vapour) and compared to the little gain in the output
production. In this system accumulation of materials is positive, as holdup of materials are within
the system, there is no steady state; the net accumulation is not zero. This method is also relatively
simple processing technology couple with cheap and easily accessible raw materials to make
small/larger volume production for market demand.

5. Acknowledgment

The author wish to acknowledge Prof. F. E. Okieimen for his concise post-graduate lectures on
process chemistry, various classroom activities and assigned independent research work had also
created insights to achieve excellent performance prior to the course assessment.

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