Packaging Foamy Soaps

Whether hand soaps, laundry detergents, dish soap or any other kind of cleaning liquid, almost all have the tendency to foam when agitated.  Running liquid soap products through a filling machine will agitate the product, unless a packager is willing to reduce the speed to the point that the usefulness of the packaging equipment is lost.  Liquid fillers are used to add not just accuracy and consistency, but speed.  So how do you deal with a foamy product when it comes to filling bottles?

 

The answer lies in the nozzles used on the packaging machine.  If a soapy product is a low viscosity, free-flowing product, which is often the case, an overflow filler can be used to achieve level fills and control foam.  These machines fill product to a specific level in a bottle, regardless of differences in the internal volume of the bottles.  The special nozzles used on this type of filler allows product to "overflow" out of the bottle and recirculate to a holding tank.  When product foams, an extra second or two on the fill time will allow actual product to displace the foam at the top of the bottle.  The level fill also creates shelf appeal for products with clear containers, another feature of many liquid soaps.  

 

However, not all liquid soaps are water like products, and some contain particulates or grit to help with the cleansing process.  An overflow can handle small particulates and some mid-range viscosity products.  High viscosity soaps, or soaps that have larger particulates, will require a different type of bottle filler.  Piston fillers and pump fillers are often good choices for higher viscosity products.  Anti-foam nozzles can be used on these machines to control suds during the fill cycle.  While these machines will not offer a level fill, they can add accuracy to the volume of product placed in each container.  In addition to anti-foam nozzles, machines can use a bottom up fill to control foam as well.  This version of foam control has the nozzles dive into the container and begin filling at the bottom to lessen splashing and agitation as the product moves through the pathway.  Nozzle rise slowly as the fill continues.  

 

The type of anti-foam nozzles used will depend on a number of different factors including the product itself, the container and the desires of the packager.  The different types of packaging equipment discussed above can be manufactured to run automatically or with the assistance of manual labor, in order to handle any production demand.  To learn more about filling foamy products, feel free to contact our offices today.