1.1 Introduction
Soap is a class of products that serves for leaning of human property and surrounding. Hence foam in its various foams is in high demand in all society. Soaps and detergent belong to the general class of substances known as surface agents or surfactants. These are substances which when dissolved in a solvent even at very low concentration have the property of lowering the surface energy and hence altering the surface behaviour of the solvent to an extreme degree. In general, the surface active agents are composed of fairly large molecules which contain separated groups of dissimilar nature, one group being of a hydrophilic or water – attracting, character while the other group has a hydrophobic or oil attracting character and also it exhibited in aqueous or non aqueous system.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
The origin of soap is not well documented; it appears to have been available to the early civilizations of the Fertile Crescent after 2000 b.c. during this epoch soap was used as a wound medication or hair dressing because the cleansing properties had not yet been discovered. even the well chronicled baths of queen cleopatra were absent of soap. Essential oils were used for her bathing rituals. cleopatra used fine white sand as an abrasive agent for cleansing (Saveonscents, 2021).
Soap evolved from crude mixtures of alkaline and fatty mixtures. The manufacture of soap dates back to the first century, and by the thirteenth century the soap industry had taken stand to produce sufficient quantities of soap. Pompeii excavations revealed that soap factory dates back to over 2000 years ago. For 2000 years soap making involved batchwise saponification of oils and fats with alkali and salting out of the resulting soap. Changes have occurred in the pretreatment of oils and fats, plant procedure, and in the processing of finished products, eg. Spray drying. Better raw-materials have resulted from solvent crystallization, liquid extraction and hydrolysis hydrogenation of various oils and fats.
Soap is a salt of a compound, known as a fatty acid. A soap molecule has a long hydrocarbon chain with a carboxylic acid group on one end, which has ionic bond with metal ion, usually sodium or potassium. The hydrocarbon end is non polar which is highly soluble in non polar substances and the ionic end is soluble in water.
The cleaning action of soaps because of their ability to emulsify or disperse water-insoluble materials and hold them in the suspension of water; this ability is seen from the molecular structure of soaps. When soap is added to water that contains oil or other water-insoluble materials, the soap or detergent molecules surround the oil droplets. The oil is, dissolved in the alkyl groups of the soap molecules while the ionic end allows it to be dissolved in water. As a result, the oil droplets are to be dispersed throughout the water and can be washed away.
A number of things affect the soap-making process and the quality of this soap produced. The characteristics of this soap depend on the quality of oil, and the amounts of the caustic soda and water used to make it. The speed of the reaction between the oil and the caustic soda is influenced by free fatty acid content of the oil, the heat of the components before mixing, and how vigorously the mixing is to be done. Free fatty acid contents, vigorous mixing, and heat, speed up the given soap-making process.
Soaps and detergent belong to the general class of substances known as surface agents or surfactants. These are substances which when dissolved in a solvent even at very low concentration have the property of lowering the surface energy and hence altering the surface behaviour of the solvent to an extreme degree.
In general, the surface active agents are composed of fairly large molecules which contain separated groups of dissimilar nature, one group being of a hydrophilic or water – attracting, character while the other group has a hydrophobic or oil attracting character and also it exhibited in aqueous or non aqueous system.
In this research, high quality industrial soap can be produced using sodium hydroxide and palm kernel oil. Ordinary soap today is simply a mixture of sodium salts of long chain fatty acids. Fatty acids are the basic raw materials for soap and most of the inorganic materials for soap and most of the inorganic material such as Oleum, caustic soda and various sodium phosphate and a large number of additives, the last mentioned amount is 4% or less of the total products weight are purchased.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Production of High Quality bar Soap and Compare with Detergent.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that soaps are the sodium salts or potassium salts of stearic acids or any other fatty acids. They are prepared by the saponification process, which is reacting the oil which contains triglycerides with caustic soda (NaOH) to give the soap. However different oils have different composition of fatty acids which are responsible for different properties of soaps made out of them. In the present work 5 different types of oils are taken. They are blended in various ratios to prepare 14 different samples of soap. Different properties of these samples were analyzed to see which soap is the best one.
The cleansing and lathering properties of all samples were compared. The blend of coconut oil and castor oil at 3:1 ratio is found out to be the best with 76.8% of TFM and 89.46% of yield. The best blend is analyzed for various properties and they were compared with that given in the literature.
The saponification values, iodine values of coconut oil and castor oil were found out and these values were also found for the blend. It was found that the blend was having SAP value of 230.4 and iodine value of 40 which are higher than the individual values. Thus soap prepared using blend of both these oils has better properties than the soaps prepared by individual oils.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to produce of High Quality Bar Soap and Compare with Detergent. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To determine the Process and basic steps of producing bar soap and detergent;
- To examine the quality control processes in the production of a high quality bar soaps; and
- To find out the differences between soap and detergent soap with reference to their quality.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- What is the quality control processes in the production of a high quality bar soaps?
- What is the Process and basic steps of producing bar soap and detergent?
- What are the differences between soap and detergent soap with reference to their quality?
1.6 Significance of Study
This study will provide information for the related authorities and regulatory bodies interested in the research related to high quality bar soap production and comparism with detergent. This will provide a basis for researchers who might investigate in this field/subject matter in the future as well as contribute to the existing body of knowledge.
1.7 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Production of High Quality Bar Soap and Compare with Detergent.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
