How it's Made

Introduction

In this lab, soap was made through the process of saponification, heating and mixing lye and oils. The purpose of this experiment was to create a soap that would maximize its beneficial health properties and could look and function like other commercial soaps by combining various ingredients in different ratios.

Materials

  • 10g Vanilla (essential oil)

  • 3 Silicone molds

  • Hot plate

  • Stirrer

  • Scale

  • Measuring beakers

  • 114g of Distilled water

  • 47g of Lye (NaOH)

  • 120g of Olive oil

  • 180g of Coconut oil

  • 14.5g of Oats

  • 30 g of Aloe vera

  • 2g of Charcoal

Procedure

  1. Preheated the hotplates to 65 degrees celsius.

  2. Measured 47g of lye (NaOH) then added it to 114g of distilled water and stirred for 60 seconds.

  3. Mixed 120g of olive oil and 180g of coconut oil into a beaker and stirred until the mixture liquified.

  4. Added the mixture of lye (NaOH) and water to the mixture of olive oil and coconut oil and stirred for 30 seconds.

  5. Put the new mixture onto the hot plate and let it heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  6. Took the mixture off of the hot plate and separated 167g into another beaker.

  7. Added 30g of aloe vera, 2g of charcoal, and 1814 g of oats into the beaker containing 167g of the soap base.

  8. Stirred the both mixtures until it had a creamy-like texture.

  9. Poured the mixture into the 3 silicone molds. Each mold contained 112g.

  10. Added 10g of vanilla (essential oil)

  11. Let the mixtures cool and turn into a solid for 24 hours.


Discussion

The making of soap is done through a process called saponification. The reactants consist of triglycerides and an aqueous hydroxide ion. This soap contains olive and coconut oil, C88H164O10 and C33H62O6, as triglycerides and lye, NaOH(aq), in water as an aqueous hydroxide ion. These reactants, once combined, form soap as a product. This product, due to the nonpolar (hydrophobic) side and the polar (hydrophilic) side in the mixture, works as a cleansing soap. It can dissolve nonpolar substances such as fats and oils then emulsify them, allowing them and any other dirt to be washed away.

Among the ingredients of the soap are aloe vera and charcoal. Aloe vera contains many vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, and minerals. These promote skin moisturization and regeneration, helping with skin conditions and scars. Activated charcoal is used as a natural method to extract toxins from the skin. The soap is also a solid bar until combined with water or heat due to the larger proportion of coconut oil, which is a saturated fat, as opposed to olive oil, an unsaturated fat.



WORKS CITED
  1. “Fatty Acids, Olive-Oil.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Fattyacids_-olive-oil.
  2. “Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry.” Chm.ucla.edu, UCLA, www.chem.ucla.edu/~harding/IGOC/S/saponification.html.
  3. National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Database. CID=121596031, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/121596031 (accessed on Mar. 5, 2020)
  4. Petre, Alina. “What is Activated Charcoal Good For? Benefits and Uses” June 29, 2017 Healthline, Healthline Media Inc.
  5. “Soap.” Elmhurst Chemistry, chemistry.elmhurst.edu/vchembook/554soap.html.
  6. Surjushe, Amar et al. “Aloe vera: a short review.” Indian journal of dermatology vol. 53,4 (2008): 163-6. doi:10.4103/0019-5154.44785