PRODUCTION OF A MULTIPURPOSE LIQUID SOAP AND IT’S ECONOMIC VALUE

PRODUCTION OF A MULTIPURPOSE LIQUID SOAP AND IT’S ECONOMIC VALUE

ABSTRACT

Liquid soap is becoming a very popular product in the country today. Many use it for domestic purposes at home to wash clothes and kitchen utensils; restaurants and eateries are not left out too; thus project is an attempt to produce a multipurpose liquid soap which is aimed at reducing the cost of purchasing the conventional soap in the market and enhancing its cleansing effectiveness. Materials needed for this production were locally sources from the market and normal or laboratory procedures followed to produce the desired products. The multipurpose liquid soap produced proved to very cost effective and efficient and has economic advantages or value over the conventional detergents or soap.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       Introduction

Soaps are water soluble sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids. Soaps are made from fats and oils, or their fatty acids, by treating them chemically with a strong alkali. The soap industry in Nigeria is at the high growth rate and many new entrants are planning to launch their product in this category. Soaps form the largest pie of the FMCG Market with bathing & toilet soaps accounting for around 30% of the soap market by value.

Liquid soap is becoming a very popular product in the country today. Many use it for domestic purposes at home to wash clothes and kitchen utensils; restaurants and eateries are not left out too. One interesting thing that makes the demand for liquid soap to be  very high  is the fact that it is easier and cheaper to use than every other washing substances. Little wonder a lot of people are now venturing into the business. Capital for production is usually very low and one may not require any further teaching since internet has made everything beautiful in this generation of ours.

Soap may be defined as a chemical compound or mixture of chemical compound resulting from the interaction of fatty acids or fatty glycerides with a metal radical (organic base). It is any water soluble salt of whose fatty acid which contains eight or more carbon atoms. Soap is class of product that serves for cleaning of human, property and surrounding. Hence, soap in its various forms, is in high demand. In all society, for generation its use has increased until its manufacture has become an industry essential to the comfort and health of civilized man. Soap is known for its laundry and cleaning purpose, though calcium soap has been used in animal feed formulation (Desal, and Joseph, 1991).

Soap depends for its washing action on the fact that its molecules possess one ionic (polar, water-attracting or hydrophilic) end and one covalent (non-polar, water repelling or hydrophobic) end which attracts oils and greases (Namiesnik. et al., 2011) Thus, soap molecules can make water and oils come into an emulsion which can be washed away. Soaps are essentially the sodium or potassium salts of various fatty acids.

Soaps also contain additives for some desired qualities. These include salt; soda ash, colour, citric acid, sodium silicate, sodium bicarbonate, perfume, borax trisodium phosphate and magnesium sulphate. A combination of inexpensive builders, example soda ash with more effective (an expensive) tetrasodium pyrophosphate or sodium triphosphate, is sometimes superior to the phosphate used alone.

Basically, all soaps are made by saponification (Karl, 1991).Hydrolysis of naturally occurring fat and oil by sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) or potassium hydroxide (caustic potash).. Various additives have been used to impact some specific characteristics to the product. The quality and properties affecting soap and also the processing depends on the factors such as the nature and the type of oil used, the type of Alkali and the proportion of mixture of both major raw materials.

1. Objective of the Study

The objective of this research is the production of multipurpose liquid soap and its economic value.

1. Limitation of the Study

This research is limited to the production of a multipurpose liquid soap and its economic value. This is due to lack of fund and time.