LABORATORY REPORT NO.

SAPONIFICATION:
LIQUID AND HARD SOAP MAKING

SOHEYLA MAE D. LIAO

BS CHE III

ENGR. MARIA CARMINA M. LORENZO

INSTRUCTOR

DATE SUBMITTED: March 10, 2017

I. INTRODUCTION
The first appearance of liquid soap happened in min 1800s. The history of liquid
soaps started only recently when the chemical and technological advancement lead the
investors to create more complex reactions. Liquid soap was first patented by William
Shepphard in 1865. However, early manufactured liquid soaps were used in hospitals,
restaurants and public facilities where regular hand washing is required.
Babylonians were the first to master the art of soap making. They made soap from
fats boiled with ashes. Soap was used in cleaning wool and cotton used in textile
manufacture and was used medicinally for at least 5000 years.
Liquid and hard soaps are manufactured by following the basic saponification
reaction which requires an ester or basically the oil, the base, a hydroxide, which will
yield to the production of soap and glycerine. In this experiment, Sodium Hydroxide
(NaOH) was used instead of KOH for the liquid soap. Sodium Hydroxide as a base for
the saponification process generally results to a hard soap but due to the abundance of
KOH and due to its high price, NaOH was used as the alternative. Although, it can be
used for soft soaps but only of smaller proportions compared to the proportions if KOH
was to be used. The appearance of the resulting liquid soap is also affected by the base
used; for NaOH, the liquid soap will have a solid color while KOH results to a transparent
one but this doesn’t affect its cleaning properties.
The objective of this experiment is to apply the basic saponification reaction that will
produce a liquid and a hard soap.

II. EXPERIMENT
A. LIQUID SOAP MAKING
a) MATERIALS
In this experiment, top-loading balance was used to weigh a quite accurate
amount of seventy (70) grams Caustic soda, Sodium Hydroxide, which was used for
240 mL of distilled water. To measure the amount of liquids, a dry and clean 100-mL
graduated cylinder was used. The Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) solution was mixed in
a 1000 mL beaker. This solution required 500 mL of the oil or the ester for the
reaction. In heating the oil, a hot plate was used. In mixing all the ingredients, a
basin, medium in size, was used. A wooden spatula was used to stir the solution.
Essences were also added to the mixture depending upon the desired fragrance.
Considering that Caustic soda instead of potash was used, it was again diluted and
required a volume of 1000 mL distilled water or depending upon the desired
viscosity of the soap. A big container with cover was used to store the “unfinished”
 product. Several bottles were also used to contain the finished product that is ready
for curing.
b) METHOD
Using the top-loading balance, seventy (70) grams of caustic soda was
measured. After weighing, it was added gradually to the beaker which contains the
240 mL of distilled water. During mixing, the oil, on the other hand, was heated on a
hot plate and then cooled after its desired temperature was reached. Noticing the
appearance of the NaOH solution, it was continually stirred until the solution has a
transparent colour. The NaOH solution was also cooled until its temperature is
tolerable to feel. The oil was first poured into the basin and next was the NaOH
solution which was added gradually with continuous stirring. The mixture was
continuously stirred for the next 90 minutes until the traces exist. Essences were also
added; in this experiment, orange essence was added that is approximately 10 mL
and 20 mL of vanilla essence in order to improve the fragrance of the soap.
After storing the mixture for approximately 1 day, it was expected to solidify that’s
why 1000 mL of distilled water was added after mashing the solidified mixture. It was
again stirred until there were no lumps existing on the mixture.
The bottles were gathered and then the mixture was now poured into each of the
bottles. After one (1) month, the liquid soap is ready to be used.
B. HARD SOAP MAKING
a) MATERIALS
The materials used for hard soap making was almost the same in making liquid
soap except that several or a combination of oils were used for the hard soap. The
oils were: 250 mL olive oil, 450 mL palm oil, 100 mL coconut oil and 200 mL lauric
oil. More NaOH flakes were also used which has an amount of 200 g and 500 mL of
water was used for the solution. For the extract, 150 mL of honey, 100 of mL orange
peel extract, and 50 of mL ginger extract were used. For the texture, desiccated
coconut and washed tea leaves were used. A big box was used as the soap molder
and covered it with celluloid.
On the extracts used, orange peel is considered as a boon for face and skin care
as it cures blackheads, dead cells, acne, pores, blemishes, dark circles, dry skin, and
brightens your face. Moreover, the benefits of ginger extract include anti-ageing, skin
toning and more. The effects of honey are also beneficial to skin, which is a great
moisturizer and is also an antioxidant and antimicrobial.

Blend of oils was used for the hard soap considering the fact that oils have an
effect to the improvement of the soap. Palm oil was used for the hardness, Vegetable
 oil for a rich lather, olive oil for its moisturizing properties and lastly, lauric oil for its
antimicrobial and antiviral properties.

b) METHOD
The NaOH flakes were weighed using the top-loading balance and then gradually
added to the 500 mL of distilled water contained in a beaker with continuous stirring.
It was continually stirred until its temperature is tolerable to feel. The oil, poured after
each kind, was first put into the basin and then next was the NaOH solution. It was
continuously stirred until traces are formed and then the extracts and texture effect of
soap was added. After that, it was poured into the soap molder. After a day, it
hardened and is now ready for curing.

III. CONCLUSION

In the application of saponification process, 500 mL of oil for liquid soap and 1000 mL
for the hard soap was mixed with proportional amounts of Sodium Hydroxide solution. As
a result, the desired soap was produced basing from the amount of NaOH. This is to
complete the reaction for the basic saponification that requires an ester and a base
which yields to the production of glycerine and sodium salt. The glycerine, however,
exists in the soap product but the amount is left unidentified.

The base used for the liquid soap was Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) instead of
Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) considering the fact that it is cheaper and the supply is
more available at the location of where the saponification process was done. But
basically, the use of NaOH is still accepted as an alternative only that NaOH is generally
used for hard soap manufacturing and KOH is used mainly for soft soaps. Although,
NaOH can also be used as the base for soft soap but only of smaller proportions than
that of the desired proportions if KOH is used. As a result, a moist, hard soap was
produced after storing the mixture for 1 day but this didn’t become a problem after all.
The solidified mixture was again diluted until the desired viscosity was reached. This
saponification process resulted to a successful liquid soap product.

For the hard soap, the solidified mixture was taken out of the molder and started the
curing period. After this, the product is ready for packaging and labelling.