ABSTRACT

Comparison of Palm-based and Tallow/Coco-based Soaps:

Specifications, Formulations and Performance

Ainie Kuntom
Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB)
Malaysia.

Good quality soap is made up of a combination of fatty materials and non-fatty

substances. Traditionally mainly tallow and coconut were the sources of C16-
C18 and C12-C14 fatty acids respectively as raw materials; however, other
oils and fats of similar fatty acid composition can be used as replacement.
This range of fatty acids is obtained from the oils of palm fruits. The mesocarp
oil of the fruit contains C16-C18 fatty acids while the kernel oil contained the
C12-C14 fatty acids. With the growth of palm oil industry, these oils are now
used extensively in soap production. Palm-based soaps are processed from
palm oil, palm kernel oil and palm stearin. Generally, the ratio of palm oil to
palm kernel oil is about 80:20 for toilet soap and for laundry soap 90% C16-
C18 fatty acids and 5% C12-C14 fatty acids. Other new ratios and
formulations are now available to include fractionated products of palm oil
such as palm stearin.

Consumer demand for high acid (superfatted) and low pH skin care
moisturizinng toilet soaps have been increasing. Examples of these newly
formulated soaps will be presented. The similarity and differences between
the traditional tallow and coconut combinations soaps and the vegetable
based will be examined. The characteristics of palm raw materials and the
quality of bar soaps and soap pellets from palm products will complete the
presentation.
Introduction

Soap is one of the oldest detergents manufactured and a classic toiletry. It is

made from fatty acids derived from oils and fats. With the expansion of oleo
chemical industry, raw materials for soap making, fatty acids of C12 – C18
hydrocarbon chain, are easily available. The sources of C16 – C18 fatty acids
are tallow, palm oil and palm stearin, a fractionated product of palm oil while
C12 – C14 fatty acids are palm kernel oil and coconut oil. The two main types
of soap noodles are tallow-base and palm base. Other types of vegetable oil
soap bases are also available. Tallow-based soap is usually a blend of tallow,
animal fats, and coconut oil or palm kernel oil. Palm-based soap is a blend of
palm oil or palm stearin and palm kernel oil. The uniqueness of palm-based
soap is that all the fatty acids necessary for the base is derived from one
source, palm fruits, and thus totally vegetable base (Figure 1).

Palm Fruit Mesocarp

C16 – C18 Fatty Acids

Palm Fruit Kernel

C12 – C14 Fatty Acids

Figure 1. Palm fruits

Soap noodles are produced through alkali saponification of oils and fats, and
alkali neutralization of distilled fatty acids blends from the oleo chemical
industry. Alkali neutralization of distilled fatty acids is a much cleaner

1
manufacturing practice compare with alkali saponification of oils and fats.
Traditionally tallow-based soap is prepared by means of alkali saponification
of the triglycerides, but with the new technology, soap manufacturers use the
new neutralization route to prepare the soap base. Palm-based soap is
normally manufactured through neutralization of fatty acids; however, soap
production from oil route is still being practised by some manufacturers. The
quality of soap noodles produced is dependent on the quality of raw materials.
The choice of raw materials will depend on several factors such as the
acceptable cost range, manufacturing capabilities of the producers and the
targeted properties of the products.

The performance of the products depends on the ratio of the various fatty
acids in the blend. Even though soap contains the range of fatty acids from
C12 – C18 hydrocarbon, the proportion of these fatty acids has to be in a
correct ratio to produce a product of good performance. Some of the
characteristics of fats and oils used in soap making is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Characteristics of fats and oils.

Fat /Oil Titer C IV SV MIU (%) GLY (%)
Coconut 22 10 260 1.0 13
Tallow 42 45 196 0.6 10
Palm 25 16 250 101 12
Kernel
Palm 42 53 200 1.0 10
Lard 38 61 195 0.6 10
“Ideal” 36-38 38-40 215-225 -
IV = Iodine value; SV = Saponification value; MIU = Moisture, insolubles,
unsaponifiable; GLY = Glycerine

2
Toilet Soap
A variety of commercial soaps are available in the market, but the major uses
are for toilet, laundry and household purposes. Toilet soaps are milled soap
with about 70 – 80% total fatty matter. The commonly used ratios of fatty
acids by the industry are 80C16-C18: 20C12-C14, 75C16-C18: 25C12-C14
and 70C16-C18: 30C12-C14. For tallow-based soaps the ratios of fatty acids
are 88T:12CNO 85T:15CNO, 80T:20CNO, 70T:30CNO and 50T:50CNO.
Palm-based soaps are usually made of 80PO:20PKO, 75PO:25PKO and
70PO:30PKO. Some other blends are 40PO:40T:20PKO,
40PO:40POs:20PKO and POs:PKOo.

Country specification states the requirement for toilet soap and that the
products should conform to the specifications. Table 2 showed the
specification requirement of some countries. The common factors are that
soap should contain total fatty matter of  70% and free caustic content of
0.05%. Another parameter, lauric oils fatty acid content is a requirement in
the British specification for one type of soap. This requirement most probably
takes into account superfatting of soaps, which is a common practice by most
soap manufacturers.

Soap noodles
Based on the specifications of various countries, palm-based soap
manufacturers produced toilet soap noodles with characteristics listed in
Table 3. The data was based on a survey of palm-based soap noodles
collected from the manufacturers. The total fatty matter of the soap noodles is
 70%, free caustic  1%, chlorides < 1%, alcohol insoluble < 1% and an
average free acid of 0.08%. Table 4 showed the technical specification of
palm soap base from one of the manufacturers. In Table 4 it is noted that the
total fatty matter ranges from 78 - 82%. The specification also indicates the
availability of soap superfatted with acidic additive such as lauric oil fatty acid
or stearic acid, which causes the free acid to be 1.3%.

3
Table 2. Soap specifications from several countries.

Requirements
Parameters British India Australia Malaysia
Type Type B Type S Gr 1 Gr 2 Gr 3 (1976)
A
Total Fatty
Matter % m/m 78.0 76.5 79 76 70 60 70 76.5
(min)

Rosin acids % 2 2 2 3 7 7 - 3
m/m (min)
Moisture and
volatile matter - - - - - - 17.0 -
% (min)
Matter
insoluble in 1.25 2.5 2.0 2.5 5.0 6.0 2.5 2.5
ethanol %
m/m (max)
Free caustic
(as Na2O) 0.05 0.05 Not 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.05
alkali % m/m applicable
(max)
Chloride
content NaCl) 0.7 0.8 1.2 1.5 1.5 1.5 - 0.8
% m/m (max)
Lauric oils
fatty acid 13.0 No 13.0 - - - - -
content. Require
Expressed as ment
content of fatty
acids derived
from lauric
oils, calculated
on total fatty
matter, % m/m
(min)

4
Table 3. Characteristics of soap noodles from palm base.

Parameters Range Average STDEV C.V. (%)

Moisture (%) 8.61 – 15.65 11.43 1.3 11

Free acid (%) 0.30 – 1.79 0.80 0.4 53

Free caustic (%) 0.04 - 0.05 0.45 0.07 16

Total free caustic (%) 0.03 – 0.09 0.06 0.04 71

Chloride (%) 0.33 – 0.80 0.5 0.09 17

Total fatty matter (%) 73.6 – 87.1 80.0 1.75 22

Rosin (%) 0.01 – 0.75 0.3 0.24 90

Alcohol insoluble 0.05 – 0.63 0.18 0.15 87

Foamability initial (mL) 300 - 455 364 40.5 11

Foamability after 5 mins 125 – 315 195 43 22

pH 9.9 – 10.2 10.0 0.11 1.1

5
Table 4. Commercial technical specification for toilet soap base

Composition (%) Technical Specification

Palm Oil Palm Kernel Total Fatty Free Free Fatty NaCl Moisture Sequestrants
Oil Matter Akalinity Acid (Max. %) Content
(min %) (as NaOH) (Max. %) (Max. %)
(Max. %)
80 20 78 - 1.3 0.6 13.5 Present
80 20 78 0.05 - 0.6 13.5 Present
75 25 78 - 1.3 0.6 13.5 Present
75 25 78 0.05 - 0.6 13.5 Present
70 30 78 - 1.3 0.6 13.5 Present
70 30 78 0.05 - 0.6 13.5 Present
80 20 79 - 1.3 0.5 13.0 Present
80 20 79 0.05 - 0.5 13.0 Present
75 25 79 - 1.3 0.5 13.0 Present
75 25 79 0.05 - 0.5 13.0 Present
70 30 79 - 1.3 0.5 13.0 Present
70 30 79 0.05 - 0.5 13.0 Present
75 25 79-82 - 1.3 0.5 9.5 – 12.5 Present
75 25 79-82 0.05 - 0.5 9.5 – 12.5 Present

6
Table 5. Characteristics of soaps from various countries

Physical & Chemical Country

Properties

Bulgaria China Nepal Russia Honduras Europe Japan Malaysia

1. FAC (wt %) 8:0 <1 <1 <1 <1 < 0.5 0.02 – 2.7 0.02 – 2.1 <1
10:0 ~1 ~1 ~1 <1 <1 0.2 – 2.6 0.1 - 2 <1
12:0 5–8 5-9 6 - 10 7 8 9.7 – 22.2 9.3 - 14 7 - 14
14:0 3.6 - 5 4 – 5.7 5 – 6.2 4 4 5.1 – 9.2 6.1 – 6.9 3.5 - 6
16:0 22 - 27 20.6 - 36 20.1 – 21.7 32 34.1 17.0 – 21.2 21.8 - 26 37 – 44.7
16:1 0.4 - 1 0.2 – 1.1 1.2 – 1.3 <1 0.4 0.7 – 1.1 0.7 – 0.9 0.05 – 0.2
17:0 2 – 3.6 0.5 – 3.6 3.5 <1 0.4 2.4 – 3.5 0.5 - 3 -
18:0 13 – 16.5 10.6 – 20.8 17 – 19.5 13 8 12.4 – 18.3 13.9 – 17.4 3.7 – 4.2
18:1 35.6 – 38.4 28.9 – 38.7 32.7 – 33.3 32 35.8 25.4 – 32.6 27 - 35 30 – 33.6
18:2 5-6 3.6 – 5.7 2.1 – 3.9 5 7.3 2.4 – 3.6 0.4 – 2.1 6.5 – 7.5
18:3 ~1 ~1 < 0.5 < 0.5 < 0.2 0.3 - 1 0.5 – 0.9 ~ 0.1
20:0 < 0.5 <1 0.5 - 3 <1 < 0.5 <1 < 0.5 < 0.5
Others <2 <3 <3 <2 <1 <2 <3 ~ 0.2

2. IV 42 – 46.6 37 – 43.8 34.4 – 37.4 40 45.6 28.3 – 38.5 30.5 – 53.6 39 – 43.8

36.8 – 38.4 35.9 – 39.0 36.8 – 37.6 29.5 – 37.8 37 – 38.2 39.2 – 43.2
o
3. Titre C 38.7 37.2

4. Free Caustic/Fatty Acid* ~0.02 ~0.03 ~0.1 < 0.1 < 0.1 > 1* ~ 0.03 < 0.1

5. Moisture (%) 5–7 5.8 6-8 7 11 6-8 8 - 11 6-9

6. Hardness 28 – 33 24.36 21 - 39 - 13 19 - 29 14 - 19 19 - 32

7. Total Fatty Matter (%) 80 – 85 82.86 81 - 82 - 78 83 - 85 83 - 85 83 - 86

8. NaCl (%) <1 <1 <1 - <1 <1 <1 <1

9. Foamability (ml) 470/310* 355/265* 395/255* 200/190* 565/405* 530/360* 345/220* 460/295*

* Volume of foam (ml) measured after 5 mi

7
Toilet bars

Palm-based soaps commonly found in the market are made from blends of
palm oil and palm kernel oil or their fatty acids. The ratio of the blend is
usually 80PO:20PKO or 85PO:15PKO. The characteristics of this type of
blends of soap are shown in Table 5. Some of the tallow-based soaps from
Europe, Japan, China and Russia had properties described in Table 5. The
difference between the properties of tallow-based and palm-based is in the
titer value. Palm-based soaps had higher titer while most of the tallow-based
were between 36-39C. The total fatty matter and hardness of the soaps were
in the same range. The moisture content was around 5-11% because these
soaps were obtained from the supermarket shelves.

In a recent exercise, a survey of commercial palm-based and tallow-based

toilet soap bars was carried out. Tables 6 and 7 describe the characteristics of
toilet bar soap from palm base and tallow base respectively.

 Moisture
The moisture content of both types of soap is in the same range.

 Free acid / Free caustic

One noticeable fact is the high free acid in both types of bar. In both
cases, the free caustic was less than 1.0 while free acid varied greatly
as can be observed by the high coefficient of variation. This could be
due to various attempts by soap manufacturers to produce bar soaps
of acidic nature. Superfatting of the soaps with fatty acids or other
similar materials helps in lowering the pH of the soaps, which is in line
with the trend of consumers’ demand.

8
 Chloride
The chloride content of tallow-based soap was rather high with an
average of 1.7%. Five of the samples had values of 1.3-1.5%, 2
samples with value 3.3-3.9 and one sample of 7.1%. Palm-based soap
had an average value of less than 1%. In some countries, the chloride
content specification is >1% as can be seen in Table 2.

 Total fatty matter

Palm-based soaps had an average total fatty matter of 83% and the
lowest value was 78%. Countries specification required a total fatty
matter of >70%. The total fatty matter of tallow-based soaps varied
greatly, with eight of the samples having low fatty matter ranging from
8.9 – 46.7%. Elimination of these eight samples gave an average of
total fatty matter of 78.1%. The samples with low TFM could be made
from surfactant rather than from fatty acid or oil.

 Rosin
The variation in rosin content in palm-based soap is very high and in
some soap samples, the rosin content is zero. The rosin content in
tallow-based was not determined.

 Alcohol insoluble
The alcohol insoluble of both type toilet soap bar was high and that for
tallow-based soap the variation was higher. The variation could be due
to the quality of starting raw material or interference from additives.

9
 Lathering
Both types of soap had the same lathering properties, however a
sample of tallow-based had a low value of 140 mL initial lathering
volume and the volume reduced to 40mL after five minutes.

 pH
The pH of palm base soaps was in the range of 9 – 10, which is still
alkaline. Tallow-based soap bars showed a range of 6.75 –10.1,
however the average pH is still alkaline. A few soap bars had value in
the range of 6.75 – 7.38 and these soap bars had total fatty matter
ranging from 8.9 – 15.9%. Even some of the soaps with high pH had
low total fatty matter between 11.4 – 46.7%.

 Titer
Titer of soap bar from palm base ranged from 39-47C with an average
of 45C. The increase in titer of palm-based soaps was due to
incorporation of a palm fraction, stearin, which had a higher
solidification point. In the earlier survey, the titer was only 39-42C.
Tallow-based soaps still maintain a titer of 34-39C and an average of
37C. However, titer was not a requirement in most soap specification.

 Hardness
Hardness of both types of soap was the same with the exception of
one tallow-based sample with penetration value of 138 mm. Even
though the titer of palm-based and tallow-based soaps differed, the
hardness of the final products is the same.

10
Table 6. Properties of palm-based toilet soap bars.

Parameters Range Average STDEV C.V. (%)

Moisture (%) 7 - 13 10 1.4 14

Free acid (%) 1.05 – 16.9 3.2 2.7 86

Free caustic (%) 0.03 – 0.06 0.14 0.01 35

Chloride (%) 0.4 - 1.5 0.8 0.3 38

Total fatty matter (%) 78 -86 83 1.6 2

Rosin (%) 0.02 – 0.94 0.32 0.27 85

Alcohol insoluble 0.1 – 2.1 0.47 0.41 88

Titer C 39.2 – 47.2 44.9 2.2 4.9

Foamability initial (mL) 310 -540 435 58 13

Foamability after 5 mins 135 – 385 268 61 23

pH 9.03 – 10.2 9.7 0.27 2.8

Hardness (mm) 19 - 44 31.6 5.8 18

Superfatting of soaps

The increase in superfatting practices currently by the soap manufacturers

can be observed in the high free acid of the soap bars. Superfatting is aimed
at producing less alkaline soap with better lathering properties and good hand
feel. Superfatting also helps prevent development of cracks in soap bars. The
properties of the final product are dependent on the choice of superfatting
agent and the level used. In most cases superfatting is done through addition
of fatty acids or neutral oils at a level that would not impede the processing of
soap and detrimental to the final properties of the soap products. A few

11
examples of superfatting materials are stearic acid, C12 – C14 fatty acids,
isostearic acid, dimmer acids of C36, glycerine, lanolin, neutral oils such as
olive oil, coco butter, jojoba oil, etc. In the industry, addition of stearic acid and
coconut fatty acids or C12:C14 (70:30) fatty acids is widely practised. In most
cases the amount added is usually in the range of 5 – 10%. In our observation
a level of 2% is sufficient, however some soap manufacturers preferred higher
level (Tables 6 and 7). Based on the average free acid content of the both
type of soap, palm-based soap were less superfatted compared to the tallow-
based soaps.

Table 7. Characteristics of Tallow-based toilet soap bars.

Parameters Range Average Stdev C.V. (%)

Moisture (%) 6.37 - 12.8 9.77 3.3 34.3

Free acid (%) 0.1 – 31.9 8.8 10.2 115

Free caustic (%) 0.03 – 0.04 0.04 0.01 1.7

Chloride (%) 0.2 – 7.1 1.7 2.1 121

Total fatty matter (%) 8.88 – 82.7 54 31 58

Alcohol insoluble 0.18 – 10.91 1.58 2.5 157

Hardness 23 – 138 36 25 69

Foamability initial (mL) 140 – 570 425 116 26

Foamability after 5 mins 40 – 415 302 111 37

pH 6.75 – 10.1 9.3 1.2 12.5

Titer C 34.2 - 39 37 1.4 3.9

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Transparent and translucent soap

The raw materials used for manufacturing transparent and translucent soaps
have to be pure with minimum color to ensure that the final products have
good transparency or translucency. The commonly used fats/oils are tallow,
RBD palm oil, RBD palm kernel oil, coconut oil, castor oil and rosin. Additives
such as polyglycols are added to enhance transparency. Some formulations
of transparent soap are shown in Table 8.

Table 8. Formulations for transparent soap

Composition I II III IV V

Tallow 100 80 75 42 58
Coconut oil 100 100 75 42 58
Castor oil 80 80 - 10 8
Caustic soda (38B) 161 133 100 49 47
Alcohol 50 30 80 42 25
Glycerin (added) 25 - - - 25
Sugar 80 90 40 19.5 -
Rosin WW - - 50 6 17
Water 80 80 40 19.5 -
Source: Bailey’s Industrial Oil and Fat Products, 1996.

A specification of vegetable translucent toilet soap base is shown in Table 9.

The soap base has glycerine content of 7.0-8.0% and color of 20% solution
0.4R 4.0Y using a 5¼ “Lovibond cell.

13
Table 9. Specification for vegetable translucent toilet soap base

Parameters Specifications

Appearance Translucent pellet free from agglomeration

Moisture 15.0 – 18.0%
FFA as stearic 1.5 - 2.5%
Total Fatty Matter 63.0 – 68.0%
Colour of 20% solution (max) 0.5R 5.0Y 5¼ “ Lovibond cell

The properties of some commercial transparent and translucent soap

analysed are shown in Table 10. Based on the total fatty matter, there are
three varieties of transparent and translucent soaps. Soaps of type I and II
had transparency in the same range while that of type III had lower
transparency values with the exception of Pears, which had a transparency
value of 0.77.

Table 10. Properties of some commercial transparent and translucent

soaps

Parameters I II III

Total fatty matter 7.1 – 15.8 41.1 – 51.3 62.6 – 77.4

Penetration value (mm) 4.5 – 7.4 2.4 – 13.7 1.34 – 3.6
Moisture content (%) 22.0 – 36.3 13.6 – 38.8 7.9 – 14.0
Foamability Initial 328 – 410 328 – 498 328 – 600
Foamability sfter 5 128 – 228 130 – 308 128 – 423
minutes 1.04 – 1.48 0.34 – 17.22 2.02 – 4.26
Free acid 0.05 0.03 – 0.05 0.06
Free caustic 0.85 – 0.94 0.74 – 0.93 0.01 – 0.41
Transparency value (Pears 0.77)

14
Laundry bars

Laundry soaps are used for general household cleaning and manual washing.
With the advent of detergent powder and bar, laundry soaps have become
less popular and in fact the production of this type of soap is on the decline.
There are three types of laundry products in the market namely soap bars,
syndet bars and combo bars. Soap bars contain mainly the anhydrous soap
as the surfactant, syndet bars contain only synthetic surfactant, and combo
bars are mixture of soap and synthetic surfactant.

There are two different kinds of laundry soap bars depending on the colour,
either white or yellow based on the composition of the bars. The white variety
is usually made from 25-40% coconut oil or palm kernel oil and 60-75%
tallow, palm oil, palm stearin or palm fatty acid distillate. The soap base is
usually combined with sodium silicate or other builders thus reducing the
anhydrous soap content to 50%. The yellow type laundry soap contains a
substantial proportion of rosin, which imparts the yellow colour to the soap.
The anhydrous soap content of yellow variety is greater than 50% and the
C12-C14 fatty acid content of the yellow laundry soap is lower than that of
white laundry soap.

Besides classifying them in terms of color, the laundry soap bar products are
also differentiated in term of compostion. There are three types: (i) pure, with
only soap as the main component; (ii) filled, incorporation of inorganic fillers or
builders; and (iii) structured containing higher solid than the filled soap plus
low total fatty matter. Table 11 listed the specification from several countries.
Some typical formulations of laundry soap bars are shown in Table 12. It is
observed that the formulations of laundry soap bars are in line with the
specifications in Table 11.

Even though the trend to use detergent bar is on the increase, laundry bar
soap is still used for manual washing. Production of palm-based laundry bar

15
Table 11. Specification for laundry soap bar from several countries

Malaysia Philippines Kenya

British Pure Filled Grade I Grade II
Property
Pure Filled Soap Soap
Min. Max. Min. Max.
1. Total fatty matter (%) (min) 60 45 62 65 - 77 - 62.0 50.0
2. Free caustic (%) (max) 0.15 0.15 0.05 - 0.5 - 0.5 0.2 0.4
3. Matter insoluble in ethanol (%) 2.5 17.5 2.0 - 5 - 10 2.5 20.0
(max)
4. Moisture and volatile matter 36 36 - - 30 - 30 - -
o o
(%) (max) (105 C) (105 C)
5. Rosin acid, content (%) (max) - - 7.5 - - - - 15.0 15.0
6. Total fee fat content
(unsaponified neutral fat - - 0.2 - - - - 2.0 2.0
content) (%) (max)
7. Total free alkali content (%) 0.25 - - - - - -
(Na2O) (max) - -
8. Chloride content (%) (max) - - 1.25 - 2 - 2 - -
9. Matter insoluble in Water % - - - - 1 - 10 - -
10. Iodine value - - - 8 4 8 4 - -
o
11. Titre of fatty acid, C - - - 20 45 20 45 - -

16
soap is limited and therefore only a few samples were obtained for our survey.
Analysis of these samples showed that they contain about 75% or more total fatty
matter, titer of about 42C, hardness of 16mm, chloride content 1.0%, pH 9.7 and
alcohol insoluble 0.35%.

Table 12. Some formulations of laundry soap bars

Composition Pure Pure Filled Filled Translucent Structured
(%)
TFM 68-72 62-63 55 45-50 72 35-40
H2O 25-21 35-31 32 34-32 21 25-40
Filler - - 2-8 5-10 - 10-20
Silicate - - 2-8 5-10 - 10-20

TFM: total fatty matter

Source: Berna et al., J. Surfact. & Det.,1, 263-271,1998

One of the major competitors for toilet bar soaps is the liquid and gel soap. In
western countries, reports on sales of soap products indicate that liquid body wash
sales exceed bar soap. In this region, bar soap still dominate the market because it
is cheaper than liquid soap, contain more surfactant, long shelf life and easy to
transport. Liquid body wash is also popular and this is due to the presence of various
skin-care additives in the products. Nevertheless, bar soap manages to overcome
this drawback by adding natural skin-care and facial-care ingredients. These natural
ingredients are usually plant extracts with special properties. Besides addition of
natural additives, bar soap manufacturers also move with the present trend low pH
soaps by producing less alkaline soap through superfatting with fatty acids, addition
of surfactant and also incorporate of emollient or moisturizers. Thus the soap
manufacturers have to be creative in producing soaps with different concepts,
properties, functions and variation to satisfy this greater demand.

17