Saponification (soap-making)

Juba university center

Materials and chemical

 Vegetable oil (castor oil, olive oil)

 sodium hydroxide solution
 Measuring cylinders
 Glass beaker (50, 100, 250, 1000 ml)
 Glass rod
 Hot plate
 Spatula
 Thermometer

Preparation of soap
1. Place 130 ml of water into the 600 ml beaker.
2. Place a 250 ml graduated cylinder onto the scale, and zero the scale. After that pour
250ml of the oil into the graduated cylinder and record the mass of the oil. And pour the
recorded oil into a 600 ml beaker.
3. Measure and record the temperatures of the oil and the water.
4. Put the beaker with water onto the scale, and zero the scale. Add 12g of lye to the
water, record the precise amount used. Do not uses more lyse, as it can lead to leftover
lye in the soap bar that can irritate the skin.
5. Hold the beaker with hot pad and stir the water and lyse with a spatula until all the lys is
dissolved. The mixture will get very hot as the lye dissolve.
6. Put down the mixture and leave it cool down for a while and add sodium chloride
solution for salting.
Reaction
1. Measure and record the temperature of the lyse solution.
2. Slowly add or pour the lye solution into the oil.
3. Use the mixer to mix the system for a few seconds. Use caution not to splash, due to lye
in the solution. Observe how the contents have changed due to mixing, and record your
observations. Measure and record the temperature.
4. Mix for one minute, and then check the thickness of your mixture by moving a spatula
across the surface, and seeing if this leaves a mark that does not quickly disappear.
5. If the mark quickly disappears, repeats steps 4. Keep repeating step 4 until you see a
mark that does not quickly disappear. Record your total time of mixing.
6. After you find that the mixture thickness is such that the mark on the surface does not
quickly disappear, pour the solution into the soap mold.
7. The soap bar can be removed from the mold after one to two days. At this time it should
be solid enough to pull out of the mold. Find the mass of the soap bar.
8. The soap bar should sit for two to three weeks before use to allow excess water to
evaporate.