Soaps are sodium or potassium fatty acids salts, produced from the hydrolysis of fats in a chemical reaction called

saponification. Each soap molecule has a long hydrocarbon chain, sometimes called its 'tail', with a carboxylate
'head'. In water, the sodium or potassium ions float free, leaving a negatively-charged head.
Soap is an excellent cleanser because of its ability to act as an emulsifying agent. An emulsifier is capable of
dispersing one liquid into another immiscible liquid. This means that while oil (which attracts dirt) doesn't naturally

mix with water, soap can suspend oil/dirt in

A soap micelle has a hydrophilic head that is in contact with the water and a center of hydrophobic tails, which can be used to isolate grime.

Mariana Ruiz VillarrealThe

organic part of a natural soap is a negatively-charged, polar molecule. Its hydrophilic (water-
loving) carboxylate group (-CO2) interacts with water molecules via ion-dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding.
The hydrophobic (water-fearing) part of a soap molecule, its long, nonpolar hydrocarbon chain, does not interact
with water molecules. The hydrocarbon chains are attracted to each other by dispersion forces and cluster
together, forming structures called micelles. In these micelles, the carboxylate groups form a negatively-
charged spherical surface, with the hydrocarbon chains inside the sphere. Because they are negatively charged,
soap micelles repel each other and remain dispersed in water.

Grease and oil are nonpolar and insoluble in water. When soap and soiling oils are mixed, the nonpolar
hydrocarbon portion of the micelles break up the nonpolar oil molecules. A different type of micelle then forms,
with nonpolar soiling molecules in the center. Thus, grease and oil and the 'dirt' attached to them are caught inside
the micelle and can be rinsed away.

Although soaps are excellent cleansers, they do have disadvantages. As salts of weak acids, they are converted by
mineral acids into free fatty acids:

CH3(CH2)16CO2-Na+ + HCl → CH3(CH2)16CO2H + Na+ + Cl-

These fatty acids are less soluble than the sodium or potassium salts and form a precipitate or soap scum. Because
of this, soaps are ineffective in acidic water. Also, soaps form insoluble salts in hard water, such as water
containing magnesium, calcium, or iron.

2 CH3(CH2)16CO2-Na+ + Mg2+ → [CH3(CH2)16CO2-]2Mg2+ + 2 Na+

The insoluble salts form bathtub rings, leave films that reduce hair luster, and gray/roughen textiles after repeated
washings. Synthetic detergents, however, may be soluble in both acidic and alkaline solutions and don't form
insoluble precipitates in hard water. But that is a different story...

The significance of calcium soap formation in the inhibition of calcium absorption has been studied in rats. 47Ca
labelled soaps of fatty acids were introduced into the duodenum and the absorption of calcium measured after four
hours in a whole body counter. The absorption of calcium was inversely correlated with the chain length of the fatty
acid varying from 1% for Ca-stearate to 60% for Ca-hexanoate. Increasing the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acid
was accompanied by increased calcium absorption. The availability of calcium for absorption from the soaps was
correlated with their solubility in 1% aqueous Na-tauroglycocholate. The percentages of calcium as soap in the small
intestine and the faeces after intragastric administration of calcium and fats were similar, which suggests that the
faecal content of calcium soaps is an index of intestinal soap formation. Soap formation was negligible when CaCl2
was given with tristearate, triolaeate, or tridecanoate and no depression of calcium absorption was observed. Calcium
absorption was markedly impaired by the addition of phosphates at a Ca/P ratio of 1:1 irrespective of the presence of
neutral fats. Stearic acid resulted in significant soap formation and reduced calcium absorption. The degree of Ca-
soap formation and the inhibition of calcium absorption were well correlated. The results suggest that, although
calcium soap formation may markedly depress calcium absorption in the rat, no significant soap formation takes
place when fats are given in the form of triglycerides.

Surfactants have been considered in the past to form premicellar multimers such as dimers and acid soap. In a
previous publication, we presented a thermodynamic model for the surface tension dependence on surfactant
concentration taking into account premicellar aggregation and we considered the possibility of formation of dimers in
alkaline potassium oleate solutions. In this paper, the surface tension data for potassium oleate solutions at two pH
values is analyzed using the above model and the observed differences from predictions of the model are attributed
to the formation of acid soaps in the neutral pH region. The formation constant for acid soap is estimated from this
analysis to be 1.75 × 105 (kmole/m3)−1.

One of the organic chemical reactions known to ancient man was the preparation of soaps
through a reaction called saponification. Natural soaps are sodium or potassium salts of
fatty acids, originally made by boiling lard or other animal fat together with lye or potash
(potassium hydroxide). Hydrolysis of the fats and oils occurs, yielding glycerol and crude
soap. A soap is a sodium salt of a long chain carboxylic fatty acid which has some
cleaning properties in water. It has a large non-ionic hydrocarbon group and an ionic
group, COO-Na+.

Examples on Chemical Fromula for Soap:

Some examples of soaps are:

1. Sodium stearate (Chemical formula: C17H35COO-Na+) - It is the sodium salt of a long

chain saturated fatty acid called stearic acid, C17H35COOH. Sodium stearate soap has an
ionic carboxylic group COO-Na+ and a long alkyl group C17H35.
 2. Sodium oleate (Chemical formula: C17H33COO-Na+) – It is the sodium salt of a long
chain unsaturated fatty acid called oleic acid, C17H33COOH, with an alkyl group of C17H33.
3. Sodium palmitate (Chemical formula: C15H31COO-Na+) – It is the sodium salt of a long
chain saturated fatty acid called palmitic acid, C15H31COOH, with an alkyl group of
C17H31.

Manufacturing of soap:

The process of making soap is called saponification. It is done by the hydrolysis of fats
and oils with alkalies. The main raw materials needed for the manufacture of ordinary
soap are:

1. Animal fat or vegetable oil

2. Sodium hydroxide
3. Sodium chloride

Soaps are made by heating animal fat or vegetable oil with concentrated NaOH
solution.

Fat or Oil + NaOH → Soap + Glycerol

When the process is complete, some amount of sodium chloride is added to cause the
precipitation of soap. When NaCl is added to the soap solution, then the solubility of
soap decreases due to which soap separates out from the solution in the form of a solid
and starts floating on the surface. The layer of soap thus formed is removed and put in
moulds to get soap cakes.

Limitations of Chemical Formula:

At times, water contains calcium and magnesium salts. This water is called Hard water.
In hard water, soap is not suitable for washing clothes because:

1. When soap is used with hard water, a large amount of soap reacts with calcium and
magnesium ions of hard water to form insoluble precipitate called scum, before it can be
used before the real purpose of washing.
 2. The scum sticks to the cloths being washed and interferes with the cleaning ability of the
additional soap. This makes the cleaning of the cloths difficult.

In the industrial manufacture of soap, tallow (fat from animals such as cattle and
sheep) or vegetable fat is heated with sodium hydroxide. Once the
saponification reaction is complete, sodium chloride is added to precipitate
the soap. The water layer is drawn off the top of the mixture and th How is
Soap Made
A lot of us have probably experienced making even the simplest of soaps if not for fun, from our school
projects way back when we were young. For those who haven’t tried making soaps, you will be amazed by the
number of ways on how is soap made.

Be it creating soaps from scratch, reproducing soap from soap scrapes, or crafting soap through the short cut
method of milling, making soaps is a fun project that you can get used to doing. Whatever method you choose
to use, the question remains, how is soap made? At the same time, the answer to that question is similar to any
kind of method that you choose. So how is soap made? Let’s begin with the basics. First, let’s discuss the main
ingredients of soap. Soap comes from two main things, fats and lye. Soap is the result of a chemical process
called saponification. It’s also similar to how salt is produced. Soap comes from the reaction of blending alkali
which is lye, and acid which is the fat or oil. Other ingredients will include the fragrance oils and essential oils
that provide various effects to our skin and body. It includes the moisturizers and therapeutic effects we seek
for in soap. Now that we know the basics of soap, let’s get into more detail into how is soap made.
Various methods are used such as the cold process, the method of making soap from scratch. There’s also the
rebatch method or hand milled in which we buy a premade base that we will melt and add coloring, fragrance
oils, etc. Now another method is the melt and pour. It is very similar to the rebatch method except that the base
used is a glycerin-based soap. It makes the most nourishing and moisturizing soap of all the three methods
mentioned. Now you know how is soap made.

HOW HARD WATER

e glycerol is recovered using vacuum distillation.

CAUSES SOAP CURD FORMATION

If such a 7.5 grain water is used in the home for washing purposes, the positive calcium and
magnesium ions react with the soap used to produce insoluble soap curds.

It is these insoluble soap curds that produce the ring around the bathtub, the half-clean,
dingy-looking clothes, etc.

Again, if such water is brought into the home or factory and heated or boiled, the
bicarbonate anions revert to their carbonates, which combined with calcium and magnesium
produce scale on the walls of the container or in the piping system.

In a manner of speaking, scientists working out the problem of eliminating hardness

minerals from a water supply applied the cause of the problem in obtaining the solution.

They reasoned that if some ions not contributing to hardness could be introduced into a
water supply as a replacement for the calcium and magnesium ions, water could be made
totally soft, totally useful. The result was the ion exchange process for treating hard water.
(--> Next)

Many cities across the U.S. have started to ban traditional water softeners from their
communities even though they have hard water. These ion-exchange systems use large
amounts of salt, which is then flushed down the drain and harms the environment. Sanitary
departments are then forced to build treatment plants to remove the salt and they in-turn
pass these costs down to the consumer through higher monthly water bills. Thus many
cities have decided that it is not worth the cost and effort and have banned the use of salt-
based water softeners altogether.

Salt-free water softeners are a better solution. These systems use catalytic conversion to
safely soften water without the use of salts and are much better for our environment and
local waterways. Salt-free water softeners deliver all the benefits of traditional water
softeners and are approved for use by every community

Soap is a surface active agent referred to as a surfactant. All surfactants are molecules that
contain both polar regions and non-polar regions. The polar regions are hydrophilic ("water
loving"), while the non-polar regions are hydrophobic ("water fearing") or lipophilic ("fat
loving"). The polar regions will readily dissolve in water, while the non-polar regions will tend
to associate with each other. Oils and fats, which do not dissolve in water, will also associate
with the non-polar regions of the surfactants. This process results in dispersion of these
molecules leading to the cleaning properties that we associate with soap.
 Types of Soap

The classical type is also known as lye soap. Lye soap is prepared by the saponification of
animal fat or vegetable oil. Saponification is a chemical reaction between lye, which is primarily
sodium hydroxide, and the fat/oil, which are triglycerides. The products of this reaction are a
complex mixture of fatty acid salts. Each of these salts contains a polar, hydrophilic head, called
a carboxylic acid salt, and a non-polar, hydrophobic tail. The nature of the tail determines the
identity of each compound in the soap. The ratio of each compound will primarily influence the
temperature at which the soap will soften or melt.

The main issue with lye soap is the formation of soap scum. Calcium and magnesium ions,
which are present is hard water, will readily react with carboxylic acid salts to form insoluble
complexes. To address this issue, other types of soaps have been developed. The most popular
are referred to as non-ionic surfactants. Like lye soap, non-ionic soaps contain both hydrophilic
heads and hydrophobic tails. However, unlike lye soap, these compounds do not have carboxylic
acid groups. As such, the compounds do not react with ions in hard water. Non-ionic surfactants
may be prepared from fats and oils. For example, sorbitan monooleate and polysorbate 80, which
are common ingredients in many shampoos, are prepared from olive oil. Other soaps, Triton X-
100, are derived from petroleum. The polar heads for non-ionic surfactants are be prepared using
either a sugar, e.g. sorbitol, ethylene oxide, glycerin, or a combination of these components.
Depending on the weight ratio of the polar components to the non-polar components, referred to
as the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance or HLB, determines the water solubility and foaming
potential.

A third type of surfactant is the detergent. Like lye soap, these compounds are ionic. The nature
of the ionic group has been modified to prevent the formation of soap scum. The main types of
groups are the sulfonic acid group, which is used in sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS or SDS), and the
phosphoric acid group. Detergents are known for their high water solubility and foaming
potential.

A fourth type of surfactant is cationic. Like detergents, these compounds will not react with the
ions in hard water. However, these compounds do not have a high foaming potential. The polar
group is typically a quarternary amine, which tends to have antibacterial properties.