Making soaps and detergents

Class practical
Castor oil is used as a source of vegetable oils which, on reaction with warm concentrated alkali, form soaps. The vegetable oils
in castor oil also contain hydroxy-groups (–OH) which will react readily with concentrated sulfuric acid, forming a long chain
molecule with an ionic sulfonate group on the end. Such molecules behave as detergents. Only small quantities of reagents are
required, reducing the risks associated with the use of such hazardous reagents.

Lesson organisation
These two class experiments are suitable for reliable students, able to handle concentrated acids and alkalis responsibly, safely
and with sufficient skill. The experiments will take about 45 minutes.

Apparatus Chemicals
Each working group will Castor oil, about 5 cm3
need: Ethanol (IDA, Industrial Denatured
Eye protection: goggles Alcohol) (HIGHLY FLAMMABLE,
(Safety spectacles are HARMFUL), 5 cm3
NOT suitable) Sodium hydroxide solution, 5 M
Test-tubes, 4 (CORROSIVE),
Boiling tubes, 3 (Note 1) 10 cm3
Test-tube rack Sodium chloride, 10 g
Test-tube holder Concentrated sulfuric acid
Cork, to fit test tube (CORROSIVE), 2 cm3
Dropping pipette Purified water (distilled or deionised)
Measuring cylinders (10 Refer to Health & Safety and
cm3), 2 Technical notes section below for
Beakers (100 cm3), 2 additional information.
Beaker (250 cm3)
Glass rod
Spatula
Bunsen burner
Tripod and gauze
Heat resistant mat
Boiling water from an
electric kettle (Note 2)
Ice-bath (optional) (Note
3)
Filter flask, funnel, filter
papers, and pump (Note 4)

Health & Safety and Technical notes

Read our standard health & safety guidance
Wear goggles at all times throughout these experiments. You are using 5 M sodium hydroxide and, in the second part,
concentrated sulfuric acid, both very corrosive liquids. If you spill either of these on the skin, wash off at once in the sink with
plenty of running water. Similarly, quickly mop up any spills on the bench with a damp cloth and then rinse it thoroughly.

Castor oil - Castor oil is the best oil for making soap in the school laboratory, but reasonable results can be obtained from olive
oil and rape-seed oil. For making detergent by sulfonation, the hydroxy-group on the carbon chain is essential, and castor oil is
necessary.

Ethanol (IDA, Industrial Denatured Alcohol), C2H5OH(l), (HIGHLY FLAMMABLE, HARMFUL) - see CLEAPSS Hazcard.

Sodium hydroxide solution, NaOH(aq), (CORROSIVE) - see CLEAPSS Hazcard and CLEAPSS Recipe Book.

Sodium chloride, NaCl(s) - see CLEAPSS Hazcard.

Concentrated sulfuric acid, H2SO4(l), (CORROSIVE) - see CLEAPSS Hazcard.

1 A large (150 x 25 mm) test-tube.

2 At least two electric kettles, strategically situated around the laboratory, will be needed to allow students to fill their water-baths
(250 cm3 beakers or larger, or a small metal waterbath). These should be pre-heated to boiling at the start of the lesson so that a
rapid re-heat is possible when students have to fill their water baths. It may be safer for students to take the electric kettles to
their working places than to carry beakers of boiling water around the laboratory.

3 An ice-bath will help to speed up the precipitation of the soap produced. Again, two or more placed around the laboratory will
probably be necessary.

4 The solid soap needs to be filtered off using a pump. Four water-pumps set up around the laboratory, with filter flasks (100
cm3) and either small Buchner or Hirsch funnels, will allow the class to filter their products efficiently. Filter papers should be
available to size for each funnel. If water pumps are not available, other types of suction pump can be used.

Procedure
Making soap

a Place castor oil (2 cm3) into a beaker (100 cm3) using a dropping pipette, followed by ethanol (5 cm3). Stir with a glass rod to
mix.

b Add sodium hydroxide solution (10 cm3).

c Prepare a waterbath containing near-boiling water from an electric kettle so that you can safely lower the small beaker into it
without spillage. A 250 cm3 beaker may be used as the waterbath. Do not use too much water, as the small beaker needs to be
supported without risk of the water coming over the top.

d Stir the mixture in the beaker with a glass rod for 5 minutes. If the water bath cools too much, you may need to renew with
fresh boiling water.

e Meanwhile in a boiling tube make a saturated solution of sodium chloride by shaking solid sodium chloride with 10 cm3 of
water until no more will dissolve. Allow to settle.

f After 5 minutes, add the saturated sodium chloride solution to the small beaker and stir.

g Cool the mixture by changing to a cold water bath (or an ice bath if available).

h Soft, white lumps of the soap will gradually form in the mixture. Leave for a few minutes to improve the yield. During this time
the soap may rise to the surface and form a soft crust on cooling.

i Using a pump, with a fresh filter paper damped down in the funnel, filter off the soap, breaking up the crust with a glass rod if
necessary

j Allow the soap to drain on a paper towel – do not touch it with your fingers, as it may still contain sodium hydroxide.

k Use a spatula to transfer a little of the soap to a test-tube, and add a few cm3 of purified water. Shake well! What happens?
You have made a soap!

Making a detergent
a Add 4 cm3 of concentrated sulfuric acid to a boiling tube (your teacher may do this for you).
b Using the dropping pipette, add 2 cm3 of castor oil very carefully to the boiling tube, swirling gently to mix. Does the test-tube
become hot?

c Add 10 cm3 of cold water to a boiling tube (about 3 - 4 cm depth), then carefully pour the reaction mixture from the first tube
into the water. The liquid may be very slow-flowing (viscous) and contain concentrated acid, so be careful and take your time
over this.

d Stir to remove the excess of acid into the water and then decant (pour off) the water down the sink, leaving a pinkish-grey
sludge. Wash the product again with two more portions of water.

e Use a spatula to transfer a small quantity of the product to a clean test-tube. Add a few cm3 of water, and shake well. What
happens? You have made a detergent.

Teaching notes
As these experiments involve the use of two very corrosive reagents, the reliability of the class in terms of both manipulative
skills and behaviour is important. However, the quantities actually used are small, and risks can be minimised by advance
preparation of reaction vessels with these reagents already measured out.

If the teacher is uncertain about the reliability of the class, the experiments may be performed as demonstrations, but should not
be scaled up. The use of a flexicam or similar to project onto a screen may help with visibility of a demonstration.

Castor oil is an example of a triglyceride, in which three long hydrocarbon chains (typically around 16 carbon atoms in length)
are all linked through oxygen atoms to one 3-carbon chain at the end. The latter is derived from glycerol – hence the name
triglyceride. A simple triglyceride structure looks like this:

For castor oil, the carbon chains are each 18 carbon atoms long. However, part way along each chain there is carbon-carbon
double bond, with a hydroxy-group nearby. The double bond means that the chains do not pack well together, so this triglyceride
is a liquid rather than a solid – a vegetable oil rather than a fat.

When boiled with sodium hydroxide, the glycerol end group is split off, and the long chains pair up with the sodium ions to form
sodium ricinoleate, which is the soap.

The three hydroxy-groups on the carbon chains react with concentrated sulfuric acid to form a sulfonic acid group, – OSO2OH.
These groups are water-soluble, but the hydrocarbon chains are not. It is this conflicting pair of properties that makes such
substances good detergents, with the hydrocarbon chains mixing with greasy dirt and the sulfonic acid groups dissolving in
water.

The detergent formed from castor oil is called Turkey Red oil. This was the first synthetic detergent to be made, and is still used
in some bath oils.

Health & Safety checked, 2016

Credits
This Practical Chemistry resource was developed by the Nuffield Foundation and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

© Nuffield Foundation and the Royal Society of Chemistry

Weblinks
Wikipedia - the chemical structure of castor oil and its uses in soaps and detergents are described in fuller details.

Wikipedia - a more general discussion of triglycerides.

Wikipedia - an extensive background on soap and soap making.

Unfortunately most websites concerned with making soaps and detergents begin with bought-in basic soap or detergent, and
simply add the extras – perfumes, colours and the like.

Page last updated October 2015