How to make soap

Make soap from lard.

Table of contents

1 Equipment
2 Safety
3 How to do
4 External links

Equipment

Lard or some sort of fat.
6N Sodium Hydroxyide (NaOH)
NaCl (table salt)
Alcohol ( ethanol)
Glass beaker and stirring rod.
Bunsen burner or other means of heating solution.
Mold for making soap bars (any flexible plastic container).

Safety

Gloves, labcoat and appropriate eyeware should be worn when handling the 6N NaOH. It should be used in a well-ventilated area, preferably in a fume hood. DO NOT BREATHE THE FUMES. Wash with vinegar should you get some on your skin (have some vinegar handy before starting the experiment) -DO NOT wash with water!.

How to do

1.Place 10 grams of lard (or any other fat, such as oil or butter) in a beaker.

2.SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY add 15 ml of 6N sodium hydroxide

3.Add 50ml of ethyl alcohol (ethanol)

4. Gently heat this mixture under low heat, stirring with a glass stirring rod until the base has completely reacted with the lard (about 20 to 30 minutes)

5.After all of the base has reacted, add 20 ml of water and stir

6.Cool the mixture. Add 12 g of sodium chloride (table salt) to 50 ml of water. Pour the cooled mixture of base and lard into the NaCl mixture (not the other way around).

7. Let this new mixture cool completely. The solid cake that forms is the soap (whats left, if you do it out chemically, is glycerol).