Soap Testing Report

Authors: Zoey Serebriany, Mayra Perez, and Sandra Mendoza

INTRODUCTION
In our Cosmetic Chemistry class, we were confronted with the dilemma of
choosing which soap, Dove, Dial, or Olay is the best. The first struggle we needed
to tackle was determining how we defined the best soap. Our conclusion was that
the best soap had the best overall qualities that we were going to test. We would
score each quality on a scale and then check what each how each of us rated them.
After looking through our scores and seeing which soap got the highest ratings, we
then can choose which we think is the best. We tested a variety of qualities for
these soaps because we needed to choose the best one according to its overall
amazement, not just a single feature. The following qualities were tested: how
much the soap cleans the skin, how moisturizing it is, the feeling and residue it
leaves on your hands post wash, its foaming abilities, and the smell of the soap. We
created customized scales for each of these attributes so that we would understand
exactly how fantastic or horrible we were actually rating them. With these
experiments, we hoped to solve this inquiry of which soap has the best overall
qualities.

MATERIALS & METHODS

The problem we had was finding/choosing the best soap out of the three we
selected (which were Dove, Dial, and Olay). We solved our problem by discussing
what qualities we look for when buying a soap. We came up with how well the soap
cleans, moisturizes, whether or not it leaves residue behind, how much it foams
and how the soap smelled.
First we tested the cleaning properties of each soap since we knew that each
soap cleans in a different way. We conducted the experiment by trying to clean
different dirty materials (such as cooking oil (vegetable oil in a thicker form),
honey, syrup, salt, sugar, and dirt) off of our skin by washing our hands with each
soap and seeing which soap cleaned them the most. The materials that we needed
for this experiment are three types of soap, a sink, water, dirt,crisco, light syrup,
sugar, honey, and salt.
Next we tested the moisturizing properties to see if the soap would leave our
hands soft or dry. We choose to test this property because we know from personal
experience that when we use soap we dont want it to over dry our hands or leave
them too greasy. The soap must provide just the right amount of moisture so that
the consumer is not left with an uncomfortable feeling. We tested the moisturizing
properties by washing our hands with the different soaps and then feeling them

every five minutes. To conduct this experiment you will need the three types of
soap, water and a sink.
The next quality we tested was the feeling and residue it leaves on our hands
post wash. We chose to test for this quality because we know that when residue is
left behind it tends to become sticky and be overall uncomfortable. We tested that
by observing our hands right after we washed them.
To do this lab you need three
types of soap, a sink, water, dirt, crisco (viscous vegetable oil), light syrup, sugar,
honey, and salt.
After that we tested the foaming abilities of each soap in two different ways.
For the first one we washed our hands and watched how much foam it created. For
the other experiment we put a piece of soap in a bowl of water (and shook it up)
and watched how much foam it created there. The materials needed to conduct this
lab are the three types of soap, a sink,water, and a bowl.
The last thing we tested was the scent of each soap to see if the smell is
tolerable and pleasant. We thought that this was an important quality to test
because we dont want a soap that doesn't smell good or has a really strong smell
that it gives the consumer a headache. We tested that by washing our hands with
each soap and then we smelled them three times, immediately, three minutes later,
and five minutes after washing them. In order to conduct this experiment we
needed the 3 types of soaps, a sink, water to wash hands in and coffee beans to
clear the smell left behind from smelling the soap.
We hoped we would find the best quality soap out of the three we selected.
We hoped that each soap had the qualities we were looking for and that at least
one of them would be a good soap. We wanted the soap to have good cleansing
properties and foaming properties. Also we wanted it to be moisturizing and to have
a pleasant smell. We thought those were some good qualities for soap therefore we
hoped the soaps had those qualities.

RESULTS
Flip to the next page to view the data tables.

First Experiment
Cleans Skin:
Scale:
1. Your hands are still completely dirty.
2. Still mostly to all dirty.
3. Mostly dirty.
4. Dirty-still see the dirty materials on hand and under nails.
5. Halfway clean-still dirty but not all over.
6. Getting cleaner-almost clean but still some dirt on your hand.
7. Small amounts of residue or dirt on the hands.
8. Very little still left on your hand.
9. Little to tiny amount left on hands.
10. Hands completely clean-no residue or dirt left on hands.

Tester Name:
Sandra Mendoza with honey and salt on her hands.

Type of
Soap

Initial
Observation
of Your
Hands

Dove

Honey and
salt all over
hands

Dial

Olay

There is
honey and
salt all on my
hands
Honey and
salt

Cleanness
on a Scale
of
1- 10

6.5

Observations of how clean your

hands are:

(why did you choose the point on the

scale that you did-reasoning for the
number you gave the soap)

They were a little sticky but they feel

and look clean.

They were really sticky at first but then

they started feeling soft and somewhat
looked clean.

I chose this because there was still

honey on some parts of my hand but
most of it was gone.

Tester Name:
Zoey Serebriany with dirt and crisco (viscous vegetable oil)

Type of
Soap

Initial
Observation
of Your
Hands

Dove

Vegetable oil
and dirt all
over my
hands

Dial

Olay

Vegetable oil
and dirt all
over my
hands
Vegetable oil
and dirt all
over my
hands

Cleanness
on a Scale
of
1- 10

Observations of how clean your

hands are:

(why did you choose the point on the

scale that you did-reasoning for the
number you gave the soap)

Dirt all over hands and could feel the oil

all on hands and under nail and more
would take 3-6 washes to get off
Small amount of oil left on hands can
still feel- doesnt feel all the way clean

Barely anything was left on hand if there

was more dirt it would have taken
longer to wash off.

Tester Name:
Mayra Perez with light syrup and sugar.

Type of
Soap

Initial
Observation
of Your Hands

Dove

Light corn syrup

and sugar. My
hands are sticky.

Dial

Olay

Light corn syrup

and sugar. My
hands are sticky.
Light corn syrup
and sugar. My
hands are sticky.

Cleanness
on a Scale
of
1- 10

Observations of how clean your hands

are:

(why did you choose the point on the scale

that you did-reasoning for the number you
gave the soap)

Mos of my palms were clean yet syrup on

the side of my hands and sugar grains are
still on my hands.

The palm of my hands got clean

6
Clean in some parts but there is still sugar
and my hands are sticky.
6

These data tables were meant to show which out of the three soaps cleans
the best. As seen on the table we tested each soap by putting different
substances on our hands to see how clean our hands could really get. In the
end we concluded that the soap that cleaned better overall was Olay.

Moisturizing
Experiment

:
Observations of how moisturized your hands are over time:

Scale:
1.
Hands
2.
Hands
3.
Hands
4. Hands
5.
Hands
Type of
Soap

Dove

felt
felt
felt
felt
felt

really dry they werent moisturized at all

dry but didnt last long
neither soft or dry nothing really changed
soft but didnt last long
soft and it lasted a while

Tester Name:
Sandra Mendoza with honey and salt on her hands.

Moisturizing
Scale
1- 5
(in minutes)

Right
After
Wash:

3 Minutes
After
Wash:

8
Minutes
After
Wash:

13
Minutes
After
Wash:

25
Minutes
After
Wash:

R.
-
2

They feel
some what
soft but
dry in
between
my fingers.

They feel
somewhat
soft and in
between
my fingers
too.

They feel
less soft
and more
dry same
for in
between
my
fingers.

They feel
less dry
but the
softness
feels the
same.

They feel a
little sticky
but a little
soft behind
hands.

They feel
really dry
and very
sticky not
soft.

They feel
softer than
before but
still a little
dry.

They feel
pretty
much the
same
except
that
maybe a
little
softer.

They dont
feel sticky
anymore
so they
feel softer.

They feel
soft but still
sticky pretty
much the
same as
before.

They dont
feel dry at
all but also
not too soft
normal but
a little
more.

They feel a
little softer
than before
and still not
dry.

They feel
softer
than
before but
not a big
difference

Pretty
much
stayed the
same,
maybe
they got a
little more
soft.

They kept
getting a
little softer,
the softness
lasted a
while.

3. -
3
8. -
1.5
13. -
3
25. -
4
Dial

R.
-
1
3. -
3
8. -
3
13. -
4
25. -
3

Olay

R.
-
3.5
3. -
3
8. -
3
13. -
4
25. -
5

Tester Name:
Zoey Serebriany with dirt and crisco (viscous vegetable oil)

Type
of
Soap

Moisturizing
Scale
1- 5
(in minutes)

Right
After
Wash:

3
Minutes
After
Wash:

8
Minutes
After
Wash:

13
Minutes
After
Wash:

25
Minutes
After
Wash:

Dove

R.
-
4

Softer
hands so
maybe
very soft
oil made
up hands
soft not
the soap.

Dont
think
soap
made
hands
soft but
oil did
that.

Still soft
but can
be from
the oil.

After
washing
again and
getting all
dirt off and
waiting 13
minutes it
was
pleasantly
soft.

drier than
before
softness
did not last
as long as
expected.

Hands felt
dry and
rough/
sticky/stiff
burns
hands.

Hands
burning
and dry
but
softer
than
before

In
between
fingers is
dry

Still dry
but palm is
softer

Has not
gotten
softer just
the tiniest
bit drier

Soft but
not too
soft

Back of
hand
soft but
palm is
kind of
sticky

Gets oiler
by the
minute on
palm
especially

Sticky and
not drier
or softer

Softer and
less sticky
and dry on
palms

3. -
3
8. -
3
13. -
4
25. -
2-3
Dial

R.
-
1
3. -
1-2
8. -
2
13. -
2
25. -
2

Olay

R.
-
4
3. -
3
8. -
2
13. -
2
25. -
3.5

Tester Name:
Mayra Perez with light corn syup and sugar.

Type of
Soap

Moisturizing
Scale
1- 5
(in minutes)

Right After
Wash:

3 Minutes
After
Wash:

8 Minutes
After
Wash:

13
Minutes
After
Wash:

25
Minutes
After
Wash:

Dove

R.
-
5

soft, very
moisturized

Soft, very
moisturized

neither soft
or dry it is
in the
middle

neither
soft or dry
it is in the
middle
still

neither soft
or dry it is
in the
middle
still

My hands
are wet but
my hands
felt kind of
moisturized
but then it
started to
feel dry

The water
is all dry
my hands
feel soft in
some parts
but others
not so
much.

My hands
went back
to feeling
dry it feels
really stiff
and when I
try to move
my hands
they feel
rough.

Still feels
dry; same
as before

Still feels
really
rough;
same as
before, very
dry

My hands
were wet
but they felt
very soft

My hands
still feel
really soft.

My hands
still feel
really soft.

My hands
still feel
really soft.

My hands
have gotten
a bit less
moisturized

3. -
4
8. -
3
13. -
3
25. -
3
Dial

R.
-
2
3. -
1
8. -
1
13. -
1
25. -
1

Olay

R.
-
5
3. -
5
8. -
5
13. -
5
25. -
4

This test was used to test how well the different soaps moisturized our skin and
how it made our skin feel (moisturized or not) over a time period. The result of this
lab showed that Dove and Olay were the ones that moisturizes the best.

The feeling and residue it leaves on your hands post wash:

Scale:
1. Your hands feels dirty your hands most of the testers hands are
covered with residue.
2. The testers hands have a little bit of spaces with no residue.
3. Half of the testers hands are covered with residue.
4. There is little to no residue left behind.
5. There is no residue left behind feels very clean.
Tester Name:
Sandra Mendoza with honey and salt on hands.

Type of
soap

Initial
Feeling of
hands...
pre-wash

Rate the
soaps on a
scale of
1-5.

Observations how
it feels/looks
after washing our
hands for 2
minutes.

Observations
How it
feels/looks after
washing our
hands for 5
minutes.

Dove

Sticky

2 mins:
2

They feel a little

sticky because of
the dryness but
they feel a little
soft.

Feel a little
sticky/ dry in
between my
fingers but still a
little softer.

Feels really sticky

and dry feels like
there might be
some honey.

Dont feel sticky

and kind of soft
but a little dry

Feels a little sticky

especially in
between fingers
and there is some
salt.

Hands dont feel

sticky anymore
but just a little in
between fingers.

5 mins:
3
Dial

Very sticky

2 mins:
1
5 mins:
3

Olay

Too sticky

2 mins:
2
5 mins:
4

Tester Name:
Zoey Serebriany with dirt and crisco (viscous vegetable oil)

Type of
soap

Initial Feeling
of hands...
pre-wash

Rate the
soaps on a
scale of 1-5.

Observations how
it feels/looks
after washing our
hands for 2
minutes.

Observations
How it
feels/looks after
washing our
hands for 5
minutes.

Dove

oil and dirt on

hands before I
went to was
them

2 mins:
1

Hands have lots of

residue and
vegetable lard on
them

Oil is still on
hands, they feel
gross and slimy.

My hands felt
weird because
I had oil and
dirt on them.

2 mins:
3

Still covered a bit

with oil and it was
not pleasant.

Oil and other

almost all the
way gone. It all
washed off.

Left hands feeling

very clean.

Feel clean like I

didnt need to
wash my hands
again.

Dial

Olay

Oil and dirt

was on hands
before I
washed them

5 mins:
2

5 mins:
4-5
2 mins:
4
5 mins:
5

Tester Name:
Mayra Perez with light corn syrup and sugar.

Type of
soap

Initial
Feeling of
hands...
pre-wash

Rate the
soaps on
a scale of
1-5.

Observations how
it feels/looks
after washing our
hands for 2
minutes.

Observations
how it feels/looks
after washing our
hands for 5
minutes.

Dove

Light corn
syrup and
sugar. My
hands are
sticky.

2 mins:
3

Palms were wet

but the front of
hands were still
dirty.

My palms were
clean the front of
hands was clean.

Light corn
syrup and
sugar. My
hands are
sticky.

2 mins:
3

My hands had
some soap residue
on them

My hands had some

soap residue.

Light corn
syrup and
sugar. My
hands are
sticky.

2 mins:
2

Had a lot of
residue left from
soap and some
syrup it was very
sticky.

Still had residue left

from soap my
hands were a bit
sticky.

Dial

Olay

5 mins:
3

5 mins:
3

5 mins:
2

Once again we see that Olay left the least residue of the tester hands. This was
tested by putting different substances on the testers hands and seen how much
residue was left behind by the soap and the dirt substance.

Foaming Abilities:

Scale:
1.
No foam is produced.
2.
Very little foam is produced.
3.
Medium amount of foam is produce-normal amount; some is
produced but not a large amount.
4.
Lots of foam is produced, just enough to be more than normal.
5.
Huge amount of foam is produced. Foam is everywhere and much
more than normal.
Tester Name:
Sandra Mendoza

Type of Soap

Rate Foaming
Abilities on a
Scale of 1-5

Dove

Dial

Observations/Reason
for choosing the
number on scale for
Hands:

1.5

There was pretty much

no foam but after a while
there was a little foam

There was some foam

but not that much more
than Dove though.

4.5

There was a lot more

foam than any of the
other two. Besides that
there was still a lot of
foam.

Olay

Tester Name:
Zoey Serebriany

Type of
Soap

Rate Foaming Abilities

on a Scale of 1-5

Observations/Reason for choosing

the number on scale for Hands:

Dove

No foam produced at all

Dial

A good amount of foam was produced

but only when dirt wasnt on hand

Olay

4-5

Foamed a lot, almost more than

normal.

Tester Name:
Mayra Perez

Type of
Soap

Rate Foaming
Abilities on a
Scale of 1-5

Observations/Reason for
choosing the number on
scale for Hands:

Dove

Bubbled a little and made my

hands turn white.

Dial

Olay

It bubbles up and filled up my

hands with bubbles it was
normal just like others soapes.

Bubbled a little and made my

hands turn white.

Another Foaming Ability Test:

Type of
soap

Rate Foaming
Abilities on a Scale
of 1-5

Observations/Reason for
choosing the number on
scale for Bowl

Dove

No bubbles were produced

Dial

A fair amount of foam/

bubbles were produced.

Olay

Lots of foam was produced

and they covered the top of
the dish.

For this particular test we simply just washed our hands and observed how
much foam was produced. Then after this we compared the soaps to see
which one produced the most foam/ bubbles and Olay was the soap that
foamed the most. Then Dial and Dove which produced no foam at all.

Smell
Experiment:

Scale:
1. Smells awful right away and leaves a bad scent in your nose.
2. Smells okay but still not very good
3. Neither smelled bad or good pretty tolerable
4. Had a pleasant smell but didnt last long
5. Had an amazingly pleasant scent that was long lasting (especially if
you washed your hands with it and are doing that smell test.)
Tester Name:
Sandra Mendoza

Type of Soap

How the soap bar smells?

Rate it 1-5

Dove

It doesnt smell really bad but its

not too tolerable.

Dial

It doesnt smell bad. I dont really

like the smell but its not tolerable.

Olay

I like this smell way better than

the others its smells pretty good.

Tester Name:
Zoey Serebriany

Type of
Soap

How the soap bar smells?

Rate it 1-5

Dove

Smell awful but at least its not too strong a

bit like detergent

1-2

Dial

Scent is way too strong

- not a good strong smell

2-3

Olay

-Over scented
-not bad but too strong
-smells like flowers/deodorant

3-4

Tester Name:
Mayra Perez

Type of Soap

How the soap bar smells?

Rate it 1-5

Dove

Smells to me like bad detergent

Dial

The soap bar smells like ocean breeze.

Olay

Smells like deodorant.

Another Smell Experiment:

Tester Name:
Sandra Mendoza

Type
of
Soap

Rate
1-5

How it smells
immediately
after washing
your hands?

How it smells
after 3 minutes
of washing
your hands.

How it smells
after 5 minutes
of washing your
hands.

Dove

I:
2

It doesnt have a
really strong
smell but it
smells.

Nothing has
really changed.

The smell is not

strong but I can
still smell it a
little its tolerable
smell though.

The smell is
pretty strong, its
actually really
strong its
tolerable for a
while.

Nothing has
changed the
smell is still
pretty strong.

The smell
somewhat went
away but its still
a little strong.

Not a strong
smell but what I
can smell its a
tolerable smell.

Smells the same

as before
nothing really
changed.

Smells a little
less than before,
the smell is still
even more
tolerable.

3:
3
5:
3
Dial

I:
1.5
3:
2.5
5:
3

Olay

I:
4.5
3:
3
5:
3.5

Tester Name:
Zoey Serebriany

Type
of
Soap

Rate
1-5

How it smells
immediately
after washing
your hands?

How it smells
after 3 minutes
of washing
your hands.

How it smells
after 5 minutes
of washing your
hands.

Dove

I:
3

Not really bad or

good smelt clean

Doesnt smell
good but isnt
awful

Smell interesting
not good or bad
just weird

Not bad or good

Doesnt smell
any better or
worse

Smells weird not

as good as
beginning but not
bad

Crisp and clean

Still does not

smell bad

Smells clean and

has not gotten
worse.

3:
2
5:
2
Dial

I:
3
3:
2-3
5:
2

Olay

I:
4
3:
4
5:
5

Tester Name:
Mayra Perez

Type
of
Soap

Rate
1-5

How it smells
immediately
after washing
your hands?

How it smells
after 3 minutes
of washing
your hands.

How it smells
after 5 minutes
of washing your
hands.

Dove

I:
4

It smells woody
kind of strong

Smells like any

other soap

smells strong yet

it is still tolerable

It is a very
strong smell.

The smell was

not too peasant.

The smell was

strong not too
pleasant.

Smells really
good not too
strong

Smells really
good it is
tolerable

Still smells good

but it is less
strong

3:
4
5:
4
Dial

I:
2
3:
2
5:
2

Olay

I:
5
3:
5
5:
4

This lab was meant to show what soap smelled better and how long it would last.
When we ran this lab we smelled the soap bar as is this was meant to show more
on how it smelled how long it lasted. The result of the lab was that Olay was better
smelling and that the smell lasted a lot longer.

DISCUSSION
Through our experiments we were able to discover that overall, Olay had the
best qualities (foamed the most, had average moisturizing abilities, smelt very nice,
cleaned our hands the most, left little residue on hands, and our hands felt mostly
soft and smooth), especially when compared to Dove and Dial. We were able to find
this out by averaging the results of the tests we ran, as well as discussing what we
picked for each category and based off of that, which soap each of us would select
as the best. It was a unanimous choice when we came to the conclusion of Olay
being the absolute best out of all three soaps. When looking at the ingredients in
Olay we saw that there is still some hazardous materials. This means it is not the
safest possible option of all soaps, but of the three in which we were testing, it was
definitely the best. The reason for testing all of these qualities and looking at the
ingredients was really to find which was the safest out of all of the soaps so that

later we could see how we can make it even safer. Olay was just that; it had the
best qualities and was the safest.