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Consumer
Chemistry
Quarter 3 – Module 2:
Chemicals Present in
Soap and Detergent
 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help
you master the chemistry behind soap and detergent. The scope of this module
permits it to be used in many different learning situations. The language used
recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of students. The lessons are arranged to
follow the standard sequence of the course. But the order in which you read them
can be changed to correspond with the textbook you are now using.

This learning module is aligned with the learning competency:

● identify the chemicals present in soaps and detergents and their properties

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. trace the development and improvement of soap and detergent through time
2. compare the properties and chemical composition of soap and detergent
3. explain how soap and detergent works
4. appreciate the importance of soap and detergent maintaining cleanliness at
your body and at home
5. create a poster that promotes the role of soap and detergent in preventing
the spread of communicable diseases.

What I Know

Directions: Read each question carefully. Choose the letter of the correct answer.

1. What country created the first synthetic detergent?

a. Egypt c. Rome
b. Germany d. Spain

2. How did soap-making become widespread in the 18th century?

a. To treat skin diseases
b. To do laundering and washing with much less effort
c. To produce a luxurious cleaning agent among rich people
d. To advertise campaigns on personal hygiene and health

3. Which of the following is NOT an ingredient in soap-making?

a. animal fats c. natural raw material
b. hydrocarbon from petroleum d. vegetable oils

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Lesson
Chemicals Present in
1 Soap and Detergent

What’s In

In our previous lesson, we were able to discover the chemistry behind

cosmetics. We studied the different chemical compositions, properties, and
functions of cosmetics like creams, perfumes, talc powder, and deodorant. You also
learned about the history and development of cosmetics and different product
forms. You also had the chance to know the importance of maintaining and
promoting proper hygiene using different cosmetic products.

In this module, you will learn the chemistry behind soap and detergent. You
will study the differences between soap and detergent when it comes to chemical
compositions, production, properties, and cleaning performance. You will also learn
about the power of surfactant and builders to support the function of the two most
commonly used cleaning products.

What’s New

A clean home is like lying on your

safest cradle. It is always welcoming to come
to a clean house with healthy members.
Regular house cleaning can give lists of
benefits for the whole family, like killing
microorganisms that may cause sickness to
everyone in the house. It can also improve
the quality of indoor air; maintain stress-free
and healthy hygiene. However, it takes much Some of commercially available cleaning products

effort to maintain and keep your house

clean.

While it is essential to keep your home clean to provide a healthy

environment for your family, commercially available cleaning product labels display
complex chemical terms, and advertisements boost their performance in
consumers’ eyes. Therefore, to make an informed decision when comparing product
performance, effectiveness, and safety, consumers need to be familiar with the
most common ingredients found in cleaning products.

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 This module will guide you to compare two of the most common cleaning
products that we use in our everyday cleaning and other household chores, soap
and detergent.

Direction: Answer the following questions:

1. How can you describe a clean home?

2. What are the benefits of maintaining a clean home?
3. What is the purpose of soap and detergent in your daily life?
4. What are your standards in choosing the cleaning products to use in
different household chores?
5. Why it is crucial for consumers to know the chemical ingredients of different
cleaning products?

What is It

Brief History of Soap and Detergent

The origins of personal cleanliness date back to prehistoric times. Since

water is essential for life, the earliest people who lived near water knew something
about cleanliness – rinsed mud off their hands.

A soap-like material was found in a clay

cylinder in ancient Babylon is evidence that
soap-making was known as early as 2800 B.C.
Inscriptions in the cylinder say that fat was
boiled with ashes, a soap-making method.
Egyptians used soap-like material to treat skin diseases.

An Egyptian medical document describes Photo Source: https://www.zmescience.com/other/feature-

post/making-soap-home/
combining animal and vegetable oils with
alkaline salts to form soap-like material used to treat skin diseases as well as for
washing.

According to an Ancient Roman legend,

soap got its name from Mount Sapo, where
animals were sacrificed. Rain washed a mixture
of melted animal fat or tallow and wood ashes
into the clay soil along the Tiber River. Women
Roman women do their washing on Tiber River using tallow
found this clay mixture and did their washing
and wood ashes.
with much less effort.
Photo Source: https://lydianaturals.com/soap-history-facts-and-
folklore-from-ancient-days/
By the second century, a Greek physician,
Galen, recommended soap for medicinal and
cleansing purposes. Soap making was an established craft in Europe in the 7th
century. Italy, Spain, and France were the early centers for soap manufacturing

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due to their ready supply of raw materials such as oils from olive trees. Soap was a
luxury enjoyed mainly by those who could afford it. Manufactured bar soaps were
not available until the late 18th century in Europe and the U.S. Widespread use of
soap during this period can be attributed to advertising campaigns touting the
relationship between good personal hygiene and health.

In 1791, Nicholas Leblanc patented making

soda ash or sodium carbonate from common salt.
Soda ash is combined with fat to form soap. In the
mid-1800s, Ernest Solvay invented another soap
technology, the ammonia process, to make soda ash
out of common table salt. This process further
reduced the cost of obtaining soda ash and
increased its quantity and quality for soap Soap-making with the use of oils from
olive trees in Europe in 7th century.
manufacturing.
Photo Source:
In 1916, Germany created the first synthetic https://lydianaturals.com/soap-history-
facts-and-folklore-from-ancient-days/
detergent. It is in response to World War I soap
ingredient shortages. It encouraged manufacturers to develop synthetic cleaners to
meet demand. By the 1950s, detergents had overtaken traditional soap products in
homes across America.

The Chemistry of Soap and Detergent

Soap and detergent are two of the most common cleaning products used in a
household. They are used in laundering, dishwashing, bathing, hand washing, and
other types of cleaning. As a consumer, it is a must for you to understand the
chemistry behind these commercial products. It will serve as a guide for you to
understand their performance, efficacy, and safety. It can also help you to be more
productive and efficient in your cleaning strategies.

Differences between soap and detergent

PROPERTIES SOAP DETERGENT

Raw Material Natural materials Synthetic materials
(animal fats or (hydrocarbon from
vegetable oils) petroleum or crude oil)
Formation Alkali and fatty acid Alkali and sulphuric acid
(Sodium or potassium (Sodium or potassium salt
salt of a long chain of of benzene sulphonic acid
carboxylic acid/fatty or alkyl sulfate)
acids)
Effectiveness in Hard Not effective due to Effective and no formation
Water formation of scum of scum
Environmental Impact Biodegradable and can Most are non-biodegradable
easily be broken down and form thick foam that
by bacteria can kill aquatic life
Examples Sodium palmitate and Deoxycholic acid and
sodium stearate sodium lauryl sulphate

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Preparation of Soap

Ingredients:

a. Fatty acid from animal fats and vegetable oils

▪ source of the hydrocarbon chain – hydrophobic (water-hating end) but
attracted to grease and oils
▪ Carboxylate end – hydrophilic (water-loving end)

b. Alkali
▪ Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or caustic soda – produces hard soap-
like bath and bar soap
▪ Potassium hydroxide (KOH) or caustic potash – produces soft soap
like in liquid hand soap

Chemical Structure of Soap

Saponification involves heating plant oils and animal fats, reacting them with a
liquid alkali to produce soap plus water plus glycerine.

Photo Source: https://www.cleaninginstitute.org/sites/default/files/assets/

1/AssetManager/SoapsandDetergentsBook.pdf

Another way of soap making is the hydrolysis of oils and fats in high-pressure
steam to yield crude fatty acids and glycerine – purification of fatty acids through
distillation and neutralization of fatty acids with alkali to form soap and water

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Preparation of Detergent

Ingredients:
a. Petrochemicals (derived from petroleum) and oleochemical (derived
from fats and oils – the source of the hydrocarbon chain, the hydrophobic
end of detergent but attracted to grease and oils
b. Other chemicals like sulfur trioxide, sulfuric acid, or ethylene oxide -
the source of hydrophilic end of the detergent
c. Alkali – sodium or potassium hydroxide

Photo Source: https://www.cleaninginstitute.org/sites/default/files/assets/

1/AssetManager/SoapsandDetergentsBook.pdf

Chemical Structure of Detergent

The chemicals like sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid react with the
hydrocarbon from petrochemical or oleochemical. It produces a new acid. The new
acid then reacts with the alkali to produce the anionic surfactant molecule.

Photo Source: https://www.cleaninginstitute.org/sites/default/files/assets/

1/AssetManager/SoapsandDetergentsBook.pdf

Another way to produce detergent is when the hydrocarbon chain is

converted to fatty alcohol and then reacts with ethylene oxide. It produces a
nonionic surfactant. This nonionic surfactant can further react to sulfur-
containing acids to form the anionic surfactant, the active ingredient of
detergents.

Photo Source: https://www.cleaninginstitute.org/sites/default/files/assets/

1/AssetManager/SoapsandDetergentsBook.pdf

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How soap and detergent works

Three types of energy are needed for a good result of cleaning using soap and
detergent:
a. Chemical energy – is provided by the soap and detergent. The
hydrophilic end (water-loving) mixed up the water, and the hydrophobic
end (water-hating) removes the soil’s grease and oils.
b. Thermal energy – change in water temperature. Warm water or hot
temperature helps to dissolve the grease and oil of the soil.
c. Mechanical energy – Machine, hand rubbing, and another way of
agitation help pull the soil free.

Surface Tension
● Property of water
● The tension is created as the water molecules at the
surface are pulled into the body of water.
● It slows down the wetting of the surface and inhibits the
cleaning process.

SURFACE TENSION
Surfactant
● Also called surface-active agents
● Chemicals change the properties of water by lowering
the surface tension
● Enables the cleaning solution to wet a surface more
quickly so the soil can easily be loosened or removed
● Emulsifies the oily soils and keeps them dispersed and
suspended SURFACTANT

CLASSIFICATION OF SURFACTANTS
Charge Properties Examples Cleaning
Product
Anionic Negative Excellent Linear Laundry and
cleaning, high alkylbenzene hand
sudsing sufonate, alcohol dishwashing
ethoxysulfates, detergents
Soap
Nonionic No Low sudsing, Alcohol Laundry and
charge resistant to ethoxylates automatic
hard water, dishwasher
clean most detergents
soils
Cationic Positive Disinfecting Quaternary Fabric softeners
and sanitizing ammonium and fabric-
ingredient compounds softening
laundry
detergents

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 Amphoteric Can be Mild sudsing Imidazolines and Personal
or positive, and stability betaines cleansing and
Zwitterionic negative household
or no cleaning
charge products
dependin
g on the
pH of
water

Chemical Structure of the Different Types of Surfactants

Builders

● Enhance the cleaning effectiveness of surfactants

● Reduce water hardness (possible formation of scum or film)
● Supply and maintain alkalinity
● It is done either by:
Sequestration or chelation – holding hard materials in the solution
Examples: complex phosphates and sodium citrate
Precipitation – forming an insoluble substance
Examples: sodium carbonate and sodium silicate
Ion exchange – trading electrically charged particles
Example: sodium aluminosilicate (zeolite)

Sequestration Precipitation Ion Exchange

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 What’s More

Activity 1
Make a creative historical timeline about the development of soap and
detergent. Use pictures, drawings, and few words to represent the development of
prehistoric time until today.

Water is only used

in hand washing.

Germany’s first
synthetic detergent

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SOAP AND DETERGENT

Assessment 1

Direction: Answer the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of soap during the early times?

2. What are the ingredients used in soap making by the ancient Babylons,
Egyptians, and Romans?
3. What is soda ash?
4. Why did German manufacturers seek to create the first synthetic detergent?

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Activity 2

Complete the Venn diagram below. Write down the similarities (at the middle)
and differences (side) of soap and detergent.

DETERGENT SOAP

Assessment 2

Direction: Answer the following questions:

1. What are the differences between preparing soap and detergent?

2. What will be the best thing to use in handwashing and dishwashing? Is it soap
or detergent? Why?

3. Which is the best thing to use in cleaning bathroom and kitchen countertops? Is
it soap or detergent? Why?

4. Why does the local government prohibit people living in the barrios to launder
nearby rivers and lakes?

5. What are the tips you can give to make laundering more effective?

Activity 3

Environmental and chemical engineers are all interested in surface tension

and surfactants. They closely study the interactions between surface tension and
chemicals as they develop new cleaning products and solve water pollution.

In this activity, you will observe how surface tension may affect the cleaning
performance of commercial products. You can also witness how surfactants lessen
the surface tension to make removing of stain easy and possible.

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Materials Needed:

● One plastic cup or bowl with half-filled water

● One paper clip
● One sheet of toilet paper
● few drops of liquid soap

Procedure:

1. Set-Up A: Place a paper clip on a small piece of toilet

paper and gently place it on top of the water.
2. Wait until the toilet paper comes apart and the paper
clip floats on the water.
3. Set-Up B: Repeat steps 1-2, but this time, few drops
of liquid soap are added to the water before allowing
the paper clip to float.

Assessment 3

Direction: Answer the following questions:

1. Were you successful in allowing the paper clip to float in two set-ups?
2. In which set-up did you have a hard time making the paper clip float?
4. Why were you able to get a paper clip to float on water?
5. What happened to the surface tension when we added liquid soap?
6. How does surface tension affect the cleaning result of soap and detergent?
7. How do surfactants help in the cleaning process?

Activity 4

In this activity, you will be able to compare and observe the effectiveness of
soaps and detergents’ cleaning performance.

Materials Needed:
● Four small containers
● Stirring rod (stick)
● 50 ml of liquid soap
● 50 ml of liquid detergent
● Four small pieces of cloth with an oily stain
● 200mL tap water (hard water)
● 200mL distilled water (soft water)

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Procedure:
1. Prepare four containers with the content below.
Container 1 – 25 ml of liquid soap in 100 ml distilled water
Container 2 – 25 ml of liquid soap in 100 ml tap water
Container 3 – 25 mL of liquid detergent in 100 ml distilled water
Container 4 – 25 mL of liquid detergent in 100 ml tap water
2. Stir the solution in each container using a stick or stirring rod until no
changes can be observed.
3. Place a piece of oily cloth in each of the containers.
4. Wash the oily cloth in each solution and stir.
5. Observe and record whether the oily stain was removed or not.

Container Observation

Assessment 4

Direction: Answer the following questions:

1. What is the difference between tap water and distilled water?
2. Which is effective in removing oily stains in tap water and distilled water? Is it
soap or detergent?
3. How does the hardness of water affect the cleaning performance of soap and
detergent?
4. How do builders help in the cleaning process?

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 What I Have Learned

Let us see how much you learned from this module. Complete the paragraph
below by filling out the blanks.

It is important to maintain a clean home and clean self because

1) _____________________________.

We can make use of soap and detergent to make cleaning much

2)__________________ than using plain water. Soap and detergent are different
aspects like in 3) __________________, 4)__________________, 5) __________________ and
6)__________________. In making 7) __________________, natural materials are used
like animal fats and vegetable oils, while in making 8) __________________, synthetic
materials are used. 9) __________________ is more effective in hard water because
there is no formation of scum or film. However, 10) __________________ is more
environmental friendly since it is biodegradable.

We can attain good cleaning results when we try to alter these three
energies namely, 11)__________________, 12) __________________ and
13) __________________. 14) __________________ can lower the surface tension of the
water while 15) __________________ can reduce water hardness.

Even we use chemical-based soap and detergent in our daily life, we can still
take good care the environment by 16)__________________. Soap and detergent are
also important during the time of health crisis or pandemic because
17) __________________.

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 What I Can Do

As a responsible member of your family, you should advocate personal and

home cleanliness. Based on this module, make a poster following the title “The
Vital Role of Soap and Detergent during the Time of Pandemic.” Write a brief
explanation of your output.

Your output will be graded using the rubric below.

Criteria
4 3 2 1
Planned The artwork The student The
carefully, made shoes that did the assignment
sketches, and the student assignment was turned in,
showed an applied the adequately, yet but showed
advanced principles of shows a lack of little evidence
awareness of design while planning and of any
the elements using one or little evidence understanding
Elements &
and principles more that an overall of the element
Principles of
of design. elements composition and principle
Design
Students went effectively. was planned. of art; No
above and Student met evidence of
beyond expectations planning.
expectations. . Student did
the minimum
of work
required.
All aspects of With a little The student Below average
the artwork more effort showed craftsmanship
were in finishing average , lack of pride
considered and techniques, craftsmanship; in finished
patiently the artwork adequate, or product.
completed. The could be not as good as Showed little
finished outstanding. the student’s evidence of
product is a Overall, the previous effort and/or
Craftsmanship
result of project is abilities, a bit lack of
& Neatness
careful, clean and careless. Minor understanding
meticulous without defects may be . Includes
planning. The major present. obvious
craftsmanship mistakes. defects
is outstanding.
Project is
pristine and
well kept.
Submitted the Submitted Submitted the Submitted the
finished the finished finished finished
Time product on the product 1 product 2-3 product 4 and
Management set deadline. day after the days after the more days
deadline. deadline. after the
deadline.

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 The product The product The product The products
was was was partially was started,
successfully successfully successfully but never fully
executed from executed executed with completed. No
concept to from concept a few unique unique
Execution,
completion, to aspects. features and
Originality
with a novel completion. clear copy of
and
and original Unique and other’s work.
Uniqueness
approach. original with
some
evidence
from
samples.
All All One More than one
requirements requirement requirement requirement
Requirements
are met and s are met. was not met was not met.
exceeded. completely.
Points x 5 =

Assessment

Directions: Read each question carefully. Choose the letter of the correct answer.

1. Who were the first people to believe that soap-like material can treat skin
diseases?
a. Babylons c. Greeks
b. Egyptian d. Romans

2. Why did soap-making become widespread in the 18th century?

a. It was known to treat skin diseases.
b. It was used for laundering and washing with much less effort.
c. It was known as a luxurious cleaning agent among wealthy people.
d. It was used to advertise campaigns on personal hygiene and health.

3. Which of the following is NOT an ingredient in soap-making?

a. animal fats c. natural raw material
b. hydrocarbon from petroleum d. vegetable oils

4. Which of the following forms scum or film when used in hard water?
a. detergent c. both a and b
b. soap d. none of the choices

5. What alkali can be added to make hard soap?

a. Caustic potash c. Potassium hydroxide
b. Caustic soda d. Soda ash

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