The influence of cocamide DEA towards the characteristics of transparent soap

Abstract

Abstract Soap is a mixture of fatty acid compounds used as body cleansers so it must not caused irritation to the skin. The quality of sugar, alcohol, and glycerin is crucial for the clarity and clearness of soap. Replacement of hazardous chemicals are neccessary because chemical surfactants contain lots of carcinogenic substances, skin irritants, eyes and respiratory disorders. This research was conducted as natural surfactants applied on transparent soap including cocamide DEA. Cocamide DEA concentration varies at 0%, 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5%, and 10.0%. The surfactant properties of cocamide DEA will characterized based on Critical Micell Consentration (CMC), Hydrophile Lipophile Balance (HLB), and foaming properties. After the characteristics of cocamide DEA are investigated, hereinafter it applied to produce transparent soap. The process of making soap uses the hot method with a hotplate as the medium. The addition of surfactant cocamide DEA was able to reduce the surface tension up to 31.27x10−3 N/m implied the surface tension reduction for 56.56% to water. The transparent soap with the addition of 10% cocamide DEA had the best formulation with the properties of has 8% moisture content, 69.38% foaming ability, 0.146% free fatty acid, 0.0938% free alkali, unsaponified fat 2.376%, pH 8.9 and hardness 569.6 mm/g/s, has highest brightness level, and still in accordance with indonesian standard.