Quality Analysis of Selected Toilet Soaps in Saudi Arabia Markets

Soap is sodium or potassium salt of fatty acid produced by saponification reaction. The physicochemical properties of soaps determine their quality and hence determine their efficiency. Four toilet soaps from local markets in Saudi Arabia were analyzed for moisture, pH, free caustic alkali or free fatty acid, total fatty matter and insoluble matter in alcohol. The percentage of the moisture ranged between (3.0534±0.1782 -5.1235±0.4891 %), total fatty matter (79.6907± 0.0534 - 94.8253 ± 0.0622), insoluble matter in alcohol (0.7939± 0.0134 - 1.0368± 0.0234% (and there is no excess free caustic alkali. However, the pH values between (8.715±0.0219 - 9.745±0.0212). This study showed that the percent of moisture, free caustic alkali, insoluble matter, total fatty matter and pH values for different samples found to be in limited range. Finally, the percentage of free fatty acid are (1.0433±0.0813 -1.4107±0.1731%). The soaps analyzed proved to be of high quality and meet the standard values.