CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF JATROPHA SOAP AND ITS EFFECTS ON REACTIVE DYED COTTON FABRICS AS COMPARED TO COMMERCIAL SOAPS

Abstract

Jatropha soap has been produced from oil which is obtained from the jatropha curcas. This is an oil-rich drought resistant shrub, originating from Central America but has been grown in many areas of the world including Zimbabwe. This research focuses on comparing the chemical properties of jatropha soap to commercial soaps and its effects on reactive dyed cotton fabrics. Jatropha soap was synthesised in the laboratory and chemical tests were carried out to compare its chemical properties with other commercial soaps. Three commercial soaps, Elangeni, O’key and Perfection soaps were used for comparing the performance of jatropha soap. Tests on alkalinity, solubility, lathering power, cleansing ability, reactivity in hard water and colour fastness to washing were carried out on the soaps. Results indicated that jatropha soap has comparable alkalinity, solubility, cleaning ability
and foaming capacity in soft and hard water like the other commercial soaps. Colour fastness results showed that after washing with jatropha soap and the commercial soaps, there was no colour change on the dyed fabrics thus a rating of 5 was observed on the colour change grey scales. Colour staining was observed on the cotton section of the multifibre after washing with the four soaps and this shows that there may be some slight staining on adjacent cotton fabrics when washing with these four soaps. All the comparison tests indicate that jatropha soap has comparable properties to commercial soaps therefore its local production should be encouraged so as to boost the country’s economy and rural communities