Abstract

In everyday life we use soap to wash dishes, clean clothes, or keep our bodies presentable to nose and eye. Soap therefore has numerous applications in our daily life. One of its great values is keeping our household a far better place to live and work. However, contrary to what one may think, soap was invented not only for the purpose of personal hygiene; rather, it was invented to solve other purposes. Colourful yarns were valued very early in the history of textiles; wool as it comes from the sheep is coated with a layer of grease that interferes with the application of dyes, soap was used to solve this problem. This report attempts to explore the technology of soap production in Nigeria using indigenous raw materials.

Key words: Soap, raw materials, technology, chemistry, quality control.