How to Make your Own Liquid Detergent

Liquid soap as a washing agent is fast replacing detergents in Kenya. This is because of the simple fact that liquid soap is fast gaining grounds for laundry and dish-washing with several advantages over soaps and detergents. Due to the huge competition between and among the producers the price of the product has crashed. Big players in the liquid soap making industry have been forced to reduce their prices in order to blend in with the competition.

Lucky for you it can be made at home and be gifted on Mother’s day and many other memorable occasions.
If you want to make some extra cash you can drop it at supermarkets, retail stores and shops.
The following is a recipe you can use to prepare your own liquid soap at home. The best part is that all the ingredients are available at your local market.

Materials needed:

- Wooden or plastic ladle.
- Medium-sized basin.
- Measuring spoons and cups.
- Gas stove.
- Pot.
- 500 ml pet bottles.

- Sodium lauryl ether sulfate (../../../chemically%20known%20as%20Ungerol.jpg) - 500 mls.
- Sodium chloride or iodized salt (kitchen salt) - 500g.
- Cocodiethanolamide or CDEA (chemically known as Ufacid) - 500 mls.
- Water-soluble dye (or any food color) - 20g.
- Benzalkonium chloride (normal preservatives) - 40mls
- Fragrance,(Local varieties) - 20mls
- Distilled or de-ionized water, (You can also boil tap water) - 20lts.

(All the above chemicals can be bought at Chem-Africa ltd and cost on average Ksh.450-500 to produce about 20lts of liquid soap detergents.)

Method:
1. Put 5 litres of distilled water in a pot and boil the water for 15 minutes. Use distilled water or de-ionized to avoid contaminating the liquid detergent mixture. (Unboiled tap water has substances that can cause the mixture to eventually emit a bad odour.)

2. While waiting for the mixture to boil, put the Ungerol iodized salt into the basin. Mix them thoroughly with the ladle until the iodized salt is completely dissolved.

3. Once the water has boiled enough and the salt has completely dissolved, gradually pour the water into the liquid detergent mixture. Stir until the Ungerol & salt mixture has dissolved. The liquid detergent mixture becomes foamy when stirred which means that the Ungerol is being dissolved.

4. Now add to the mixture the CDEA, benzalkonium chloride and the fragrance. Do not add the water-soluble dye; it should first be dissolved separately in a small container before being added to the mixture. Ensure that the fragrance and dye are properly matched.

5. After putting in all the chemicals, mix until everything is dissolved., let the mixture cool until the bubbles subside. Then add another 15 liters of cool distilled water. Once the mixture has sufficiently cooled down, the liquid detergent becomes clear.

6. You can now pour the finished product into the PET bottles. Cap the PET bottles containing the liquid detergent and set them aside.

The yield of the liquid detergent mixture is 20 litres. Using 50-ml bottles, you can produce forty bottles of liquid detergent from it.

Now you never have to buy detergent again!

By Michael Nzambu