Chemistry and Biochemistry Academy

In the previous blog, I discussed some of the terms used in soap making and I also tackled on their applications. It is vital to recognize the fundamental values of saponification value, Iodine number and INS factor of some oils or fats in soap making. The following values mentioned are of countless help to soap maker like you. I’m optimistic this article will impact in your toil and I guarantee you that it will make your work stress-free. Therefore, there will be no need for you to check online calculator to calculate the amount of materials or requirements for soap making.  These values comprise of:   Oils/fats                               saponification value                    Iodine number                Palm oil                                   200-205                                     49-59                               Coconut oil                              251-264                                     8-10                                  Palm kernel            

Soap is an important commodity in our daily lives. Therefore, it is crucial to know some key terms that are used and how to make your soap if you’re in position to do so or if you wish to start business in soap making. Everybody knows soap but does everybody know its definition? According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines soap as a substance that you use with water for washing your body  or objects. Soap consists of two ends, the hydrophilic end and hydrophobic end. During washing hydrophobic end interacts with dirt while hydrophobic end interacts with water and due to this hydrophobic components form miscelles which pull away from water. When this is rinsed with water, the dirt is carried away by water.  Oils or fats used in soap making are divided into three classes: mineral oils, essential oils and fixed oils. Since majority of the oils/fats in soap making fall in class of fixed oils, this article discusses fixed oils.   Fixed oils   These oils and fats in th

Formulation of Hand cream (cosmetic) Sometimes you have everything needed to venture in cosmetic industry but the challenge always arise when you don’t know to formulate the required ingredients to get your desired product. Formulation is the act of preparing/mixing something following a particular formula. In this case it is the mixing of chemicals to make hand cream. A cream is a thick or semisolid cosmetic or medical preparation to the skin. Hand cream is a cream for human hands application. Cosmetic is a product used for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness or alternating someone appearance. This formulation is best for those who wish to start making hand creams.                                                                 (1)     (2)          (3)        (4)          (5)           (6)  (7) Cetyl alcohol                                           2        -            10          -            -              -     - Glyceryl monostearate pure                  

Many have been wondering the place for chemical engineers and industrial chemists in developing countries. Recently I read an article about somebody who did not understand the place for chemical engineers in developing countries; this catapulted me to shade some light on this. In my preamble I will put my focus on chemical engineers and their relationship with industrial chemist, but the rest of this post is about differences between industrial chemist and theoretical chemist.  In developing countries we have new industries coming up or existing ones, and these need the skills of industrial chemists and chemical engineers. Then, who is the chemical engineer? Chemical engineers deal with the process of changing raw materials into useful, marketable products. Next question is what is the relationship between chemical engineer and industrial chemist? First, industrial chemistry is a part of long chain in the design and manufacturing process while industrial chemist deals with testing,