Characterization of the Physicochemical Property of Lye Extract from Wood Saw Dust Ash and Its Alternative Use as a Raw Material in Soap Making

This research work was conducted to Characterize the Physicochemical property of lye-extract from wood sawdust and its alternative use in soap-making. The lye extracted from the ashes of the Hard-wood sawdust served as a raw material for the production of liquid and bar soap and its physicochemical property when examined gave Density (D) as 1.00kg/m3 , pH is 7.5, Water content is 53.6% and Viscosity (V) is 2.672 cSt. The metal composition was analysed and compared to the Canadian standard and the elements present were lead (Pb) 1.00183mg/l, Iron (Fe) 3.59624mg/l, Magnesium (mg) 1.43475mg/l, Calcium (Ca) 19.50093mg/l, Sodium (Na) 4.74821mg/l, Potassium (K) 7.31976mg/l, Phosphorus (P) 5.17342mg/l and Mercury (Hg) 0.00135mg/l but their various amounts were not in accordance to the permitted Canadian limit required for soap production. The soaps produced were analysed for parameters like foam height, pH, dissolved-solids, suspended-solids, sediments, foam-dispersal, toxicity, lather texture, solubility in water and foam capacity, hardness in 50g, penetration, moisture content, reactivity in hard water and total alkali content, the characteristics and physicochemical property of the lye-extract revealed that it could serve as an alternative raw material but lacks the sufficient minerals required for the production of the best quality of soaps unless more reagents were added. Keywords: Characterization, Physicochemical Property, Lye-extract, Hard-wood, sawdust-ash, soap-making.