Entrepreneurship: How to Produce Commercial Liquid Soap

Liquid soap production is an entrepreneurship skill that is on high trend in Nigeria now.  Many skill acquisition centres are now training young entrepreneurs on how to produce liquid soap because of the profit margin when compared to tablet soaps and the relative ease of production.

Liquid soap is highly preferred to tablet soap because it does not require much energy when using it to wash clothes or utensils.  Liquid soap is also relatively cheaper than tablet soap.  Now that almost all average Nigerians have washing machines, commercial liquid soap production becomes a very hot and lucrative business.


The processes involved in the production of liquid soap are very easy and the materials are very cheap.
In this tutorial, I am going to teach you how to produce 40 litres of liquid soap. 

Displaying liquid soap

Standby Domestic Requirements
Buckets for fetching water and smaller bowls  
Hand gloves
Wooden/Rolling stick
Big bowl that can contain at least 40 litres
Materials Needed and Their Average Costs
Clean water 

Chemicals/materials needed to produce 40 litres of liquid soap

1.  Natrosol (1/4 kg).                                  - N350.
2. Caustic soda (1/2 kg)                             - N100
3. Soda ash  (1/2 kg)                                  - N60
4. Texapon (1/8 kg)                                    - N100
5. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) - 1/8 kg      - N100
6. Perfume (any one of your choice)            - N150
7. Colour of your choice                             - N20
8. Sulphonic acid ( 2 litres)                           - N1200

The quantities above are required for the production of 40 litres of liquid soap.  If you want to produce 20 litres of soap, you will have to divide by two and follow the same process. 

 PRELIMINARY STEPS

• Dissolve half of the caustic soda in 2 litres of water and allow to stay for 20-30 minutes.
• Dissolve the soda ash in 2 litres of water and allow to stay for 20-30 minutes.
• Dissolve SLS with a litre of water. 

STEP BY STEP PREPARATION OF COMMERCIAL LIQUID SOAP
NOTE: It is preferable you use hand gloves during this preparation.  I do not use hand gloves when preparing my own soap but it is a good idea to use it.

1. Dissolve Natrosol in in 8 litres of water in the big bowl and stir with the rolling stick until it finally dissolves.
2. Add the solution of caustic soda and stir very well.  By solution, I mean the dissolved caustic soda.
3. After adding the caustic soda, add the dissolved soda ash and stir very well.
4. Add the two litres of sulphonic acid to the contents of the bowl and stir.  Immediately you add sulphonic acid, you will see foam coming out.  The best practice at this stage is to wait for 8-10 minutes before continuing with the process. After 8 minutes, continue to stir.
5. Add the dissolved SLS and stir well.
6. Add texapon and stir very well.  At this stage, your soap is ready.  You only need to give it a fine smell and colour.
7. Add the perfume of your choice.  Personally, I prefer lemon fragrance but that is just my choice.
8. Dissolve your colourant completely in water and add to the soap. 
9. Continue to add water and stir until it gets to 40 litres.
10. Leave till the following day and package for sale or use as the case may be.

Note: Some people use formalin as preservative but I intentionally did not add it because of the adverse effect of inhaling formalin on human health.  The chemicals are already preserved so you do not need any more preservative.

That's all. If you follow the steps above, you will be able to produce commercial liquid soap from home with ease.  This is a very good business because the profit is over 100%.

I will love to see your comments if you have done it or if you have any questions. Just use the comment box.