GUAVA LEAF SOAP
Background of the study
Nowadays people are focusing in herbal plants especially those who are common in the environment. One of the examples is the guava plant (Psidium guajava Linn). Based on research this plant is good for healing and treating wounds and other skin infections. So in this project, the researcher wants to make a bathing soap out of it. People, researchers, scientists were focusing to medicinal plants. They want to prove that there are plants that are more effective against diseases especially in skin. Most of us know about the health benefits of guava fruit. But we are unaware of the fact that even guava leaves have several medicinal properties and offer an array of health benefits.
Objectives
General objective
• To resolve facial problems with simple and cheap materials.
Specific objectives
• To recognize the medicinal capability of guava leaves
• To prove that there could actually be a natural cure in a herbal bath soap.
• To cure even without too much expenses.
Significance of the study
The significance of the study is to have a beneficial usage of guava leaves. Specifically on the fresh green leaves. This study also aims to produce an affordable herbal soap by making use of the natural properties of guava leaves extract. This product is more on natural properties that can cure skin infections like skin allergies, rashes and skin itchiness and does not mix with chemicals that may damaged our skin.
Scope and Limitations
This study needs furthermore improvement, research and also this study is only limited on the use of caustic soda because we all know that too much of caustic soda may cause skin itchiness.
Guava leaves contain phytochemicals that are astringent, allowing them to tone and tighten your skin. Guava leaves can also protect against ultraviolet radiation, a “major environmental factor” in “skin wrinkle formation and hyperpigmentation.” The American Journal of Chinese Medicine even found that guava leaves’ anti-inflammatory properties can be helpful in treating acne.
METHODOLOGY
Safety First!
This experiment will involve working with both sodium hydroxide and extremely high temperatures, so it will require safety precautions and definitely adult supervision. This guide will cover the important safety measures, but you can also read more about sodium hydroxide safety.
Ingredients:
• Stove or other strong heat source, preferably an outdoor stove
• Guava leaves
• Large pot
• Three small containers (make sure they can all withstand boiling water!)
• Gloves
• Safety mask
• Safety goggles
• Whisk or stick blender
• Strainer
• Kitchen scale
• Funnel
• Empty bottle or soap dispenser
Make sure that none of the equipment you use contains aluminum, tin, or zinc because lye will corrode all of those metals — and potentially produce highly flammable (read: dangerous) hydrogen gas. Stainless steel would be ideal. The sodium hydroxide may also produce fumes, so as much as possible, this experiment should take place outdoors or under a fume hood. If that isn’t an option, make sure the room you use is well-ventilated (switch on the kitchen fan and open every window you can).
Procedure:
The following guide will make enough soap to fill a bottle of hand soap, so adjust your proportions accordingly if you want to make more.
Extract Guava Leaf Essence
1. Bring approximately 8 oz. of water (weigh it out using your scale) to a boil in your pot, then add about 50 guava leaves. Keep the water at boiling temperature, and stir occasionally.
Strain Out Guava Leaves
2. After half an hour, take your pot off the stove, strain out the guava leaves, and transfer the guava leaf extract to a container. You can use a sieve or a pair of utensils.
Prepare Your Flavors
3. At this stage, you’re going to prepare a mixture of water, oil, and your chosen scent and food coloring (you’re going to add the sodium hydroxide to this later, making your soap).
They Say Oil & Water Don’t Mix
4. It’s true. Oil and water don’t mix — they’re immiscible together. Heck, most definitions of “immiscible” even use oil and water as their illustration. That’s why you usually need a chemical emulsifying agent to completely combine oil and water, but heating your oil-water mixture, which is our next step, will achieve a similar effect.
5. Add about 8 oz. of coconut oil and 20 oz. of olive oil to 8 oz. of water in your pot. For soap-making, measure all your reagents by weight, and not volume, because the density of different oils can vary significantly. The mixture should immediately begin to form micelles, bubble-like concentrations of oil, especially at the surface.
6. Cover and bring the mixture to a boil, removing the lid to stir occasionally. Your oil-water mixture should be bubbling from the heat, but better combined than before.
7. Stir, then add the guava extract. Stir again, and add scented oil, and then the food coloring. We suggest adding the food coloring in small doses while stirring, as it takes a while for the coloring to disperse and arrive at a settled color. Throughout this process, keep your mixture at a boil. Boil for 30 more minutes.
Saponification
8. Saponification is a chemical reaction between an ester and an alkali, producing a carboxylate ion and an alcohol. It’s also what we’re about to do next! That’s because saponification, in less scientific terms, is soap-making (the linguistic root of “saponification” is sapo, the Latin word for soap). The coconut and olive oil we’re using contain esters, and the sodium hydroxide is an alkali. These react to form a carboxylate salt compound — soap!
Ready, Set, Saponify
9. Put on your goggles, gloves, and mask. Adding the sodium hydroxide to the mixture will cause the temperature of your mixture to skyrocket to temperatures of up to 200ยบ F, according to the Soap Queen’s safety guide.
10. It’s not just the sheer heat of your mixture that’s now dangerous. That spike in temperature means some water particles are going to reach boiling temperature, and that rising steam will carry with it trace amounts of unreacted sodium hydroxide, which is poisonous. If any sodium hydroxide makes contact with skin, pour vinegar over the affected area to neutralize the burning alkali.
11. Using your kitchen scale, weigh out 4 oz. of sodium hydroxide. Slowly and carefully add it to your mixture in very small amounts. Keep your face away from the mouth of the pot as you add the sodium hydroxide to avoid inhaling the fumes.
Stir
12. When the mixture is no longer producing steam, turn off the stove and remove the pot from the heat. Allow it to cool slightly, then stir with your electric blender. Stir for fifteen minutes if stirring by hand. The mixture will behave somewhat like egg whites, foaming up and thickening as your stir.
13. After stirring, allow the mixture to cool and settle into a more liquid form. If you would like a cleaner-looking soap, you can skim off the foam from the surface. Transfer your finished liquid soap to a bottle or dispenser using a funnel.
Follow Along with the Video
If you want to watch the entire process in sequence to familiarize yourself with the experiment first, or just have the video handy for reference as you conduct your own experiment in DIY soap-making, be sure to check our Ai-ni Bautista’s video tutorial below.
Or try clicking this link below.
Link: https://youtu.be/LVetFAvY0RE
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The researchers found out that the 4 seasons fruits can help minimize pimples and pores. It can also help clear skin impurities because of the anti-oxidants that the soap contains. This research gave us a hard time because there are a lot of instances that the measurements of the ingredients would not compliment the desired results. There can also be a downside in this experiment because the soap is not intended to be used in scars because it might irritate it and it stings.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The researchers, therefore, conclude that the guava extract soap can reduce pimples and other skin impurities. This is shown by the experiment that we conducted by putting various kinds of ingredients in different amounts and sizes. The experiment was successful because the researchers came up with their desired result even after several tries.
References:
• https://science.wonderhowto.com/how-to/make-soap-out-guava-leaf-extract-for-science-investigatory-project-424946/
• https://phdessay.com/guava-leaves/
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