Soap development for carving vegetables and fruits instead to add value for thai handicrafts

Abstract

The objective of this research was to determine the formulation of soap for carving operations and study the satisfaction of developed carved-soap by carving person. There were 3 basic formulas of the soap e.g., olive oil formula (formula 1; 500 ml olive oil, 60 g sodium hydroxide and 140 ml water), coconut oil formula (formula 2; 200 ml coconut oil, 34 g sodium hydroxide and 80 ml water) and glycerin formula (formula 3; 200 g glycerin and 5 g sodium hydroxide). The basic formula 3 showed the highest satisfaction scores from carving person when compared with other formulas. The next experiment was to find the optimal temperature for heating the mixtures in the range of 40-60oC. The results showed that the temperature of 45oC was the best treatment for heating three types of soap mixtures. Moreover, the formula 3 soap received the highest satisfaction scores ( X = 4.21-4.53) from carving person which had the good appearance, exquisite styles, shape and proportion right. There was no crack, no visible of mold growth and soap powder on the product after caving operations. The satisfaction of 52 carving persons between the general soap and developed carved-soap for carving operations was studied using 5-point rating scales. The satisfaction scores of softness, stickiness and aroma were significant different (p<0.05) between two types of soap. However, the dryness/hardness, silkiness, color, painting property and overall quality scores were not different. The suitable shape of soap for carving operations was a round shape followed by square shape, oval shape and heart shape, respectively.