Soaps are being advertised as - Beauty soaps - Cinema stars are their brand ambassadors - Health soaps - Sports

person used to sponsor them - Complexion soaps - Deodorant soaps - Freshness soaps - Baby soaps and - Herbal or medicinal soaps Manufacture of Soap: Soap is a product which is formed by the process of 'saponification' which inclu des the reaction between an alkali and an oil. When this reaction takes place, g lycerin is formed as a byproduct and is present in the soap itself and gives the soap its moisturizing property. So, the ultimate product called 'soap' is actua lly a salt. The alkali used in soap making is called lye or Sodium Hydroxide. Ly e is reacted with either Coconut Oil (it makes for a hard and lathering soap) or Olive Oil (which makes a mild soap). Glycerin is a by product in Soap manufacture. It is a moistursing agent / water holding chemical. It will lower the alkalinity and improve the transparency of t he soap. Normally, Soap makers sell Glycerin separately. This sales reduces the basic cost. Clasification of Soap: According to the BIS, there are two types of soaps in the market, toilet soaps a nd bathing bars. Bathing bars are largely entry-level soaps while toilet soaps h ave three sub-categories depending on their TFM (total fatty matter), insoluble matter, free caustic alkali, carbonated alkali, rosin acid and chloride content. Interestingly, declaration of TFM content is mandatory for toilet soaps but not for bathing bars. And if you're confused, you would do well to remember that som e years back, Hindustan Levers successfully argued that its frozen desserts were different from conventional ice cream. TFM is what lends soap its soapy feel and it is the TFM and the insoluble matter in the soap that largely distinguishes one soap from the other. If the Oil Cont ent / TFM of a Soap is low, it is a inferior soap that can roughen / reduce the suppleness of the skin. Soaps are graded in terms of total fatty matter or TFM. On the basis TFM, toilet soaps can be classified into three grades. Grade I toil et soap should have TFM value above 80 percent, except in ayurvedic soap. Any so ap which has a TFM value less than 55 percent is not considered as toilet soap a t all. To day 85 percent of bathing soaps available in the market are not toilet soaps even if they are promoted by some celebrities. The bathing bar shall be a produc t containing acceptable surface active agents which could be used for bathing pu rposes. In addition to surfactants and perfume, the bathing bar may contain othe r ingredients such as electrolytes, bar structuring and processing aids, colouri ng matter, permitted antioxidants, preservatives, permissible germicides super fatting agents, humectants and such additional substances that are declared on t he label. All ingredients except moisture should be declared. All of them shoul d be noninjurious to skin. Why bathing bars: Bathing bars were introduced in India in 1985, when the country was facing acute scarcity of vegetable cooking oils. Much of the vegetable oils were being use d by industry. The government started importing palmoil from abroad. In order to control the use of vegetable oils for soap making, the government allowed the m anufacturers of soap to introduce bathing bars. The introduction of bathing bars reduced the use of cooking oils for soap making. Thus more cooking oil became a

vailable for domestic use. The price of bathing bars were determined according t o the total fatty matter contained in them and more importantly the type of fat ty matter used. Due to this step government could reduce the quantum of import o f vegetable oil and could save a lot of foreign exchange. Cases: http://www.hairsaverplus.com/tipsforthetop/toiletsoaps.htm Tips to choose a soap: Before buying toilet soap, you have to ensure that it is having an index called TFM (Total Fatty Matter) above 70% .TFM-index is the basic standard to evaluate the quality of toilet soap. A product with less than 60% TFM can not be sold as so ap . You cannot find the words Toilet Soap in these products which does not show i ts TFM or shows one below 60%. Just like when our rules became strict, many of t he mineral water brands changed to mere packaged drinking water , many of our leadin g soap brands are only bathing bars which are just the dirt-removers. According to norms, TFM should be a minimum of 60 per cent of the net weight in soaps, while bathing bars can do with around 40 per cent. These products with less than 60% TFM have more clay or other fillers which can cause skin allergies. Most consumers do not know the difference as companies do sell them under the sa me brand name at the same price. This despite the Bureau of Indian Standards (BI S) stipulating that the difference should be conspicuous to the consumer.

Reference: http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/Radioserials/soaps%20and%20detergents.pdf http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-11-28/hyderabad/27200325_1_bath ing-bar-tfm-content-soap

Cinthol - 76%