The skin is a barrier between the body and the environment, and any stress imposed by the environment can affect it. Cracked heels are a common foot problem, generally occurring in hot tropical climates, but also in summer and winter in the temperate countries. Heels crack from excessive water loss from the skin, causing it […]

Hand dish washing detergents remove food soils, hold soil in suspension as well as provide long-lasting suds to indicate how much cleaning power is left in the wash water. They are available as liquids, gels, powders and solids. MPOB has developed a firm, mild, good performing, low-smear solid dish washing product from palm sulphonated methyl esters […]

With soaring petroleum prices, polyols from vegetable oils are increasingly viable alternatives to petroleum polyols. MPOB has developed a palm-based polyol for the polyurethane (PU) industry, which consumes 4.5 million tonnes worldwide annually. The polyol is produced from palm fatty acids, and can be made into PU coating, adhesives, sealants and elastomers. The fatty acids […]

Generally, there are three ways to make soap stock: 1) saponification of oils/ fats, 2) neutralization of fatty acids, and 3) saponification of fatty acid methyl esters. Route (2) is more widely used, being the simplest and fastest, while (3) produces the best quality product although at somewhat greater cost. A conventional clear bar soap […]

There are three main types of bar soaps – opaque, translucent and transparent. The latter two are becoming increasingly important and gaining market share. They have an aesthetic appeal and are much milder than opaque soaps. Between them, transparent soap is more popular and commercially more attractive to produce. Consumers associate transparency with purity and […]