DEAS 294: 2020 
 
© EAC 2020                                                                                                                       Second  Edition 2020  
 
DRAFT EAST  AFRICAN STANDARD  
Scouring powder  — Specification   
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
 DEAS 294: 2020 
ii © EAC 20 20 – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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© EAC 20 20 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards  has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements governing 
quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through harmonized standardization, 
trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services a re exchanged within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee (EASC) mandated to develop and issue East 
African Standards (EAS) and other deliverables. The Committee is composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations in the community.  
East African Standards are developed through Technical Committees that are representative of key stakehol ders 
including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. Draft East African 
Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the Partner States. The comments 
received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in accordance with the Principles and 
procedures for development of East African Standards.  
East African Standards and other deliverables are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. 
Users of the East African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of 
the standards they are implementing.  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee EASC/TC 074, Surface active agents  
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent rights. EAC 
shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
This second  edition cancels and replaces the first  edition (EAS 294:2001 ), which has been technically revised.  
 
 WD  
DEAS 294: 2020 
© EAC 2020 – All rights reserved  
  
  
 
Scouring powder - Specification  
 
 
1 Scope  
 
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements sampling and test methods for household detergent scouring 
powder .  
 
2 Normative references  
 
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, 
only the edition cited applies. For undated refer ences, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any 
amendments) applies.  
 
ISO 862, Surface active agents — Vocabulary  
ISO 684, Analysis of soap — Determination of total free alkali  
ISO 2271 , Surface active agents -- Detergents -- Determinat ion of anionic -active matter by manual or 
mechanical direct two -phase titration procedure  
ISO 2268 , Surface active agents (non -ionic) — Determination of polyethylene glycols and non -ionic active  
matter (adducts) — Weibull method  
 
ISO 685 , Analysis of soap s — Determination of total alkali content and total fatty matter content  
3. Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this Draft S tandard, definition given in  ISO 862  and the following shall apply  
3.1  
scouring powder  
household cleaning product consisting essentially of a mixture of finely divi ded abrasive, suitable additive and 
builders together with an active ingredient which may be an anionic or non -ionic or a soap synthetic detergent or 
their mixture   
 
3.2  
product unit  
unit of the final product, packed in a plastic or any other suitable  container  
 
3.3  
lot 
number of product units of the same size, type and style which contains scouring powder manufactured from a single 
batch  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD                       DEAS 294 :2020                                                           DEAS 294: 2020 
2 © EAC 20 20 – All rights reserved  
 4 Requirements  
 
4.1 General requirements  
 
4.1.1  Scouring powders shall be of the following :  
a) With no bleaching agent  
b) With bleaching agent  (chlorine ) 
 
4.1.2  The scouring powder shall consist of abrasive e.g. powdered hard natural silicate rock, or felspar, calcite, 
diatomite or any other suitable abrasive, together with a surface active ingredient, which shall be pure neutral soap, 
and any suitable synthetic detergent with or without a bleaching agent, dye or perfume.  
 
4.1.3 All ingredients/materials used shall be non -injurious to heath . 
 
4.1.4 The scouring powder shall be in the form of a uniform free -flowing powder, free from lumps and visible 
impurities.  
 
4.1.4 The scouring powder, both as received and when mixed in hot water, shall possess a pleasant odour.  
 
4.1.5 The scouring powder with bleaching agent  (contain ing chlorine ) shall contain at least  0.3 % (m/m) of available 
chlorine as tested according to Annex A 
 
4.2 Specific requirements  
 
The scouring powder shall also compl y with the requirements of the T able 1  below.  
 
Table 1 — Specif ic requirements  of Scouring powder  
 
S/No:  Characteristic  Requirement  Method of test  
i.  Surface active content % (m/m), min  
a) as alkylaryl sulphonate,  
b) as total fatty matter   
2.0 
3.0 ISO 2268 for  
non-ionic and  
ISO 2271 for 
anionic matter  
ISO 685  for fatt y 
matter  
ii.  Volatile matter at 105 ºC ± 2 ºC % (m/m) , max 3.0  Annex B 
iii.  Free alkali content (as NaOH), % (m/m) , max 1.0 ISO 684  
iv.  Content of alkali salts content (as anhydrous Na 2CO 3) % (m/m)  
  
1.0 – 10.0 Annex C 
v.  Matter insoluble in water, % (m/m), min  80 Annex D 
vi.  Fineness of water -insoluble matter, % (m/m  
a) Retained on 250 μm sieve, max  
b) Retained on 150μm sieve, max  
c) Retained on 75 µm sieve , max   
0.1 
5.0 
15 Annex E 
vii.  pH of 1 % solution, max  11.0 Annex F  
 
 DEAS 294: 2020 
© EAC 20 20 – All rights reserved  3 
 5 Packing and labelling  
 
5.1 Packing  
 
Scouring powder shall be packed in plastic or any other suitable airtight containers which will protect  the material 
from caking into hard lumps.  
 
5.2 Labelling  
 
Each container shall be legibly and indelibly labelled eithe r in English, Kiswahili or French or combination or any 
other language as agreed between the manufacturer and supplier with the following information:  
a) the name of the product  
b) the registered trade mark  if any ; 
c) the net mass in grams;  
d) the name  and address of the manufacturer ; 
e) country of origin  
f) the code number or batch number;  
g) dates of manufacture and best before date  
h) Instructions for use and warning instructions “not to be hand led with open wounds, and cuts”;  and 
i) the available chlorine content, as a per centage by mass, for scourin g powder with bleaching agent 
(chlorine ).   
 
6 Sampling and compliance with the standard  
 
6.1 Sampling  
 
Three containers shall be chosen at random from a lot.  
 
6.1.1  Composite sample  
 
From the cont ainers, taken in accordance with 6 .1, take enough scouring powder to provide a  composite sample of 
total mass at least 600 g. Mix the powder thoroughly and immediately store  in a dry and air -tight container.  
 
6.1.2  Test sample  
 
Test for checking the requir ement for surface active ingredient of the material shall be  conducted on individual 
samples and tests for the determination of all the remaining characteristics  shall be conducted on the composite 
sample.  
 
6.2 Compliance with the standard  
 
The lot shall b e deemed to comply with the requirements of the standard if the composite sample  satisfies the 
specified requirements.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DEAS 294: 2020 
4 © EAC 20 20 – All rights reserved  
 Annex A 
(normative)  
 
Determination of available chlorine  
 
 
A.1 Principle  
 
The available chlorine is determined iodometrically by titrat ion with standard thiosulphate solution.  
 
A.2 Reagents  
 
A.2.1 Acetic acid, glacial  
 
A.2.2 Potassium iodide , 3 % (m/V) aqueous solution.  
 
A.2.3 Sodium thiosulphate , 0.1 M standard volumetric solution.  
 
A.2.4 Starch indicator solution , 0.5 % (m/V) aqueous so lution.  
 
A.3 Procedure  
 
Weigh to the nearest 0.01 g, 30 to 35 g of the composite sample in a 500 ml  conical flask containing  250 ml  of 
potassium iodide solution. Stopper the flask and stir for 5 min on a magnetic stirrer. Add 15  ml of glacial acetic acid. 
(Caution: acid to be added with extra care to avoid an excessive rate of  carbon dioxide  evolution when the formulation 
contains a carbonate). Titrate with sodium thiosulphate  solution to a light -yellow colour while stirring con tinuously. 
Add 0.5 ml of star ch indicator solution and  titrate slowly until the colour disappears. Carry out the determination in 
duplicate.  
 
A.4 Calculation  
 
The available chlorine, expressed as Cl, in percentage by mass is given by the formula ; 
 
𝑀×𝑉×3.546
𝑚0 
 
Where  
 
mo is the mass, in grams, o f the sample;  
M is the molarity of sodium thiosulphate solution;  
V is the volume, in cubic centimetres, of sodium thiosulphate use.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DEAS 294: 2020 
© EAC 20 20 – All rights reserved  5 
 Annex B 
(normative)  
 
Determination of volatile matter  
 
B.1 Principle  
 
A known mass of composite sample is o ven-dried to constant mass.  
 
B.2 Apparatus  
 
B.2.1 Porcelain or silica dish , 6 to 8 cm diameter and 2 to 4 cm depth  
 
B.2.2 Desiccator , containing an efficient desiccant.  
 
B.2.3 Air-Oven , Electrically heated  
 
B.2 Procedure  
 
Weigh to the nearest 0.001 g,  5 g or the sample in a tarred dish, which has been previously dried and  cooled. Heat 
the dish and its content in an oven at 105  ºC ± 2 ºC for an hour. Cool in a desiccator and  weigh. Repeat the operation 
of heating, cooling and weighing until the differen ce in mass between two  successive weighings is less t han 0.01 g. 
Carry out this determination in duplicate and take the mean  of the results.  
 
B.3 Calculation  
 
The volatile matter content is given, as a percentage by mass, by the formula:  
 
     𝑚1−𝑚2
𝑚0 ×100 
 
where  
𝑚0 is the mass, in grams, of sample used;  
𝑚1is the mass, in grams, of sample and dish before heating;  
𝑚2 is the mass, in grams, of sample and dish after heating.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DEAS 294: 2020 
6 © EAC 20 20 – All rights reserved  
 Annex C 
(normative)  
 
Deter mination of alkaline salt  
 
C.1 Principle  
 
After extracting the composite sample with hot neutralised ethanol, the residue is extracted with a  known volume of 
water which is titrated with hydrochloric acid solution.  
 
C.2 Reagents and materials  
 
C.2.1 Ethanol, 95 % (V/V) solution, free from carbon dioxide. Reflux this solution for 5 min, cool to  
ambient temperature and neutralise with the ethanolic potassium hydroxide solution ( C.2.2) in the  
presence of 4 drops of phenolphthalein solution ( C.2.3) for 200  mL of ethanol.  
 
C.2.2 Potassium hydroxide , 0.1M ethanolic standard volumetric solution.  
 
C.2.3 Phenolphthalein , solution of 1 g per 100 ml  in 95 % (V/V) ethanol.  
 
C.2.4 Hydrochloric acid , 0.25 M standard volumetric solution.  
 
C.2.5 Screened methyl ora nge indicator . Dissolve 0.2 g of methyl orange and 0.28 g of xylene  cyanole FF in 100 cm' 
of freshly boiled 50% (V/V) ethanol and filter.  
 
C.2.4 Glass fibre filter  
A glass fibre filter having about the same retention as a Whatman No 5-cellulose  filter and  about the  same speed as 
a Whatman No. 4 cellulose filter.  
 
C.3 Procedure  
Weigh to the nearest 0.001 g,  5 g of the sample into a 250 ml  beaker, Add 50 mL of hot ethanol and  boil gently for 5 
min. Filter the hot solution through the weighed fibre filter in  a filter funnel and transfer  the residue quantitatively to 
the filt er. Wash the residue with 150 ml  of hot ethanol.  
 
Extract the residue on the filter with sufficient  boiling water to collect 200 ml  of extract. Reserve the  extracted residue 
for the determ inatio n of water -insoluble matter (Annex D). To the water extract obtained  above add about 0.5 ml  of 
the screened methyl orange indicator and titrate with the standard  hydrochloric acid so lution until the colour changes 
from green to grey. Carry out this determination in  duplicate.  
 
C.4 Calculation  
 
The alkaline salt content, expressed as a percentage by mass of anhydrous sodium carbonate is  
given by the formula ; 
 
𝑉×𝑀×5.3
𝑚0 
where  
𝑚0 is the mass, in grams, of sample used;  
M is the molarity of the standa rd hydrochloric acid solution;  
V is the volume, in cubic centimetres, of the hydrochloric acid solution used.  
 
Take as the result the arithmetic mean of duplicate determinations.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DEAS 294: 2020 
© EAC 20 20 – All rights reserved  7 
  
Annex D 
(normative)  
 
Determination of water -insoluble matter  
 
D.1 Principle  
 
The residue obtained after extraction with hot ethanol and boiling water is dried to constant mass.  
 
D.2 Procedure  
 
Dry the residue and the filter, retained from the determination of alkaline salts ( C.3), in an oven  maintained at 105  
ºC ± 5 ºC for 1 h. Cool in a desiccator and weigh. Repeat the operation of heating,  coolin g and weighing until no 
further loss in mass occurs. Carry out the determination in duplicate.  
 
D.3 Calculation  
 
The water -insoluble matter content is given, as a percentage b y mass, by the formula ; 
 
𝑚1
𝑚0 ×100 
    
Where 
 
𝑚1 is the mass, in grams, of the residue;  
𝑚0 is the mass, i n grams, of the sample used (Annex C). 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DEAS 294: 2020 
8 © EAC 20 20 – All rights reserved  
  
 
Annex E 
(normative)  
 
Determination of fineness of water -insolu ble matter  
 
E.1 Principle  
 
The water -insoluble matter content is sieved and the percentage of residue retained on each sieve  calculated.  
 
E.2 Apparatus  
 
Sieves, of diameter 100 mm, and of nominal aperture sizes 150 and 250 μm.  
 
E.3 Procedure  
 
Weigh out 20 g of the composite sam ple into a beaker and add 200 ml  of distilled water. Heat on a  water bath, with 
frequent stirring until all the soluble salts are dissolved. Assemble two tared sieves,  the 250 gm aperture sieve on 
top and the 150 gm at the bottom. Pour the mixture on the top sieve  and transfer th e residue quantitatively to the 
sieve by washing the beaker several times with hot  
 
water, washing the insoluble matter through the sieves. Continue the washing until the amount of  residue on the top 
sieve a ppears to remain constant. Dry each sieve and its contents in an oven at  105 ºC + 5 ºC. Allow to cool and 
weigh each sieve with its residue.  
 
E.4 Calculation  
The insoluble matter retained on each sieve is given, as a percentage by mass, of total insoluble  matter by the 
formula;  
 
𝑚1×10,000
𝑚0×𝑃 
where  
𝑚1  is the mass, in grams, of the insoluble matter on the sieve;  
𝑚0 is the mass, in grams, of the sample used;  
P is the percentage of water insoluble matter  present in the test sample (Annex C ). 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DEAS 294: 2020 
© EAC 20 20 – All rights reserved  9 
  
 
Annex F  
(normative)  
 
Determination of pH  
 
F.1 Methods  
 
The determination shall be carried out by the electrometric method or by the indicator method in case of dispute the 
electrometric method shall be adopted.  
 
F.1.1 Electrometric meth od 
 
Determination shall be made by using a pH meter with glass electrode.  
 
Procedure  
 
Prepare a 1% solution ( m/v) of the material by weighing accurately about 5 g of the material and transfer it to a 150 
ml beaker. Add about 50 ml of freshly boiled and co oled distilled water to the beaker and put the beaker on a hot -
plate for dissolving the material soluble in water. Continue string with a glass rod to ensure dissolution. Filter through 
a filter paper into a 100 -ml flask. Wash the filter paper with hot wat er at least four times collection the washings into 
the filtrate. Cool the solution under a water tap and then add distilled water up to the 100 ml mark.  
as in. A.2.1 Determine the pH of the solution using a pH meter.  
 
F.1.2 Indicator method  
 
F.1.2.1 Reage nts 
 
Alizarin yellow  R- pH range 10.1 to 12.0 and colour change yellow to orange.  
 
F.1.2.2 Procedure  
 
As in F.1.1 Take 10 ml of this solution in a glass test tube and add 0.5 ml of the indicator. Compare the colour 
produced with a series of buffer tubes on  known pH in the range 10.0 to 12.0. Report as pH, the pH of the buffer 
solution which gives the closest match with the colour produced by the sample.  
 
F.2 Standard calibrated glass discs may also be used for determination of pH.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DEAS 294: 2020 
10 © EAC 20 20 – All rights reserved