DEAS 815: 2022 
ICS 77.100.40  
© EA C 2022                                                                                                                         Second  Edition 2022  
 
DRAFT  EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Soap noodle s — Specification   
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 DEAS 81 5: 2022 
ii © EAC  2022 – All rights reserved  
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Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 81 5: 2022 
© EAC 2022 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page  
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
4.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
5 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  2 
6 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  3 
Annex A (normative)  Determination of nickel content  ................................ ................................ ..................  4 
A.1 Outline of the method  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 4 
A.2  Apparatus  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  4 
A.3 Reagent s ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
A.4 Procedure  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
Annex B (normative)  Determination of iron content  ................................ ................................ ......................  6 
B.1 Outline of the method  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  6 
B.2 Apparatus  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  6 
B.3 Reagents  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  6 
B.4 Procedure  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  6 
Annex C (normative)  Determination of copper content  ................................ ................................ ................  7 
C.1 Outline of the method  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  7 
C.2 Apparatus  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  7 
C.3 Reagents  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  7 
C.4 Procedure  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  7 
Annex D (normative)  Determination of titre of fatty matter (metric units)  ................................ ...................  7 
D.1 Apparatus (see Figure D.1)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  8 
D.2 Procedure  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  8 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  10 
 DEAS 81 5: 2022 
iv © EAC  2022 – All rights reserved  
 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 are exchan ged within 
the Community will be removed.  
The Communi ty has esta blished an East African Standards Committee (EASC) mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards (EAS) and other deliverables. The Com mittee is composed of representatives of 
the Natio nal Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the represe ntatives from the public and private 
sector organizations in the community.  
East African Standards are developed through Technical  Committee s that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private s ector and o ther interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner Sta tes. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordanc e 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 en sure that t hey always have the 
latest versions of the standards they are implementing.  
The committee responsible for this document is Technic al Committee EASC/TC 074, Surface active agents  
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of  this docum ent may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for id entifying any or all such patent rights.  
This second e dition cancels and replaces the first edition (EAS 815:2015 ), which has been technically revised.  DEAS 81 5: 2022 
© EAC 2022 – All rights reserved  v 
 Introduction  
Conventionally, solid soap is a salt of fa tty acids  made by reaction of alkali with oils or fats in the process called 
saponification. Builders may be  added in soap in order to improve its performance. As a result of rising of soap demand 
across the globe due  to the growing awareness of personal hygiene, the soap manufacturers have opted to sell the 
finished soap bas e, i.e., the soap noodles becau se making soap by starting with the soap noodles provides the end 
manufacturers with the benefit of investment, tim e and convenienc e as the reaction process stage is already done.  
Soap noodles contain salts of fatty acids comprising chiefly C -18 unsat urated and saturated acids with a dded 
preservativ es and necessary electrolytes,  built or unbuilt and in a form which is not suitable for direct domestic 
use. 
The increased manufacturing and  importation of soap noodles into the East  African region has neces sitated 
the need to regulate the quality of this product.  
This standard was dev eloped to guide  the q uality and safety of the  locally manufactured and imported no odles 
into the EAC region.  
 EAS 815: 2014   
 
© EAC 2015 – All rights reserved  
  
 Soap noodles  — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Stan dard specifies requirements  sampling and test methods for soap noodles used as 
an int ermediate product for  subsequent conver sion into a marketable soap.   
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents  are indispensable for th e application of this document. For dated 
references, only the ed ition cited appl ies. For undated referen ces, the latest editi on of the referenc ed 
document (including any amendments) applies.  
EAS 377 -1, Cosmetics and cosmetics prod ucts — Part 1: List of su bstances prohibited in cosmetic products  
EAS 377 -2, Cosmetics  and cosmetics produ cts — Part 2: List of su bstances which cosmet ic products must 
not contain except subject to restrictions laid down  
EAS 377 -3, Cosmetics  and cosmetics  products  — Part 3: List of colourants allowed in cosmetic products  
EAS 377 -4, Cosmetics  and cosmetics pro ducts  — Part 4: List of preservatives allowed  in cosmetic produ cts 
EAS 377 -5, Cosmetics  and cosmetics products  — Part 5: Use of UV filters in cosmetic  products  
ISO 456, Surfac e-active agents — Determination of free caustic alkali  
ISO 457, Analysis of soap — Determination of chlor ide content  
ISO 673, Analysis of soap — Determination of ethanol insoluble matter  
ISO 862, Surface active agents — Vocabulary  
ISO 4323 , Soaps - Determi nation of chlorides content — Potentiometric method  
 
3 Terms and d efinitions  
For the purposes of this stan dard, the terms and d efinitions given in ISO 862  and the following apply . 
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardizati on at the fo llowing addresses:  
— ISO Online b rowsing platform: available at http://w ww.iso.org/obp  
  
2 © EAC  2022 – All rights reserved  
 soap noodle  
fatty acid s salt produced by saponifi cation of vegetable oil or animal fats and used as an intermediate raw 
material in the production of su rface active agents”.   
 
4 Requirements  
4.1 General  requirements  
4.1.1 Soap noodles shall be classified into the following 3 types:  
a) Type 1 – for toilet  soaps , 
b) Type 2 – For pure laundry soaps, and  
c) Type 3 – For built soaps.  
 
4.1.2 All ingredients used shall comply with the requirements of all parts of EAS 377.   
4.1.4 The soap noodles  shall not have any objectionable odour and shall  possess good lath ering and 
cleaning properties.  
4.2 Specific requiremen ts 
Soap noodles shall comply with the spec ific requirements given in Table 1 when tested in accordance with 
test metho ds specified therein  
Table 1 — Specific requir ements  for soap  noodles  
SL No . Charact eristic  Requirement  Test 
method  Type 1  Type 2  Type 3  
i) Total fatty matter,  % 
m/m, min. 78 67.0 50 ISO 685  
ii) Free caustic alkali as 
sodium hydroxide) , 
% m/m, max 0.05 0.1 0.2 ISO 456  
iii) Matter insolub le in 
alcohol, % m/m, 
max. 1.0 1.5 15. ISO 67 3 
v) Chlorides (as sodiu m 
chloride) % m/m, 
max.  0.5 0.5 1.0 ISO 457  
ISO 4323  
ix) Titre of total fatty 
acids, ºC, min . 37 33 33 Annex D  
 
5 Pack aging  
The material shall be pack aged  in sui table containers to avoid c ontamination or dam age during transpo rtation.  
  
© EAC 2022 – All rights reserved  3 
 6 Labelling  
Each package  shall be legibly and indelibly label led either in English, Kiswahili or French or combination or 
any other language as agreed to between the manufacture r and  supplier with the following  information : 
a) name of product “Soap Noodles”  
b) Total fatty matter (TFM) content;  
c) manuf acturer’s name and physical address;  
NOTE  The name, physical address of th e distributor/su pplier and trade mark may b e adde d as required.  
c) net content ; 
d) batch number  or lot number ;  
e) date of man ufacture an d best before  date; and 
f) country of origin  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
4 © EAC  2022 – All rights reserved  
 Annex A  
(normative)  
 
Determination of nickel  content  
A.1 Outline of the method  
The method is based on the isolation of  the metal from the soap and reaction betwe en nickel in the oxidized 
form with dim ethyl glyoxime formin g a red colour, the intensity of whic h is proportional to the amount of nic kel 
present in t he sample.  
A.2  Apparatus  
UV Spectrophotometer  
A.3 Reagents  
A.3.1 Sodium hydroxide , solid  
A.3.2  Concentrat ed hydrochloric acid  
A.3.3  Dimethyl glyoxime solution  – 0.1 % (v/v) in 95 % ethyl alcohol  
A.3.4  Saturated bromine water  
A.3.5  Standard  nickel sulphate  solution  – containing 1000  µg of nickel (Ni) per ml. 
A.3.6  Liquor  ammonia  – Relative density 0.9  
A.4 Procedure   
A.4.1 Isolation of metals from  sodium oleostearate   
A. 4.1.1  Weigh 50  g of the sample  in a beaker and dissolve in hot water. Add to this soap solution 40  ml of 
concentrated hydrochloric acid, stir and keep on  steam bath until fatty acid layer separates. Add 20  g of 
paraffin wax; stir a t intervals , and allow it to set tle until phases are clear. Cool to room temperature.  
A.4.1.2 Remove the waxy cake with ro d; rin se with water; add rinsing to aqueous phase . Evaporate aqu eous 
phase to about 60  ml by gentle boiling. Add 100  ml of water and f ilter through paper  washed previously wi th 
hydroc hloric acid. Evaporate the filtrate  to about 60  ml. Cool and transfer t o volumetric flask.  Make up the 
volume to about 100  ml. Take aliquot portions for metal estimation.  
A.4.2  Determination of nickel conten t  
A.4.2.1  Take 50 ml aliquot of the aqueous solution from the test solution in a 250 -ml breaker . Evaporate the 
solution to abou t 15 ml by heating. Transfer the solution to a 50 -ml glass stopped volumetric flask using a 
small quantity of water for rinsing the solution fro m the beaker into the  volumetric flask.   
A.4.2. 2 Add to the flask 3  ml of saturated bromine water and a llow to stand fo r 1 min. Add liquor ammonia 
drop-wise until excess brom ine is destroyed as indicated by the disappearance of brown colou r. Then add 5  
ml of liqu or ammonia in excess.  If a precipitation occurs, filter th e solu tion and wash the precipitate wi th water, 
combin e the filtrate and the washings and con centrate to a vo lume of a few millilit re and transfer to a 50 -ml 
volumetric flask .  
A.4.2.3 Add 10  ml of dimethyl  glyoxime solution fo llowed by 15  ml - 20 ml of 95 % ethyl alcohol. Mix 
thoroughly and make up t he volume and ag ain mix thoroughly. Allow the solution to stand for 5 m in to permit 
full development of colour and take the abso rption/transmittance reading at 445 nm.  
© EAC 2022 – All rights reserved  5 
 A.4.2.4  Prepare and c onduct blank determ ination simultaneousl y and similar ly in all respects. The 
transmittance of the blank should be 98  % ± 1 %. Determine the nickel  content of the sample by reference to a 
concentr ation  transmittance graph prepared as  in A.4.3.  
A.4.3  Prepara tion of conce ntrati on transmittance graph  
Weigh accurately 2.2617  g of nick el sulphate (99 % NiSO 4.6H2O) and dissolve in distilled wat er in a 500 -ml 
volumetric flask.  Add 30  ml of conce ntrated  hydrochloric acid and bring to volume. Thi s solution contains 1 000 
µg of  nicke l per ml. Make appropriate dilutions of this solution and pr ocess this as in  sample above. The 
dilutions should cover a range 0  µg - 100 µg. Finally plot a curve relating transmit tance to micrograms of 
nickel.  
A.4.4  Calc ulation  
The nickel co ntent shall b e expressed as follows:  
Nickel content, parts per million =   
MMM2 1−  
Where  
M1 is the  micrograms of nicke l present in the sample ; 
M2 is the  micrograms of  nickel present in the blank; and  
M is the mass in gram s of the sampl e take n for the test . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
6 © EAC  2022 – All rights reserved  
 Annex B  
(normative)  
 
Determination of iron  content  
B.1 Outlin e of the method  
The method is based on the isolation of  the metal from the soap by dissolving i n hot wa ter. The aqueous 
extract is treated with citric acid to seques ter aluminium  and then thioglycolic  acid in ammoniacal solution is 
added an d colour measure d spectrophotometrically . 
B.2 Apparatus  
Spectrophotomet er 
 
B.3 Reagents  
B.3.1 Liquor ammonia  – Relative density 0.9  
B.3.2 Dilute sulphuric acid – 50 % (v/v) 
B.3.3 Citric acid (aqueous solution)  - 50 % (v/v) 
B.3.4 Thioglycolic acid (aqueous solution)  
B.3.5 Standard iron solution  containing 10  µg of iron per ml prepare d from ferric ammonium sulp hate 
(Fe2(SO 4)3 (NH 4)2 SO 4.12H 2O) in acid solution  
B.3.6 Methyl red indicator  - 0.1 % aqueous solution  
B.4 Procedure  
B.4.1 Isolation of metals from sodium oleostearate   
Weigh 50 g of the sample in a beaker and dissolve in hot water. To this soap solution add 40  ml of 
concentrated hydrochloric acid with constan t stirring and keep t he beaker  on steam bath until fatty acid layer 
separates. Add 20  g of paraf fin wax to this solution while hot. Stir the solutions at intervals and  allow them to 
settle until phases are clear . Cool the mass to room temperature. Remove t he wax y cake with rod , rinse w ith 
water and add the rinsing to the aqueous phase.  
Evaporate the aqueous phase to  about 60  ml by gentle boiling. Add 100 ml of water and  filter through paper 
washed previously  with hydrochloric acid. Evaporate the filtrate an d washings to about 60 ml. Cool and 
transfer the solution to a volumetric flask and make up the volume to 100  ml. Take aliquot portion of the 
solution for metal estima tion. 
B.4.2 Determination of Iron  content 
Take 5 ml aliquot of the aqueous solution from the test solut ion in  a 25-ml volumetric flask. To this add 4 ml 
citric acid solution in 25 -ml volumetric flask. T o this add 4 ml citric acid solution and 0.02 ml methyl red 
indicator and liquor  ammonia till t he colour of the solution of the solution turns ye llow. Then  add 3 ml liquor 
ammonia in excess. Cool the solution and add 3 ml thioglycolic acid. Make up the volu me to 25  ml and mix the 
solution thoroughly. Filter the  solution through acid washed and dried  filter paper. Measure absorbance of the 
clear s olution at 540 nm in th e spectrophotometer  using water as reference. Prepare a calibration curve w ith 
standard iro n solution and determine the iron content of the soap s ample from it.   
© EAC 2022 – All rights reserved  7 
 Annex C 
(normative)  
 
Determination of copper  content  
C.1 Outline of the m ethod 
The met hod is based on the isolation of the metal from the soap and to make a copper complex  using zinc 
dibenzyl dithiocarbamate in carbon tetrachloride solution a nd measure the col our of the solution 
spectrophotometrically.  
C.2 Apparatus  
Spectrophot ometer 
 
C.3 Reagent s 
C.3.1 Zinc Dibenzyl dithiocarbamate solution  - 0.05 % in carbon tetrachloride  
C.3.2  Standard c opper solution  containing 1 µg of copper per ml (prepar ed from a stock solution of 100 
times the concentration)  
C.4 Procedure  
C.4.1 Isolatio n of metal from sodium ol eostearate  
Weigh 50  g of the sample in a beaker and dissolve it with hot wa ter. To this soa p solution add 40  ml of 
concentrated hydrochloric acid with constant stirring and keep the be aker on steam bath until fatty acid layer 
separates . Add 20  g of paraffi n wax to this solution while hot. Stir the solution at intervals and allow it to settle 
until phases are clear. Cool the mass to room temperature.  Remove the wa xy cake with rod, rinse with water 
and add the rinsing to the aqueous  phase . Evaporate the aqueo us phase to about 60 ml by gentle boiling. 
Add 100 ml of water and filter t hrough paper was hed previously with hydrochloric acid. Evaporate the fi ltrate 
and washing to about 60  ml. Coo l and transfer the solution to a volume tric flask a nd make up the volume  to 
100 ml. Take aliquot portion of the solution for metal estimation.  
C.4.2 Determination of copper  
Take 20  ml aliquot of the aqueous solution a nd to it add 10  ml of zinc dibenzyl di thiocarbamate solution 
followed b y 25 ml of sulphur ic acid in a separati ng funnel. Shake the solution for 1 min  and allow it to settle. 
Run the low er carbo n tetrac hloride layer into 25 -ml volumetric flask. Wash the a queous layer with carbon 
tetrachloride a nd transfer through glass woo l to v olumetric flask.  Make up the volume a nd mix well. Measure 
absorption of the clear solution at 435 nm in the spec trophotometer. P repare a calibration curve with standard 
copper solut ion and determine the copper content of the soap sample from the curv e. 
The standard soluti on shall also be extr acted with carbon tetrachloride before estimation of colour.  
 
 
Annex D 
(norm ative)   
8 © EAC  2022 – All rights reserved  
  
Determin ation of titre of fatty matter (metric units)  
D.1 Apparatus (see Figure D.1)  
D.1.1 Water bat h, a two litre low -form beaker  
D.1.2 Wide -mouth bott le, an approximately 450-ml bottle that is about 190 mm high, having a neck of 
inside diameter a pproximately 40 mm and fitted with a cork that holds the test tube (D.1.3). The bottle 
contains sufficient l ead shot or other dense ball ast to  hold it steady wh en placed in the wate r bath  
D.1.3 Test tube , a test tube of length 100 mm, of inside diameter 25  mm, and marked 57 mm from the 
bottom to indicate the level to whic h the sample should be added.  It is fitt ed with a bored cork to supp ort th e 
stirrer and the titre-test thermomete r 
D.1.4 Stirrer , a stirrer made from glass or stainless steel of diameter 2  mm - 3 mm, and with the lower end 
formed into a loop 19 mm in diam eter. The upper end of the stirrer is sha ped as a handle for hand ope ration  
D.1.5 Laboratory thermometer , having a  range of  0 ºC - 150 ºC  
D.1.6 Titre -test thermometer , having a range of -2 ºC to + 68 ºC 
D.2 Procedure  
D.2.1 Heat the fatty matter (retained from the determination of rosin content) to a temperature approximate ly 
10 ºC above the expec ted titre and pour su fficient into the test tube to reach the 57 -mm mark. Fit the test tube 
in the wide -mouth bo ttle and place the assembly in the water bath. The wate r level should be approximately 
10 mm  above the 57 -mm mark on the  test tube. Adjust the t emperature of the wat er bath to 20 ºC below the 
expected titre (for titres 35 ºC and over) or to  15 ºC - 20 ºC below expected titre (for titres below 35 ºC). 
D.2.2 Ensure that the titre -test thermometer i s situated approximately alo ng the  axis of the test tube and at 
such a he ight that the immersion mark coincides with the top of the sample of fatty matter.  
D.2.3 When the titre -test thermometer reads 10 ºC above the  expected titre, commence stirring at the  rate 
of about 100 completed  up an d down strokes per  min. (The stirrer sh ould travel through a distance of 
approximately 40 mm on each stroke.) Read  the thermometer  every 15 s and continue stirring until the 
tempera ture remains constant for 30 s or just be gins to rise. At this point stop s tirring, and note the rise in 
temperatu re. Record the highest temperature reached.  
D.2.4 Repeat the procedure give n in D.2.1 – D.2.3. 
D.2.5 The recorded temperatures of the two dete rminations shall not differ by more than 0.2 ºC. (If the 
difference e xceeds  0.2 ºC, repeat th e determination until  two readings agree). Report as the titre of the fatty 
matter, the mean of the tw o temperat ure readings that agree to within 0.2 ºC.  
© EAC 2022 – All rights reserved  9 
 
 
 
Figure  D.1 — Condenser for moisture determinati on 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
10 © EAC  2022 – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
EAS 815 :2013 Soap noodles  — Specification