How a chemistry lesson inspired a Southeastern Community College club fundraiser

WEST BURLINGTON — Members of Southeastern Community College's Science Club used their chemistry skills to make sudsy magic this spring.

SCC sophomore and Science Club President Dru Farran, who graduated Thursday from the West Burlington campus with an associate of science degree in chemistry, came up with the idea of a homemade soap fundraiser for the club during an organic chemistry class talking about how soap works.

"We went over the process of how a strong base can react with a fat to make soap," said Farran.

The class covered soap's dirty history with a story about the how the cleaning agent was named for an ancient legend about Romans burning sacrifices on the slopes of Mount Sapo.

That tale says wood ash from altar fires leached with water, creating lye, and mingled with grease from burnt animal offerings, forming a primitive kind of soap, Farran explained.

When lye and fats come together in the right quantities, a chemical reaction called saponification takes place, he said, noting that when cooked and combined, lye and oils mix and reconstitute themselves into soap.

Farran, who plans to study chemical engineering at the University of Northern Iowa this fall, appreciates that soap-making, a growing cottage industry and hobby, demonstrates the usefulness of science.

"I like it when people recognize when science and history are very closely related," he said.

Student members choose SCC's Science Club projects, with they and club advisors dedicated to making science more accessible and personable.

The club aims to show students that an education in the STEM fields is more than just abstract concepts written on a white board.

An enthusiastic response came when Farran pitched the small-batch, soap-making fundraiser idea.

He designed the bars of soap in red and black — SCC's school colors.

The six- to eight-member group took orders, and the pleasantly-scented soaps in vanilla and Japanese cherry blossom were easy to sell.

The difficult part was actually making the soap — a time-consuming process that involved melting, pouring and cooling the soaps in their molds.

Club members, working in the physics lab, created batches, learning the fundamentals of soap science.

They started with a recipe designed for chemistry students and made improvements, using very few ingredients — coconut oil and sodium hydroxide (lye) — bought at a hardware store.

The trial-and-error process of mixing the fat and lye, along with scented oils, yielded some interesting results.

Using hot plates, they heated the coconut oil and water-sodium hydroxide mixture separately to just above room temperature.

"We had to mix them together slowly or they created a hard solid at the bottom that is not good for soap making," said Farran.

As they mix, "the molecules make long chains," said Farran, the design of which the group printed on their soap's labels.

The resulting thick, cloudy liquid, "we had to stir for about 20 minutes. We originally used stir bars. The first time I made it, the stir bars got stuck inside of the mixture, so I bought an immersion blender to use on the soap, and it worked for about 15 minutes, then it died, so we ended up having to stir it by hand," he said.

Farran found a ruler, now the worse for wear, worked the best.

"Another challenge was finding containers for (the soap), because the sodium hydroxide is a strong base, so it reacts with a lot of things," he said.

The mixed substance corroded the nonstick surface of the first mold — a bread pan that created a big soap rectangle that needed to be sliced.

"So we had to find the soap molds at Hobby Lobby and we bought their entire stock," he said.

The soap, poured into four-rectangle molds, had to cure for four to six weeks before being used so that the sodium hydroxide would no longer be present.

“Soap is like wine,” Farran said. “The longer you wait, the better it is.”

Using a 3-D printer, club member Matt Smith designed a bold, capital-lettered "SCIENCE CLUB" stamp for the soaps. Soaps 24-hours old were perfect for stamping.

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The black soaps contain activated charcoal, known to be good for cleaning oily skin.

Farran tried out some soap scraps.

"It lathers very well," he said.

"I was impressed that our students had a passion for trying and trying again. Eventually, they made beautiful soaps. The process trains them to be successful scientists in the future," said Rahmat Rahmat, assistant professor of physics at SCC, and a club sponsor.

"It's chemistry in action and you also get a souvenir," said Farran.

All of this semester's soaps have been sold, but there will be more chances to buy.

"The Science Club will make more soap next fall semester. I am making sure I pass down the knowledge so others don't have to do trial and error," said Farran.

"We will continue improving the quality of our soaps this fall. More students will come to have fun making soaps," said Rahmat. "This activity increases student engagement and retention because it reduces stress and mental health issues."

Monies made from soap sales will go for club projects.

"Student Advocate Jocelyn Yam, professors Chris Bassler, Alisa Winsauer, and Jonathan Gaddis, and many great students will try to improve the design and quality of soaps." said Rahmat. "We are grateful that we have a positive collaboration spirit at SCC. By continuing the soap-making for a fundraiser this fall, we will train our students to understand the beauty of science."

Current Science Club members, besides Farran and Smith, are Megan Mickael, Bradyn Weaver, Gage Smithburg, Jeremiah Johnson, and Karen Lien.

In previous semesters, the club has worked on experiments that included small explosions, animal dissections and projects that tackle other areas of science.

In fall 2021, SCC's Science Club chucked pumpkins with their then, newly-designed and constructed trebuchet — a medieval-style catapult that uses a long arm to launch projectiles on the south field on SCC's West Burlington campus.

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"Soap-making has been really fun because it is chemistry, and the trebuchet is still fully- functional," said Farran. "It was designed and built by a car mechanic who was in the club, so it's not going anywhere."

Asked to decide which project he liked better, Farran said, "That is a tough one. I'd say trebuchet; it was really fun how enthusiastic everyone got for it. And who doesn't like launching pumpkins 20 feet in the air?"

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Handmade soap raises funds for SCC Science Club