FORMULATION OF ASH BASED DISH WASH BARS AND THEIR STUDIES ON BACTERIA REMOVAL EFFICIENCY

Abstract

Wood ash has been used as  an utensil  cleansing  agent from ancient days. Cleansing efficacy of ash for utensils was tested in a Laboratory in terms of its ability to remove the bacteria. Different combinations of ash  based dish ash bars were prepared like Pure Ash, Ash + chemicals,  Ash + Lime peel powder and Ash + Orange peel powder. Dish washing efficacy of all the Laboratory made bars were tested with soiled plates and SPC was determined. All the laboratory made Ash wash bars were significantly effective to reduce the bacterial load. Ash + orange peel powder and Ash + lemon peel powder bars are proved to be effective to eradicate total bacteria from plates. All these dish washing bars can be made at home easily and cost cheaper than commercially available dish wash bars.  With the use chemical based dish wash bars the problem is that the ingredients like borax, phosphates are harmful to environment i.e. they cause pollution when drained in water sources, aquatic life gets affected by these chemicals. This problem can be reduced by using ash as main ingredient in dish wash bar.   All these dish wash bars are cheap and eco-friendly bars and therefore can be made and used in rural areas where ash is abundantly available.