Fried chicken is tasty, but what do you do with the oil after frying it?
Some Malaysians reuse cooking oil until all of it is eventually consumed back into the stomach; some pour it down the drain (clogging it over time); some just leave it outside for the garbage truck to collect it; some sell it to companies who collect it to turn it into biodiesel.
This “treasure” has not gained enough recognition, not much awareness has been raised, and not many people know that used cooking oil can be turned into soaps. As a result, many discard it inappropriately, causing a series of problems.
So what happens when you dispose cooking oil inappropriately?
Clogged drains
Can you guess what is this? Yes, this man is trying to unclog the grease inside the culvert. I hope restaurants in Taman Kinrara Seksyen 1 can be more responsible, please recycle your used cooking oil, do not dispose it into the drain. pic.twitter.com/w75viWUvej
— Ng Sze Han 🇲🇾🚀 (@ngszehan) March 10, 2022
Think of it this way, oil and water don’t get along very well. When you pour oils down the drain, they solidify and turn into fatbergs, clogging our sewers. This was what happened in Puchong.
In fact, we have a donor in Puchong who runs a nasi lemak business in a hawker stall in Puchong. She told us that this particular area in Puchong stank so bad that one had to squeeze one’s nose when walking past the area.
Fatbergs release harmful gases, harming those who clean the sewers as well as passersby. It also costs a ridiculous amount of money to remove this solidified, gunky, solid waste from our sewers.
Severely Harms Our Marine & Aquatic Life
You should never dump used cooking oil in the yard or an empty piece of land because it will eventually find its way to the sewer system. If the used cooking oil does make it to our sewers and natural water reserves, the marine and aquatic life will be the ones to suffer. The oil will coat the surface of the water as well as the aquatic animals, choking them alive because it is almost impossible for them to breathe through the layer of oil.
What Can You Do With Used Cooking Oil?
1. Make Candles
A great initiative by OiLilin is to turn used cooking oil into candles. They collect their used cooking oil from halal-certified restaurants, filter them, before adding scented powders to mask the smell.
2. Sell It To Be Turned Into Biodiesel
Most zero waste stores accept your used cooking oil and give you a discount when you purchase from their stores. Additionally, you can contact UCO collectors around your area and they will come to your doorsteps to pick up the oil for free and give you cash in return!
3. Make Soaps
Turn the oil into soap! When fats and lye combine, saponification happens and what you get in the end is soap! Soapan Santun collects your used cooking oil and gives you a bar of soap in return as a token of appreciation, that is how we have managed to keep our soap price low up until now because we rely heavily on donated oil. Hoping that more awareness can be raised, we sell the soaps at a more affordable price and encourage more people to use minimal packaging cleaning bars instead of plastic bottles.
What Are the Benefits of Using Used Cooking Oil (Multipurpose) Soap?
1. Eco-friendly
When you use Soapan Santun's Multipurpose Soap, what you get is the end product that's ready to be used with no fancy or extra packaging. In short, there will be zero plastic waste, thus reducing your carbon footprint. The suds that flow down our drain after washing will fully and completely decompose, making it 100% safe for the environment and our aquatic and marine animals.
2. Cleans plastic containers really well
We understand the struggle of having to wash our oily takeaway containers twice or even thrice sometimes. But with a multipurpose soap, one wash is all you'll ever need to start hearing the squeak from the plastic container—saving you water and time. If you constantly struggle with keeping your oily and greasy countertop clean every time, having this soap would feel like a life savior.
3. Contains no harmful chemicals and ingredients
Multipurpose Soap is made with 4 basic ingredients: Used Cooking Oil, Coconut Oil, Filtered Water, and Sodium Hydroxide. No extra harmful chemicals that will make you sick, no artificial fragrances or colors, and no ingredients you can't pronounce.
4. Say goodbye to dry hands and harsh detergents!
There were two instances where two customers never really had the chance to wash dishes their entire life due to the harsh and drying ingredients in store-bought dishwashing liquid but could finally wash dishes after using our Multipurpose Soap.
Screenshot of the conversations
FAQ about Used Cooking Oils
1. Won’t the Soap Smell of Fish?
We get this question A LOT. And the answer is NO, the soap will not smell of fish, nor will it stink. The oils are filtered to ensure the residues do not remain in it. When the oil is combined with lye, the lye would have destroyed all the bacteria in it (that’s the beauty of soap, isn’t it? To break down bacteria and cause it to slide off from your hands when you wash with water), and when the mixture heats up during saponification, the scent would have been completely altered, turning the soap into an unscented one. So no, used cooking oil soap will not stink.
2. How Can I Donate My Used Cooking Oil to You?
Soapan Santun is currently based in Setia Alam, Shah Alam. Drop us a WhatsApp and we will collect it from you if we’re within the vicinity!
3. Can I Use the Soap to Wash My Body?
Nothing will happen if you do it; in fact, my father once grabbed one without thinking and showered with it. We still laugh about it to this day—but no, we do not recommend washing your body with this soap because it is meant for cleaning ONLY. The coconut oil in it can make the soap a tad drying to your skin.
4. What Can You Clean With Used Cooking Oil Soap?
We use Soapan Santun Multipurpose Soap to clean literally everything! Clothes, dishes, fruits and vegetables, tables, floors, oily cooker hood, sticky residue on surfaces, stubborn stains… The sky is the limit!
Final Note
Soapan Santun first started because our friends and families encouraged us to sell these soaps for their amazing cleaning ability. In addition to that, our Multipurpose soaps come in minimal or reused packaging, have zero harsh chemicals, and are 100% biodegradable once it enters the drain.
Zero impact on the environment.
With a million tonnes of plastic is thrown away each year, it is about time we make the switch to something that leaves no impact on Mother Earth, right?
You can also order in bulk as corporate gifts or wedding favors, just go to our Corporate Gift tab to read more about it!