Which Product Removes the Most Oil from Oil Soaked Feathers?

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective was to determine does Soft Soap, Johnson's Baby Shampoo, Dawn dish washing detergent, or plain tap water remove the most oil from oil soaked feathers? I thought that Dawn dish washing detergent would remove the most oil from the feathers because Dawn is advertised as an oil remover for dishes. Methods/Materials I first carefully controlled the weight and oiling of the feathers that were placed in groups of five feathers. I cleaned each group of feathers by shaking them in a jar of a solution for 30 seconds. I rinsed each feather in tap water and allowed them to dry for 12 hours. I repeated this process for the other three solutions(each solution had four trials). I compared the weight of the oiled feathers before and after cleaning to determine the amount of oil removed. Results In doing this experiment, I found that Dawn dishwashing detergent cleaned the most oil from the feathers. Johnson's Baby Shampoo worked second best, and Soft Soap only removed one tenth of a gram of oil more than plain tap water. Conclusions/Discussion In conclusion, I found that my hypothesis was correct, the Dawn dish washing detergent cleaned the most oil from the feathers. I think that these results will be able to help our environment. I recommend that environmentalists use Dawn dish washing detergent to help clean birds that are caught in oil spills.

Competition history

• CSEF 2002 Materials Science (Junior Division Only) · Entry J1134

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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