Brief Note on Turkey Red Oil and its Uses

Mother Nature has bestowed us with a miracle called ‘Castor Oil’. From the stories of the Egyptians using castor oil for beautifying their skin and for having lustrous hair to the use of this oil by our grandmothers as a medicine to cure constipation or wounds, castor oil has truly enjoyed popularity in many countries. Its use as both a medicine and as an industrial ingredient is something people of all generations have benefitted from.

Due to favourable climatic conditions, India contributes to producing around 90% of the world’s total castor oil production, followed by Brazil and China. India is therefore also the biggest exporter of castor oil and its derivatives at 87% of the share of the international trade in this commodity. Due to castor oil’s high demand for various industrial applications like cosmetics, pharmacy, electrical, ink, paint, varnish, rubber, adhesive, disinfectant, etc. the demand for the high quality of oil and its various grades is increasing day by day.

One of such products derived by the use of castor oil is Turkey Red Oil. It is also popularly known as Sulfated Castor Oil. This oil is widely appreciated in the market for its capacity to easily disperse in water, its long life shelf and its purity. Owing to these qualities, it is highly used in the manufacturing of dispersible bath oils and many personal care products.

How is Turkey Red Oil prepared?

Using a process called Sulfonation, the castor oil is exposed to sulphuric acid. This gives the thick and sticky liquid with a strong odor and is orangey-red in colour. This oil is named as Turkey Red Oil or sulfonated castor oil as it resembles the colour and textile dyeing process known as the Turkey Red. This water soluble oil retains the moisturising properties of castor oil and is therefore valuable for the production of bath oils and personal care products like skin care, hair care, nail care, cosmetics and soaps.

Various Applications of Turkey Red Oil

Due to its unique properties, Turkey Red Oil is used as an emulsifier for bath oils and as a humectant in cosmetics. Other than these, it is also used in the textile industry and sugar industries as a defoaming agent and also as an emulsifier.

• In the agricultural industry, it is used as organic manure and helps plants to grow.
• In textiles, as surfactants and wetting agents, in paper industry for defoaming, in cosmetics as emulsifiers, in pharmaceuticals industry as undecylenate, in paints inks and as lubricants.
• For the soap-making industry that wishes to manufacture transparent soaps, this Turkey Red Oil or sulfonated castor oil helps in superfatting liquid soap.
• This oil also helps to emulsify essential oils so that they can dissolve in other water-based products.

There are many other grades of Turkey Red Oil that are used for many other industrial purposes. Castor Oil Manufacturers and Turkey Red Oil manufacturers produce it through the best of their processes to ensure its quality and sustainability. The oil’s medium viscosity helps the manufacturers of personal care products to craft the moisturizing products in the best way possible due to the presence of Turkey Red Oil in their products.