All REAL soap is made with lye sodium hydroxide mixed with liquid. The chemical reaction of making soap, called saponification , is complete, the lye and oil molecules have combined and chemically changed into soap and glycerin. If the soap is made properly, the lye is used up in the saponification process to turn oil into soap. There is no lye present in the finished bars of soap or shampoo.
While all real soap must be made with lye, no lye remains in our finished product after saponification described below. Handmade natural soap bars and some Commercial "soap" bars are made with lye even though the words "sodium hydroxide" or "lye" do not appear on the labels. Does your bar of "soap" contain ingredients such as What did he recommend?
It is true that the words "lye" or "sodium hydroxide" do not appear on the Dove ingredient label. But, the first ingredients listed were sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate, and sodium palm kernelate. So you can guess what I told her! Yes, Dove is made with lye! At Chagrin Valley we believe that today's consumers are pretty savvy and the best practice is to educate.
If you dig deep back to your high school chemistry days, you may remember learning about acid-base reactions. When an acid and a base combine they neutralize each other and make a salt.
In simple terms, saponification is the name for a chemical reaction between an acid and a base to form a salt called "soap. Sodium hydroxide is an alkali base and the acids are the fatty acids that make up the triglycerides present in oils and butters.
Therefore lye is needed for the chemical process that soap goes through, but it's not present in the final product. During the soap making process, the lye is heavily diluted with water and added to the oils to create a thick mixture. Lye appears in the transcripts of many ancient societies in Mesopotamia and Egypt. As science improved over time, soap makers began to use a synthetic sodium hydroxide discovered by Humphrey Day.
The discovery of this alkali made it easier for soap makers to make lye. I've gotten lye on my skin and in my eyes and it's not a good feeling whatsoever.
If it comes in contact with the skin use an acid like vinegar to neutralize, and water for the eyes. Sodium hydroxide is used in a lot of products from cosmetics, cleaning, and even food.
Even in a concentrated effort to avoid lye, it's nearly impossible. You do need to make soap from scratch before, though, so that may defeat the purpose of your visit. If you hear otherwise, that source is incorrect. Water is a chemical, chocolate is made of chemicals, kittens are fuzzy purring balls of chemicals. I hope this piece has answered your questions and I wish you the best of luck in your soap making adventures. Thank you for your information. I enjoyed reading your article.
Simply put. All soap has to have lye in it to become soap. But after the mold is cured and soap if finished all the lye has basically evaporated. There are no substitutions for lye. It has to be used in the process. I want to make a creamy bubbly soft slightly oily bar soap.
Any suggestions? I have done research and have seen conflicting answers about wether or lye is organic or not. I read your article and I wanted to say thank you for clarifying other things I had questions about , but I still am unsure wether or not soap can be labeled organic with lye in it.
Thank you!! Hi Mallory, and to answer your question, yes soap made with commercial lye can be labeled as organic. Since all real soap requires lye in its manufacture, regulatory bodies accept it in organic soap recipes. A while back, I was at a health food store and the owner swore that the products she sold did not contain chemicals. When I told her that water is chemicals and that the air is chemicals, she glazed over like a deer in the headlights. Hello, I want to thank you for the article that was quite informative.
This is a new chemical compound that is no longer considered lye, and can be touted as not having lye in the mixture. Am I correct? Most of the olive oil in a soap recipe would react with lye and change into olive oil soap, which is called sodium olivate. Coconut oil would change into sodium cocoate, and so on. There is absolutely no lye left in its raw form in properly made handmade soap so it is not included on the label. Lye sodium hydroxide in cp soap is indicated by the sodium part of sodium olivate, and the other soap made by different oils.
I honestly cannot believe how rude people can be when they are more or less anonymous. Also rather embarrassing that they so easily go off on a rant without actually having thoroughly read your article!!
Very well explained and clear. You speak of the melt and pour option for those that are concerned about handling lye directly and explain already that it still has lye in it. I will be following your step by step for beginners.
Thank you kindly. I love your articles. We have just started bee keeping and am looking at ways to utilise the honey and wax. You have a new follower. K-A xx. Thank you for the lay out in the misunderstanding of no lye soaps.
I am wanting to make breast milk soap from scratch and and wondering how that process would look different then regular soap making.
0コメント