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Lye, which has a scientific name of sodium hydroxide, reacts when it is properly mixed; the process of mixing and causing this reaction is called saponification. The process typically involves mixing lye with oils or butters, which contribute scents and other natural properties, such as vitamins and minerals, to soap.
Can soap be made without lye?
In short the answer is no. Soap must be made using lye. Lye is the key ingredient in making soap. All products that are legally allowed to be called soap, must have gone through the process of saponification.
Is lye important in soap?
In short, no, our soap does not contain lye. However, lye is used to make the soap. Soap is made using a chemical reaction. This chemical reaction is called saponification, which combines oil and lye to create soap and glycerin.
What can replace lye in soap?
Here are some good choices: Goat’s Milk Soap Base. Shea Butter Soap Base. Glycerin Soap Base. Cocoa Butter Soap Base.
What is the role of lye in soap making?
Bar soap is made through a chemical process known as saponification (sapo is Latin for soap): A lye solution is combined with oil or fat to cause a chemical reaction. This reaction breaks down the fats or oils into fatty acid chains and the lye mixture is neutralized in the process.
Can you use baking soda instead of lye to make soap?
It is certainly possible to make an acceptable cold process soap using baking soda or washing soda, but lather performance suffers compared to the same soap formula without them. This supports the conventional wisdom that they are better used in a hot process soap (after the cook) or in a rebatched soap.
Where does lye come from?
Whatever meat scraps and drippings you have on hand will supply the fat and the lye comes from wood ashes and water. To make lye in the kitchen, boil the ashes from a hardwood fire (soft woods are too resinous to mix with fat) in a little soft water, rainwater is best, for about half an hour.
Does Dove soap have lye in it?
Dove. 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. Yes, Dove is made with lye!Feb 18, 2014.
Is all soap made with lye?
All REAL soap is made with lye (sodium hydroxide mixed with liquid). Any skin or hair cleansing product made without sodium hydroxide is not soap, it is detergent.
Does Ivory soap have lye in it?
Ivory is a lye based soap, and is the only lye based soap on the market today. Ivory is made by the reaction of Fat and oils (animal or plant) with either NaOH or KOH.
What is a natural substitute for lye?
The bulk oils I keep on hand for soap making (and general cooking and use) are: Coconut Oil. Olive Oil. Shea Butter. Cocoa Butter. Castor Oil. Avocado Oil. Mango Butter.
Is glycerin soap made with lye?
Glycerin soap is made without lye. Commercial soaps/detergents are safer than handmade soaps because they don’t have any lye in them.
How do you make soap base without lye?
Ingredients needed: ¼ tsp aloe vera powder. ¼ tsp spirulina or chlorella powder, for color. 1 tsp water. 12 oz (340 g) aloe soap base, cut into 1″ (2.5-cm) cubes. 4 oz (113 g) shea butter or goat’s milk soap base, cut into 1″ (2.5-cm) cubes. ½ tsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch. 2 tsp (10 ml) aloe vera gel.
Is lye natural or synthetic?
Lye has been on the USDA approved list for organic products from day one, The FDA specifically exempts soap from it’s labeling requirements, and The Natural Ingredient Resource Center exempts soap and allows it to be listed as 100% natural if all the ingredients (which they require to be listed) are all natural.
Is lye a natural ingredient?
Lye isn’t organic, but it is one of the allowable non-organic ingredients included in USDA organic standards since their inception. Lye, after all, is also known as caustic soda, and soap made from lye is what frontier women made in cauldrons that was great on clothes but murder on skin.
Is carbolic a soap?
Carbolic soap, sometimes referred to as red soap, is a mildly antiseptic soap containing carbolic acid and/or cresylic acid, both of which are phenols derived from either coal tar or petroleum sources. In 1894, William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, introduced the Lifebuoy brand of carbolic soap to the market.
How do you make shea butter soap without lye?
Chamomile Shea Butter Soap Recipe Without Lye Cut the shea butter soap base into approximately 1 inch chunks. On low heat, warm the soap base gently until just melted. After the soap base is completely melted, pour in the chamomile and stir gently until thoroughly mixed. Pour the melted soap base into the soap mold.
How do you make olive oil soap without lye?
Grate 1 1/2 cups of unscented, white soap with a cheese grater. Add 2 inches of water to the bottom portion of the double boiler, and melt the grated soap over medium heat. Remove the melted soap mixture from the heat. Pour your olive oil soap mixture into soap molds. Remove the soap bars from the mold.
