Why Is Lye Used In Soap

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.

Why is lye important in making soap?

Without lye, the oils in your recipe would stay oils. Nothing would happen to them. A chemical change involving lye must happen in order to create soap.

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.

Is lye soap good for your skin?

Lye is a caustic substance that can certainly damage your skin if you’re exposed to it. It can cause a number of problems, such as burns, blindness, and even death when consumed. But, and this is a big but, soap that is created with lye (which is all real soap) will do absolutely no harm to your skin.

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.

Is there lye in liquid soap?

With liquid soaps, the chemical reaction takes place with potassium hydroxide, which is a specific type of lye for liquid soap. Liquid soap is usually formulated with extra lye to ensure that the oils are properly saponified, so make certain you don’t skip a step in order to neutralize the excess lye.

Where does lye come from naturally?

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, rain water is best, for about half an hour.

Is homemade lye soap antibacterial?

Lye is both a disinfectant and a cleanser. Lye is particularly suitable to kill germs and bacteria as well as cleaning the surface of food containers, room vessels, the surface of wash bowls, etc.

Why is lye used on bodies?

The process is called alkaline hydrolysis and was developed in this country 16 years ago to get rid of animal carcasses. It uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers.

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.

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.

What is glycerin soap made of?

Glycerin soap is made by melting and continuously heating soap that has been partially dissolved in a high-percentage alcohol solution until the mixture reaches a clear, jelly-like consistency.

Does Dove soap contain lye?

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.

What does lye soap smell like?

Lye soap is made from potassium hydroxide (from wood ashes or sodium hydroxide) and animal fat. So it is a “smelly” process that leaves the end product with a slight “basic” or biting odor a little like ammonia.

Does Ivory soap contain lye?

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 exactly is castile soap?

Castile soap is an amazingly versatile vegetable-based soap that’s made free of animal fats and synthetic ingredients. This natural, nontoxic, biodegradable soap is available in bar or liquid form. Traditionally, castile soap was made of olive oil. It gets its name from the Castile region of Spain.

How do you make olive oil soap from scratch?

To make about 4.5 pounds of soap, you would use: 40 oz. olive oil. 5 oz. palm oil. 5 oz. coconut oil. 16 oz. water. 6.7 oz. lye. Between 1.5 and 2.2 oz. of fragrance or essential oil, according to your preference.

Does Dawn dish soap have lye?

No. By the very definition, soap is not soap unless lye was used to make it (liquid or bar). Unfortunately surfactants are found in everything from laundry detergent, dishwashing soap, dishwasher detergent, hand soap, body wash, etc.

Does modern dish soap contain lye?

The Chemistry of Soap So, while soap is made with lye, it doesn’t contain lye. Modern methods and measuring scales – as opposed to what was available to frontier women – allow soap-makers to use the proper mixture of oils and lye, ensuring that all lye is consumed.

Who invented lye soap?

The history of lye is actually rather short, even though soap has been in existence since 2800 B.C. Lye, as we know it, was not created until sometime in the early 1800’s by a chemist named Nicholas LeBlanc. He synthesized a solution of sodium hydroxide, which is what we refer to as lye.