Lye, or sodium hydroxide, is a key ingredient in soap making as it reacts with fats/oils to create a chemical process called saponification, which converts them into soap. This process helps to ensure that the soap is effective at cleansing by breaking down dirt and oils on the skin. Lye is essential for creating solid bars of soap that are safe and suitable for use.
No, Drano is not safe to use in making soap. Drano is a powerful drain cleaner that contains harsh chemicals that are not meant to be used on the skin or in soap-making. Always use safe and approved ingredients when making soap.
Lye soap is soap that is made using lye (sodium hydroxide) as one of its main ingredients. It is known for its strong cleansing properties and can be harsh on the skin due to its high pH level. Lye soap is typically made by mixing lye with fats or oils to create a chemical reaction known as saponification, which turns the ingredients into soap.
Using expired lye in cold process soap can greatly affect the process and final product.
mix lye, water, and fat in large pot. heat and stir. you will get soap.
You cannot make soap without lye. Even glycerin soap is not free of lye. The Lye is a naturally occurring chemical that can be produced using simple rainwater and wood or plant ash. Soap has been made with some form of lye for thousands of years and can be traced back as far as 2800 BC. Here is a website that gives a summary of the history of soap. http://www.cleaning101.com/cleaning/history/ The glycerin is the byproduct that is left over after the commercial soapmakers skim the soap off the top. What is left is then distilled and becomes what we know as glycerin, but the glycerin results from the original process to make the soap which invariably uses lye. The removal of the glycerin from the soap along with the addition of other, God knows what, chemicals added in the commercial soap is what is harmful or drying to your skin. Lye soap (there REALLY is no other kind)is not harmful to your skin IF the soap is properly made. If too much lye is used for the fat content, it may retain some of they lye's caustic properties. Some soapmakers (homemade soap, not commercial) will "super fat" their mixture to avoid any chance that the lye's caustic properties were not neutralized. If you worry about the "chemical" use of lye in your soap, don't be. Without lye, there is no soap. Water, Lye and Fat are the ingredients in any soap. The only alternative is detergent which is made with phosphates. Phosphates are carcenogenic and are known to cause cancer. Also, don't forget the potential for chemical harm attributable to glycerin either. Nitroglycerin is made from glycerin! When used and handled properly, lye is very safe. Here is another article about the soap making process. http://www.pioneerthinking.com/glycerin.html
Some people made home-made lye soap, but soap was also available in the stores if you could afford it.
lye
Normally you don't make lye, you usually purchase it. It depends on your use of Sodium Hydroxide (lye) but one of the ways that lye can be made is by taking ashes from a fire and dripping water of it. The liquid resulting is lye. When most people think of Grandma's soap they think of the harsh feel and smell of it, it is because she probably made her lye this way. The way most in home soap makers get lye is in dry pearl format from a chemical company.
Fat and lye.
lye.
Lye soap typically contains lye (sodium hydroxide) as well as oils or fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, or animal fat. Water is also used in the soap-making process to mix with the lye and oils to create the soap through a chemical reaction called saponification. Other ingredients may include essential oils or fragrances for scent, as well as additives like herbs or exfoliants for texture.