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What About Lye?
Won't it harm my skin? |
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Our ingredients list includes the words,
"saponified oils," which actually means that the oils and butters
are mixed with lye water. We receive
many questions about whether there is lye (sodium hydroxide) in our
soap. The simple answer is "No."
While all real soap
must be made with lye (anything
made without lye is a detergent and not a soap),
no lye remains in our
finished product. |
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SAPONIFICATION: The Chemical Reaction
(The Science teacher in me could not resist!)
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Lye is an alkali and the oils are fatty acids.
Once we select the oils and mix them with sodium hydroxide and a
liquid,
the molecules combine, a chemical reaction occurs, called
saponification
(pictured below),
and a totally different substance is created -- SOAP!
picture from The Soap & Detergent Association
website
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The Reactants (what we
start with) |
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The Products (what we
end up with)
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Triglycerides
+
Alkali
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= |
Neat
Soap + Water
+ Glycerine |
| Triglycerides are what make up the oils and butters we use. A triglyceride, is a chemical compound formed from one molecule of
glycerol and three fatty acid molecules.
The alkali is the lye mixed with
rainwater, tea, goat milk, juice, etc.
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When mixed together the chemical reaction (saponification)
results in...
neat soap:
the saponified oils (simple soap)
water: which evaporates as the soap cures
glycerine:
In commercial soap, the natural glycerin removed from the soap
and used in moisturizers and other cosmetics where it commands a higher
price. Our
handmade soaps retains the glycerin which occurs naturally in the soap
making process.
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Notice there is no LYE on the product side of the equation!
No
lye remains in our finished product! |
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SUPERFATTING
Superfatting
is the process of adding extra fats (oils or butters) when formulating a
soap recipe, so there is more fat in the mixture than the lye can react
with during the chemical reaction.
If you look at the colored picture of the
chemical reaction above,
in addition to "soap,"
glycerine, and water, Chagrin Valley Soaps also
contain free oils which have been left unchanged by the saponification
process and add extra moisturizing properties to our soaps and shampoos!
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WE SUPERFAT
all of our
SOAPS & SHAMPOOS |
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If you are still not convinced
here is an example of another chemical reaction. The element
sodium (Na) is a highly reactive element that explodes if it touches
water. The element chlorine (Cl) is a deadly poisonous gas.
But when they come together in a chemical reaction
a totally different
substance is created -- table salt (NaCl)! |
Chagrin Valley Soap & Craft uses computerized software to determine
just the right amount of lye needed--so
there is NO lye left in a bar of Ida’s Handcrafted Soap, just
fabulous all natural soap.
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Interesting Note About Lye!
Lye has many uses in the
food industry. The secret to great pretzels is a lye
bath! Lye gives pretzels their characteristic flavor,
crispiness, and glossy finish.
Hominy is dried corn kernels
reconstituted by soaking them in lye water until the germ is
removed. Lye may also
be used in the preparation of olives and pickles.
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Click here to learn more about how we make Chagrin
Valley
Handcrafted Soap
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