Is Lye necessary for 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).

Can soap be made without lye?

The main way that you can make soap without handling lye is by using melt-and-pour soap. … Melt-and-pour soap comes in all types. Clear glycerin soap, creamy goat milk soap, palm-oil free, the list goes on. Melt-and-pour soap can also be a detergent, so watch out for the ingredients.

What happens if you dont use lye in soap?

The short answer is that you simply can’t make soap without lye. If a product doesn’t begin with lye, it’s a detergent, not a soap or a shampoo. That doesn’t mean that some skin care products aren’t made without lye, but they don’t always do the same job or have the same benefits as soap.

Does soap need lye?

If it is real soap or contains real soap, it must be made with lye! 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. … saponified oils: oils and butters are mixed with sodium hydroxide and a liquid (usually water).

Is soap better with or without lye?

In all-natural soap, there should be no lye or other potentially harmful ingredients, as well as any additives. Traditional soap could include ingredients like parabens, which are one of the most toxic yet common beauty ingredients. Parabens help prevent the growth of yucky stuff like bacteria, mold, and yeast.

How do you make natural soap ingredients?

Ingredients
  1. ⅔ cup unrefined coconut oil (to produce good lather)
  2. ⅔ cup olive oil (which makes a hard and mild bar)
  3. ⅔ cup almond oil (grapeseed, sunflower, or safflower oil will also work, just make sure it’s a liquid oil)
  4. ¼ cup lye (100% sodium hydroxide … you can also find at local hardware stores)

What can you use instead of lye?

A common home alternative to lye when making pretzels or bagels is to use a baking soda solution.

Can you make goats milk soap without lye?

If you have goat milk to use but you prefer soap making without lye, adding milk – no more than one tablespoon per pound of melt and pour base – is simple and easy. You can also add powdered or condensed goat milk at the same rate – one tablespoon per pound of base.

What is a natural soap base?

Shea butter, olive oil, goat milk, or honey are all prime examples of natural ingredients that enhance the basics and create a unique melt and pour soap base. One of the many benefits of the variety of melt and pour soap bases is the ability to choose a soap base with ingredients that benefit your skin type.

Is lye in soap bad for 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.

What does lye do to dead bodies?

Under high heat and pressure, lye can turn corrosive enough to disintegrate fat, bones and skin. A lye solution, heated to 300 Fahrenheit degrees (148 Celsius), can dissolve an entire body into an oily brown liquid in just three hours.


Why is soap made with lye?

By definition, soap is what you end up with when fats and oils are combined with a caustic solution (lye). When lye comes in contact with oils, a chemical reaction occurs that changes both substances. Once that reaction is complete, you no longer have fat or lye—you have created soap.

Does organic soap have lye?

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.