What kind of lye is best for soap making?

What type of lye should I use to make soap?

Potassium hydroxide, the type of lye used for making liquid soaps, is often sold in flakes.

Can I use 100% lye to make soap?

You Can’t Make Soap Without Lye

You might be able to find it in some hardware stores often in the drain cleaning section next to the Draino. In order for that lye to be effective in soapmaking, you need to make sure that you are getting 100 percent sodium hydroxide. Otherwise, do not buy it.

Do you have to use food grade lye for soap making?

when making soap you should use food grade lye. Because of the ingredients that is use to make the lye is only safe for humans. 3 of 4 found this helpful.

What is the difference between food grade lye and regular lye?

Pure lye is by itself always food grade. There is nothing toxic about lye (although it’s corrosive even at low-ish concentrations). When a manufacturer sells you food grade lye, they are guaranteeing you that it is not contaminated with anything unpleasant.

What can I substitute for 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 can I use instead of lye in soap making?

The main way that you can make soap without handling lye is by using melt-and-pour soap. It’s already been through saponification (oils reacting with lye) and is safe to use and handle straight out of the package. All you do with it is melt it, add your scent, color, and other additives, then pour it into molds.

What is another name for lye?

“Lye” is commonly an alternative name of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or historically potassium hydroxide (KOH), though the term “lye” refers to any member of a broad range of metal hydroxides. The “cold process” method is often used to make soap from lye.

What ingredients do you need to make homemade soap?

The basic ingredients of soap are:
  1. animal fat or vegetable oil.
  2. 100 percent pure lye.
  3. distilled water.
  4. essential or skin-safe fragrance oils (optional)
  5. colorants (optional)

How do you make soap for beginners?

Soap making science and ingredients for beginners
  1. Mix water and lye, set aside to cool.
  2. Melt oils, set aside to cool.
  3. Blend lye water and oils to form a soap “batter”
  4. Pour into mold and let harden for a day.
  5. Turn out of mold, cut into bars and let cure for 2-3 weeks.

Is it safe to use lye to make soap?

When saponification occurred, some lye was left in the soap, making it harsh on the skin. … To answer the question, yes, soap made with lye is completely safe and is not harsh when made properly, using every precaution.

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.

Is homemade soap antibacterial?

Although homemade soap doesn’t kill germs on its own, it does thoroughly clean your hands by making the germs easy to wash away. It’s probably best to avoid store-bought antibacterial soaps, but you can add essential oils to your batch of soap to enhance germ-killing properties safely and effectively.


Can lye be used in food?

Food. Lyes are used to cure many types of food, including the traditional Nordic lutefisk, olives (making them less bitter), canned mandarin oranges, hominy, lye rolls, century eggs, pretzels, bagels, and the traditional Turkish pumpkin dessert Kabak tatlısı (creating a hard crust while the inside remains soft).

What is food safe lye?

This is the highest quality food grade lye available. Also known as NaOH and caustic soda. This is an inorganic chemical at minimum 99% pure. … Olives are often soaked in sodium hydroxide for softening, Pretzels and German lye rolls are glazed with a sodium hydroxide solution before baking to make them crisp.

Is lye the same as baking soda?

Lye is a stronger alkaline than baking soda or sodium bicarbonate, with a pH reading ranging from around 13 to 14. Its base of sodium hydroxide is created commercially by the electrolysis of sodium chloride solution, as well as reacting calcium hydroxide with sodium carbonate, according to the FDA.