What kind of lye is used for soap making?

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

Can I use any lye for soap-making?

Sodium hydroxide is the lye you use to make bar soap. No other substances can be used in place of either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide to make soap. When you introduce lye to fats and oils, it breaks the molecules apart and bonds with them, creating a new compound – soap!

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 type of lye is used in soap-making?

Sodium hydroxide, also called caustic soda or lye, is a traditional ingredient for soap-making. While potassium hydroxide is more common in liquid soap-making, it is possible to produce liquid soaps using caustic soda.

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.

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!

Is lye bad in soap?

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 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.

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.


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.

What is the difference between lie and lye?

Lye is a word for the chemical sodium hydroxide. Lie has many meanings as a noun and a verb, especially a falsehood, to tell a falsehood, and to recline horizontally.

How do you make homemade lye?

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. Allow the ashes to settle to the bottom of the pan and then skim the liquid lye off the top.

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)

Which essential oil is best for soap making?

My Top Ten Essential Oils for Soapmaking
  1. Lavender Essential Oil. There are thousands of varieties of lavender out there. …
  2. Rosemary Essential Oil. …
  3. Folded Lemon Essential Oil. …
  4. Cedarwood Essential Oil. …
  5. Dark Patchouli Essential Oil. …
  6. Clary Sage Essential Oil. …
  7. Folded Sweet Orange Essential Oil. …
  8. Peppermint Essential Oil.

Does Walmart have lye?

Belle Chemical Sodium Hydroxide – Pure – Food Grade (Caustic Soda, Lye) (2 Pound Jar) – Walmart.com.

Can you make lye from baking soda?

Just spread a layer of soda on a foil-covered baking sheet and bake it at 250 to 300 degrees for an hour. You’ll lose about a third of the soda’s weight in water and carbon dioxide, but you gain a stronger alkali. … Baked soda is also strong enough to make a good lye substitute for pretzels.