Soap 101 - Why lye?

I've been getting quite a few questions from customers about the use of sodium hydroxide (lye) in handmade soap. It's great that people are reading labels and questioning ingredients, I'm all for that. However, people need to understand that ALL soap (big emphasis on ALL) is made with lye.

Even the big companies, their soap has it's roots in lye. Some people may tell you that their soap has no lye in it, well to some extent, that's true. There is no lye in my soap either, because once the fats/oils/water/lye go through the chemical process called 'saponification', there is no lye left in the final product. But we all use lye to make the soap. Believe me, if there was a way I could eliminate one more expense, I'd do it (by not purchasing lye). But it's chemically impossible to make soap without it.

Legally, a soap manufacturer doesn't need to list 'sodium hydroxide' on their label. There are other ways to label that excludes the exact words 'sodium hydroxide', so I think this is where some of the confusion lies (no pun intended). I personally feel that it's more honest to list all ingredients used to make a product. That's why sodium hydroxide is on my soap label.

I wrote a one page hand out that explains soap and some of the more common misconceptions. I hope you find it an interesting read.

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The Truth about Soap…

Most of the cleansing bars that you buy at the store are detergents, not soap at all. In the industry, they are called “syndet bars”, or synthetic detergent bars. They are made from synthesized chemicals, fillers, petrochemicals, synthetic dyes and artificial fragrances.

On the other hand, real soap is made from plant oils (such as olive, coconut and palm) and is a gentle cleansing product more appropriate for use on skin than detergent. Animal fats can also be used to make soap, but we prefer to not use animal products.

Real soap is made by combining sodium hydroxide (lye), oils and water in a process known as "saponification". Some people may question the use of lye in handcrafted soap. The fact is, all soap is made with lye. Yes, ALL soap. What needs to be made clear is that once the process of saponification is complete, the lye and oil molecules have combined and chemically changed into soap and glycerin. There is no lye present in the finished bars of soap.

Saponification simply explained:
Water (or milks, herbal teas) + Fat (oils) + Lye (sodium hydroxide) = Soap with glycerin retained.

Important! Always Read the Ingredient Label
Just because the ingredients do not include the word lye (or sodium hydroxide) - doesn't mean it wasn't used. Soap ingredients can legally be listed three ways. Each example is the same bar of soap:

• Ingredients: Water, Olive Oil, Tallow and Lye
• Ingredients: Saponified Oils of Olive and Tallow
• Ingredients: Sodium Olivate and Sodium Tallowate

Make certain you purchase soap from a soap maker or company that discloses the list of ingredients on the package. If the soap label states, “Vegetable Glycerin Soap”, there are other ingredients in that product that are not being disclosed.

The clear type of soap that is commonly referred to as “glycerin soap” or "melt and pour" is often mislabeled or not labeled at all. Here is a common ingredient list for this product:
Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate , Sorbitol, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLES), Stearic Acid, Lauric Acid and Sodium Chloride.

And another (these folks get points for listing sodium hydroxide!):
Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Castor Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerine, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Sorbitol, Sorbitan oleate, Titanium Dioxide.

This ingredient list is a collection of surfactants (synthetic foamers) and other chemicals I’d encourage you to look up. Often time’s alcohol is added to make this product meltable when heat is applied. Real soap does not melt in hot weather or direct sunlight.

Here’s another “soap” ingredient list, it’s for Dove’s sydnet bar:
Ingredients: Sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, water, sodium chloride, sodium silicate, magnesium sulfate, and fragrance.

Here we have saponified beef fat, some vegetable oils, sodium silicate is a water glass or liquid glass (from Wikipedia), magnesium sulfate is more commonly known as epsom salt, and a synthetic fragrance. There is lye in this bar, they just choose to label their product to disguise this fact.

Compare these ingredient lists to real soap (in this example, Frontier Angel’s Soap formula):
Ingredients: olive oil, water, palm oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, sodium hydroxide, rice bran oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, essential oils.

Real soap labels are much more pure and contain more natural ingredients than sydnet bars or clear “glycerin” bars, not to mention, they are easier to understand.

Last word of advice about ingredient labels…*always* ask the soap maker what's in their soap if it’s not listed. You wouldn’t eat something without knowing what’s in it (how much sodium/fat/preservatives), right? The same concern over ingredients should apply to soap as well.

There is no such thing as 100% glycerin soap
Sorry, it's true - there is not one on the market today. Glycerin is a clear thick liquid, similar in texture to corn syrup. It doesn't produce any lather or cleansing properties whatsoever. It is simply chemically impossible to make soap using only glycerin.

Bio-diesel soap is not made from 100% glycerin, contrary to what the makers of this product usually claim. Bio-diesel soap should never be used as a cleanser for the body due to trace quantities of methane, food particles and other undesirable waste products. This type of soap should be reserved for industrial use only.

Reproduction of this content is expressly forbidden unless permission is granted by Frontier Angel Soap
Copyright 2008