What is lye water used in making homemade soaps?
Soap making is a chemical reaction, a base (lye) is needed to saponify the fat molecules into soap. So lye is used to make soap, but there really isn’t lye itself in the soap once it is soap. Lye water + fats ==> soap + glycerin The fats can be either animal or vegetable oils. Glycerin is a natural byproduct of saponification. Commercial manufacturers of soap remove the glycerin and use it for lotions, etc. Homemade soapmakers do not remove the glycerin, so handmade soap is very moisturizing to your skin. Soap is technically a salt. Just as the elements in table salt (sodium chloride) are dangerous separately, they form something beneficial when together. Sodium is a highly reactive metal and chlorine is a poisonous gas at room temperature, but as NaCl it’s harmless and essential for life. Similarly, lye is dangerous by itself but beneficial when made into soap. It’s also used to make paper among many other things. Lye water has a very high pH which is neutralized when added to fats an
