Guest guest Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 Somebody asked me about the " chemical " lye. I'm sure there's more info on the WWW, but here's some basic thoughts. You *could* make your own lye by running water through wood ashes, but making a good soap would be pretty much hit-or-miss; you wouldn't know really how much to use. I'm not sure exactly how the modern lye is manufactured, but have decided to just let that be one thing I don't make myself... There's an amusing banner on one of the soap sites (Miller's, I think): " NO LYE, NO SOAP! Can not make soap without lye! " When soap is cured, there is no lye left. The lye combines with the oils in a process called " saponification " , which gives you soap (which also naturally forms glycerin, and the big commercial soap companies like to take this moisturizing glycerin out and sell it to other companies). Just to further confuse you ;+) we usually use more oil than the amount of lye can saponify, because 1) if the lye and oils aren't measured perfectly, there still won't be any leftover lye to burn you, and 2) those leftover oils are good for moisturizing the skin. Another little factoid -- when you pour lye down the drain, it clears out the grease in the drain by making soap out of it! (and dissolving the hair and stuff) Joy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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