What is the purpose of sodium hydroxide in soap?

Sodium hydroxide is a chemical compound that holds or maintains the pH of skincare products, also known as lye. In soap, it’s combined with animal fat or vegetable oil in a process called saponification. Essentially, soap is a mixture of base oils, a diluted lye solution, and herbal additives.

Do you need sodium hydroxide in soap?

The answer is — yes, of course. No lye — No soap! All REAL soap is made with lye (sodium hydroxide mixed with liquid). Any skin or hair cleansing product made without sodium hydroxide is not soap, it is detergent.

What is the main function of sodium hydroxide?

Sodium hydroxide is useful for its ability to alter fats. It is used to make soap and as a main ingredient in household products such as liquid drain cleaners. Sodium hydroxide is usually sold in pure form as white pellets or as a solution in water.

How does sodium hydroxide replace soap?

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 does sodium lactate do in soap?

Sodium lactate is a liquid salt that can be added to cooled lye water in order to speed up unmolding time. Using sodium lactate produces harder, longer-lasting bars of cold process soap.

Is sodium hydroxide in soap safe?

It’s commonly known as lye, or caustic soda. It’s an extremely caustic and reactive inorganic compound. This leads many to ask, is sodium hydroxide safe to use in soap and cosmetics? The short answer is yes, as sodium hydroxide goes through saponification to make soap.

Is sodium hydroxide safe for skin?

Skin/Eye Contact Exposure to sodium hydroxide solid or solution can cause skin and eye irritation. Direct contact with the solid or with concentrated solutions causes thermal and chemical burns leading to deep-tissue injuries.

What is the pH of sodium hydroxide?

13
Acids and bases

Can you make soap without sodium lactate?

If you don’t have sodium lactate on hand, you can also add table salt to your lye solution. In the Palm Free Vertical Twist recipe, we used about 1 tsp. of table salt per pound of oils in the recipe…just like using sodium lactate!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZY0nMXG87U