Why does Lye (sodium hydroxide) need to be in soap?

Why does Lye (sodium hydroxide) need to be in soap? This is a huge question I asked myself when I started looking into a more natural way of making soap. I read all the ingredients in the soaps and other products we were putting on our skin. I began to wonder what all the chemicals were for and how they were affecting us. What I found is we don’t need all those crazy chemicals to create a soap that is amazing. But we do need Lye. You can not make a natural soap without it.

Lye – also known as sodium hydroxide and/or potassium hydroxide is a strong alkaline material. When it is mixed with a fat, like tallow, creates soap through the process of saponification. What is saponification you ask? Well according to the National Institute of Health – “Saponification is the process in which triglycerides are combined with a strong base to form fatty acid metal salts during the soap-making process. The distribution of unsaturated and saturated fatty acid determines the hardness, aroma, cleansing, lather, and moisturizing abilities of soaps.”

The simple version

To put it simply – thoroughly mix together a lye-water mixture into fats (animal or vegetable). A chemical reaction happens that creates soap.

In the final product, there is no trace of lye left. But to be transparent we write every ingredient we use on our ingredient list.

I know a lot of people think, “I saw a soap that didn’t have any chemicals in it.” Sometimes you will see people writing their ingredients using words like ‘saponified oils’ or changing the words to ‘sodium olivate’ and adding glycerin to their list. This is just a way some people have come up with ways to list things without the Lye (sodium hydroxide) mentioned. But there is no way to make soap without it and changing the names of the ingredients does not mean it is not there.

As a seller…

Here is some info in case you are ever interested in selling soap yourself. Once we started on this venture to sell soap, I took a deep dive into regulation. The FDA has a lot of rules when it comes to selling soap. One rule is that all ingredients need to be listed. They also need to be listed in the order of greatest to least.

Once a person starts to change the wording – they are taking a risk of getting in trouble with the FDA. The saponification process can put the components on a different level once mixed. Listing them in the original context keeps things correct from a legal standpoint. If you do find yourself really convicted and want to change the names, you can find a company that can do a test in a laboratory to determine the final ingredients in a soap.

Here is a link to the FDA Labeling Regulations Page. I know I know…. we are talking about soap here, right? Well if you are selling soap and you say it leaves you smelling amazing; you my friend are now selling a cosmetic. The FDA covers everything you can think of in what they expect. Including Ingredient Names names being listed as what they are.

A little more on Lye

Lye is non-allergenic, non-acne promoting, non-irritating, and won’t clog your pores. With no trace of the lye remaining in the end product, you are left with all the vital ingredients full of nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants, and the ability to moisturize your skin. The process we use creates gentle soaps that won’t dry out or irritate your skin and in some cases fight bacteria.

Natural soaps leave you feeling good about the choices you have made for yourself and your family. That is something we can get behind here at Homely Hens.