How Safe Is Lye Soap?

Lye soap, made from fat drippings and lye, was the pioneer woman's all-purpose cleaner. Early settlers used the soap to scrub everything from ceiling to floor. It was very effective. However, lye soap also acquired a reputation for being harsh and caustic enough to eat holes in fabric. That may have been true then, but times have changed and so have soap-making techniques.

Chemistry

Lye soap is created through a chemical process called saponification. This occurs when lye, also known as sodium hydroxide, chemically reacts with oil or fat. The fatty acids combine with hydroxide ions in the lye to make soap. Technically, soap is a salt. Mixed in the proper proportions, all the sodium hydroxide is consumed in the chemical reaction, leaving a product that has a neutral pH and is gentle to the skin.

History

Before sodium hydroxide was commercially available, soap-makers extracted lye from caustic wood ashes. Because this process is imprecise, the concentration of the resulting lye solution varied. Soap-makers had to rely on experience to judge the correct proportion of lye and animal fat. If too little lye was added, the soap did not harden properly. If the lye solution was too strong, or too much lye added to the fat mixture, some excess lye could remain in the soap product. This created a soap that was highly caustic. As a result, lye soap gained a reputation for being harsh and irritating.

Types

Technically, any soap that is made with sodium hydroxide is lye soap. Although traditional recipes use animal fat drippings or lard, just about any type of animal or vegetable oil can be used to make soap. Examples include olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil, palm oil and almond oil. Different oil types will affect how the soap lathers and moisturizes skin. The recipe proportions and mixing temperature will vary according to the type of oil used.

Uses

With modern ingredients, lye and oil are mixed in exactly the right proportions to create a natural, gentle product. Lye soap is used for bathing, shampooing hair and washing dishes. It is reported to be very effective in washing oil and grease off hands. It can be used to wash floors and other surfaces. Fans of lye soap even claim that it is effective in treating skin problems and poison ivy.

Do It Yourself

Although the soap product is safe, the lye that is used to create soap is not. Lye is a very caustic substance, hazardous to skin and eyes. Special precautions must be used when mixing and handling lye solution.

References

• Miller's Homemade Soap Pages
• Soap Making Resource

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