How to Make Soap Without Lye
Even soaps that are sold in stores, and that are said to be gentle or safe for sensitive skin, are still made with lye. Made up of calcium hydroxide and lime, lye is a caustic chemical that is dangerous and corrosive. Those who are looking for a more chemical-free way to live are deciding to remove lye-based products from their home environment. One of these products, is your daily bar of soap. You can replace your store-bought bar of soap with a homemade version that will be lye free and very easy to make. A glycerin-based soap is a much healthier replacement for your traditional store brand.
Things You'll Need
- Glycerin block
- Utility knife
- Double boiler
- Food coloring
- Essential oil
- Stirring spoon
- Embellishments
- Soap molds
Instructions
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Cut the glycerin along the premeasured lines. Usually about two to three cut pieces will make one bar of soap.
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2
Melt the glycerin until it becomes a clear liquid in a double boiler.
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Add the food dye and stir until the desired soap color is achieved.
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Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil or fragrance to your glycerin bar.
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5
Add fun things to your glycerin bar. Use beads, small trinkets, buttons or anything that will make it look pretty. Add things that the kids would like too. Everyone in the house can have their own specially designed glycerin soap bar.
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Pour your completed liquid mixture into the soap molds, and allow to cool for at least an hour. When it is cooled, you are ready to use your new bar of homemade glycerin soap.
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Tips & Warnings
Be cautious when working with the hot glycerin, and always pour it carefully.
- Photo Credit handmade soap image by Alison Bowden from Fotolia.com
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Comments
View all 6 Comments-
Glycerin is made from Tallow and Lye. so you are not getting rid of lye at all.
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not to kill the mood but in the process of conversion, the lye no longer ceases to excist so technically this is a lye free process since the lye has already been converted.
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Do your Homework, Margery has her facts right! There isnt a single soap bar out there that did not have lye used in the soponafication process of soap making. Glycerin has lye, its not as dangerous because the chemical reaction of lye and fat has already taken place. So say if you wanted to make soap with your kids without putting them at risk ofa caustic substance use gylcerine to make soap because the lye used to make the glycerine has already changed froms. A chemical rection takes place when you use lye andf the byproduct is now actually no longer lye COOL HEY!
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aarongrubb
Jun 01, 2010
Lye is actually NaOH = sodium hydroxide. lime is CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) and "slack" lime is Ca(OH)2 (calcium hydroxide - sometimes used as a lye substitute) -
MargeryMcCarthy
Dec 06, 2008
This article is deceptive because glycerin is a byproduct of soap which is made with lye. Therefore, you cannot suggest that one is removing lye based products from their home by using glycerin.
