--- Soap 101---

(More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Soap)

What ingredients are in Inland Fog soap?

In our bar soaps we use only vegetable oils such as olive, coconut, palm kernel, castor and cocoa butter as our soap base, with essential and fragrance oils as listed on the label.

We do not use any animal fat, tallow or animal products in any of our soap.  For a  more detailed listing by item, click on the photos next to the soap's listing.

What is soap anyway?
Soap is saponified fat, vegitable or animal (we only use vegetable) which is a chemical reaction that takes place between fats and sodium hydroxide, commonly known as lye. Fats are made up of fatty acid molecules. Three fatty acid molecules are tied together into what are called triglyceride molecules. When a stearic acid triglyceride molecule and three sodium hydroxide molecules come together they form 3 soap molecules and 1 natural glycerin molecule.

Even though it appears to be a 3 to 1 ratio, there actually isn't that much glycerin compared to the soap. If their atomic weights are compared, there is only 1% glycerin to 99% soap.

What is Saponification?
Saponification is the hydrolysis of an ester under base conditions to form an alcohol and the salt of a carboxylic acid. Saponification is commonly used to refer to the reaction of a metallic alkali (base) such as sodium hydroxide, with a fat or oil to form soap. Saponifiable substances are those that can be converted into soap.  The chemical process resembles this:

CH2-OOC-R - CH-OOC-R - CH2-OOC-R (fat) + 3 NaOH ( or KOH)
both heated → form
CH2-OH -CH-OH - CH2-OH (glycerol) + 3 R-CO2-Na (soap)
where R=(CH2)14CH3

Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is a caustic base. If NaOH is used a hard (bar) soap is formed, whereas when potassium hydroxide (KOH) is used, a soft soap is formed. Vegetable oils and animal fats are fatty esters in the form of triglycerides. The alkali breaks the ester bond and releases the fatty acid and glycerol.

The name saponification literally means "soap making". The root word, "sapo", is Latin for soap. The Italian word for soap is sapone. Soap making as an art has its origins traced to ancient Babylon around 5,000 years ago

How does soap work?
A soap molecule has an amazing characteristic. One end of the molecule is attracted to fats and repels water and the other end of the soap molecule loves to be around water but repels fat.  When oil is placed in soapy water and the water is agitated, the soap molecules break the oil into billions of microscopic droplets. Each droplet becomes surrounded by soap molecules.

Soap does not dissolve oil. Rather, it puts the oil in a fine suspension in the water, called an emulsion. This emulsification permits the water to carry or wash the oils away from whatever is being cleaned. For soap to work, it must be agitated to emulsify the oils or fats. Thus one must scrub their hands and clothes with soap for them to become cleaner.

Does all soap contain lye?
Well made soap does not contain lye (sodium hydroxide). Lye is necessary in the manufacture of true soap, but a well made soap does not contain any lye in the final product. The lye has completely reacted with the oils to form only soap and glycerin.

The alkali used in modern soap is either potassium hydroxide, used to make liquid soap or sodium hydroxide, which is used to make bar soap. The common term for the alkali became simply "lye". Curiously lye is not short for alkali, but has its origination in the Anglo-Saxon language.

Why is lye soap thought to be bad?
Soap made in earlier times in cottages and on farms became known as "lye soap" because lye was used in its processing. That term is now derogatory and denotes a harsh soap that irritates your skin. The old soap got a bad name because it usually had an excessive amount of caustic in the finished soap (not all the lye had changed to soap) and would irritate your skin. Weighing and measuring techniques were crude at the time, and knowledge of soap chemistry was elementary or non-existent.

What is in commercially produced soap?
The following is copied verbatim from the labels of four major brands of soap purchased at the grocery store in October, 2009.

Soap #1
Soap (sodium cocoate, sodium palm kernelate, sodium palmate, sodium tallowate), water, coconut acid, palm acid, tallow acid, peg-6, methyl ether, fragrance, glycerin, sorbitol, sodium chloride, pentasodium pentetate, tetrasodium etidronate, titanium dioxide

Soap #2
Sodium tallowate, sodium palmate, water, sodium cocoate, sodium palm kernelate, glycerin, sodium chloride, fragrance, coconut acid, palm kernel acid, tallow acid, palm acid, tetrasodium EDTA

Soap #3
Sodium lauroyl, isethionate, stearic acid, sodium tallowate, sodium palmate, lauric acid, sodium isethionate, water, sodium stearate, cocoamidopropyl betaine, sodium cocoate, sodium palm kernelate, fragrance, sodium chloride, propylene glycol, tetrasodium EDTA, tetrasodium etidronate, red 4, red 33, titanium dioxide

Soap #4
Sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate, water, stearic acid, cocomidopropyl betaine, sodium chloride, fragrance, sodium methyl 2 sulfolaurate, petrolatum, tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E acetate), mineral oil, helianthus  annuus (sunflower) seed oil, glycerin, coconut acid, sodium stearate, sodium sulfate, disodium 2-sulfolaurate, tetrasodium EDTA, tetrasodium etidronate, BHT, titanium dioxide

EDTA is short for "ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid."
BHT is short for "Butylated hydroxytoluene."

Most commercial soap is made from animal fat also know as tallow or tallowate.

What is the difference between commercial and handmade soap?
A curious fact about most mass produced soap in factories is that it does have a small amount of excess alkali as a preservative. Also, it has had most if not all of its natural glycerin removed to generate extra profit for the manufacturer.

An important difference between most commercial soap and handmade soap glycerin. It is left in handmade soap and it retains its natural moisturizing property. Additionally, commercial soap has many, many extra ingredients added to every bar. Just compare the ingredient lists to see the difference.

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