--- Soap 101---

(More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Soap)

What is in soap?

INLAND FOG:
Olive, Coconut, Palm Kernel Oils, Coco Butter, Fragrance.

DOVE:
Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate or Sodium Palmitate, Sodium Stearate, Water, Sodium Isethionate, Lauric Acid, Sodium C14-C16 Olefin Sulfonate, Sodium Cocoate or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance, Sodium Sulfate, Sodium Chloride, Dipropylene Glycol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Blue1, Titanium Dioxide, Yellow5

IVORY:
Sodium Tallowate and/or Sodium Palmate, Water, Sodium Cocoate and/or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Sodium Chloride, Fragrance, Coconut Acid*, Palm Kernel Acid*, Tallow Acid *, Palm Acid*, Tetrasodium EDTA. *Contains One or More of These Ingredients

IRISH SPRING:
Soap (Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Cocoate and/or Sodium Palm Kernelate Types), Water, Stearic Acid (Skin Conditioner), Coconut and/or Palm Kernel Acid, Glycerin (Skin Conditioner), Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Titanium Dioxide, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetradibutyl Pentaerythrityl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, D&C Green No. 8, FD&C Green No. 3.

LIFEBOUY:
Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Cocoate or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Water, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Titanium Dioxide, Glycerine, Disodium Phosphate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Tetrasodium EDTA, BHT.

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

The 4 commercial soaps listed above are made from Beef Fat also know as tallow or tallowate.

How do we make soap? 
We make our soap using the "Hot Process" as opposed to the more commonly used "Cold Process." We use the hot process because it insures the soap has completely under gone its chemical conversion into a true soap. Unlike the cold process which may need weeks to cure, there is no sodium hydroxide remaining in the batch upon molding and no need to wait for the batch to cure. It takes more care and effort but it makes a better soap..

What is soap?
Soap is saponified vegetable or animal fat or oils (we only use vegetable oils). Saponification is a chemical reaction that takes place between fats or oils 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 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.

What is the difference between commercial and handmade soap?
The primary difference between commercial and handmade soaps is that commercial soaps are made for the mass market, must be formulated for long shelf life and must have a formula that is both easily produced in large quantities and is profitable for the company. Hand crafted soaps are careful blends of fats and or oils and fragrances and are a self expression of the individual soapmaker's desires and goals.

Most mass produced commercial soap has a small amount of excess alkali (lye) as a preservative. Also, it has most if not all of its natural moisturizing glycerin removed to generate extra profit for the manufacturer. 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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