What's in soap? Part 3
So to wrap up so far: Sodium Hydroxide is sodium, oxygen, and hydrogen that can be purchased as a flake and added to water. When that happens the reaction creates heat and the pH goes up very high. That solution can then be added to the oils and butters to create soap in the process of saponification. But what kinds of oils and butters are used? At Texas Bath and Bubbles, we use organic, renewable oils and butters in our products. Our soap is made from olive oil, coconut oil,
What's in soap? Part 2
So last week I was talking about lye in soap and why it has to be there. Did you know that lye is actually a natural product? It's sodium, oxygen and hydrogen atoms. It 's found in nature, but we usually purchase it from a lab because that way we can make sure it's pure. When it comes to us, it's dry flakes and we combine it carefully with water when we are preparing to make soap. When we add the sodium hydroxide to the water, a reaction occurs creating a lot of heat. Sometim
What's in a soap? Part 1
I get questions all the time about what we use to make soap. I've had people ask me for soap without lye. So, I thought I would do a series about that, since lye sounds kind of scary. I hated chemistry in high school. No offence, but I have always been that girl who has to see it to believe it, and atoms, and electrons just don't make sense in my head. When I started learning to make soap a few years ago, I had to go back and restudy all of the chemistry to understand what I