what is Iye?
A lye is an alkali metal hydroxide. Traditionally, it was obtained by using rainwater to leach wood ashes, which are strongly alkaline and highly soluble in water, of their potassium hydroxide (KOH), producing lye water, a caustic basic solution. Then the lye water would either be used as such, as for curing olives before bringing them, or evaporated of water to leave crystalline lye behind.[1][2] "Lye" most accurately refers to sodium hydroxide (NaOH), but historically has been conflated to include other alkali materials, most notably potassium hydroxide.
Today, lye is commercially manufactured using a membrane cell chloralkali process. It is supplied in various forms such as flakes, pellets, microbeads, coarse powder, or a solution. Lye has traditionally been used as a major ingredient in soapmaking.
What Is Lye Made Of?
Lye is a highly alkaline chemical solution. The most common is sodium hydroxide, NaOH, but lye can also refer to potassium hydroxide, KOH.
As an alkali, lye solution is highly basic. If you remember your high school chemistry days, pH exists on a scale from 0 to 14. Acids are at the lower of the spectrum, while bases, also known as alkaline substances, are at the higher end.
- Lemon juice has a pH of 2
- Water has a pH of 7 (neutral)
- Lye has a pH of 13
Both strong acids and strong bases are caustic and can damage human skin, which is why lye is often misunderstood. If lye comes in contact with your skin, it begins to react with surface oils-a painful prospect that can lead to burns and irritation.
For this reason, many might choose to work with melt-and-pour soap, or soap that is pre-prepared with lye and ready to have extra ingredients added like essential oils and colorants.
What is lye used for? This chemical is essential to a variety of industrial purposes, the most famous of which is making homemade soap. Others include:
- Surface disinfectant
- Curing food
- Manufacturing processes
- Adjusting the pH of formulations
Why do we use lye in our soaps?
There are a few reasons we use lye in our soap:
It's the most natural way to make soap, allowing us to stick with the most traditional methods possible.
Using lye avoids the use of unnecessary synthetic chemicals larger companies may use that can cause skin irritation or allergies.
Because lye creates soap with powerful natural cleansing properties, it makes for an amazing bar of handmade soap!
Finally, since handcrafted artisans traditionally use lye throughout history, it makes sense that we would choose this method as well when making our handmade products."
So, why do we use lye in soap? Well, it's a great question! Lye comes from natural sources like clay and limestone. It is 100% pure sodium hydroxide, which can make all sorts of things like detergent, laundry detergent, or deodorant products. The main reason soapmakers use lye in their soaps is that it has many benefits over other ingredients, such as salt or synthetic chemicals found in many non-natural soaps today.
