A question I often get asked: ” Does your soap contain lye?”

💛ALL soap is made using lye (NaOH, “sodium hydroxide). Lye is a chemical made from salt. A system similar to electroplating is used to change the salt to lye.  Lye is also made from wood ash, but that type is inconsistent.  It is an extremely caustic material and must be used with extreme care.  And there is no substitute for lye in soap making.

Lye is a raw ingredient, however there is no lye that remains in the final product. In other words by the time you receive your soap there is no lye in it. All lye is consumed in the saponification process and presents no danger to you.  Saponification literally means “soap making” it is “the chemical reaction that occurs when a vegetable oil or animal fat is mixed with a strong alkali. The result of this reaction is: soap.  Even liquid soaps contain lye (potassium hydroxide).  Any company that claims their soap is not made with lye is either promoting false information or doesn’t understand the chemistry behind soap.

Superfatting further assures that all lye is consumed. Superfatting is a process by which soap makers maintain extra sin-nourishing oils in their soaps. All my recipes are superfatted. Superfatting soaps does not make your skin oily. Rather, it allows your skin to maintain natural moisture levels.