Either sodium hydroxide is used for hard bar soap or potassium hydroxide is used for liquid soaps. If you’re into natural products that are kind to your body and the environment, you may have some concerns about lye. Remember, the saponification process eliminates all traces of it. Once the soap reaches the trace state, glycerin soap makers cook the mixture with sugar and alcohol before pouring it into the mold. Today, lye is commercially manufactured using a membrane cell chloralkali process. Both the potassium and sodium forms are able to dissolve copper. Sure, you can make something that looks like soap, but soap it is not. Then, they used a mixture of water and baking soda to penetrate the ashes and help remove the lye from them. Lyes may be harmful or even fatal if swallowed; ingestion can cause esophageal stricture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHcNF3tXhlo. But remember, no lye remains in the soap that you use. Barnhart's Concise Dictionary of Etymology, CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Clean green finish that sends a loved one down the drain", "Managing Contaminated Animal and Plant Materials Field Guide on Best Practices", "Sodium: Getting rid of dirt - and murder victims", "Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety", https://www.monstersandcritics.com/tv/homicide-hunter-lt-joe-kenda-horror-in-classroom-as-teacher-barbara-lewis-poisoned-with-sodium-hydroxide/, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lye&oldid=989634720, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from November 2014, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2016, Articles needing additional references from November 2014, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Distinctive change occurs for some species of, This page was last edited on 20 November 2020, at 03:29. It’s a humectant, which is a natural moisturizer that bonds to everything it comes into contact with. As the chemicals harden, the liquid becomes a soap bar. Lye can corrode lots of things like metal, plastic, paint, cloth, and your skin. Glass is not a good material to be used for storage as lyes are mildly corrosive to it. Sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda or lye, is a highly versatile substance used in a variety of manufacturing processes to make other products like paper or aluminum, for example. Lye is a chemical compound known as sodium hydroxide. The English word "lye" has cognates in all Germanic languages, and originally designated a bath or hot spring.[1]. Offer incentives to customers to join and build your mailing list. Before you could buy lye in a bottle, people used to make it from raw materials. But here’s the deal: it doesn’t work. But commercial soap producers rarely leave anything but a trace of glycerin in the soap. Instead, they remove most of it to sell to fertilizer and explosive companies. They used it for tanning hides and making soap. [5][page needed]. However, you can make the chemical yourself, using a method popular in colonial days. When working with it, the lye can damage surfaces that it comes into contact with, including your skin. What about you? Instead, soaps made with this alternative chemical are soft and liquid. It’s a common misconception that manufacturers don’t use lye in glycerin soap. That left them with water that held enough lye to make soap and dissolve the fat from the animal hides. After you cure the soap for weeks, no lye remains in the soap. "Lye" most commonly refers to sodium hydroxide (NaOH), but historically has been used for potassium hydroxide (KOH). Solid lyes are deliquescents and have a strong affinity for air moisture. But here’s a word of advice: be cautious when buying natural glycerin soap. Lyes are used to cure many types of food, including the traditional Nordic lutefisk, olives (making them less bitter), canned mandarin oranges, hominy, lye rolls, century eggs, pretzels, bagels, and the traditional Turkish pumpkin dessert Kabak tatlısı[2] (creating a hard crust while the inside remains soft). It turns out those natural soap bars are okay, after all. When mixing lye, use eye protection, and gloves, Cover the surface area where you are working with newspaper, If you get burned while working with it, dab vinegar on the area to help relieve the pain, Don’t lean over the lye mixture, but stand back and don’t breathe in the fumes, Only use heat-proof containers when mixing lye or they could crack or melt, allowing the lye to escape, Have a readily available water source nearby in case you get burned, Thoroughly wash your hands after handling lye because even one unseen grain can cause major irritation. It comes from when people first began making lye to use in their soaps. All are metal hydroxides and are very basic (alkaline), meaning they have a very high pH. And if you get the lye wet, it’s even more dangerous. Not in reality. Next, they filtered out the ashes. But hang on, because my research led me to some conclusions that may surprise you. Despite its hazardous nature, it is used in many common household pr… Lye is a chemical used for making soap, performing chemistry demonstrations, making biodiesel, curing food, unclogging drains, disinfecting floors and toilets, and synthesizing drugs. It’s a versatile compound! The result was a soap that was harsh and drying on the skin. And what is involved in that process? The majority of safety concerns with lye are also common with most corrosives, such as their potentially destructive effects on living tissues; examples are the skin, flesh, and the cornea. We all know that glycerin is a great soap because it moisturizes the skin so well. And it turns out that, just like in the movies, lye is used to make soap. Lye creates a strong alkaline solution when it is dissolved in water. Now, let’s get back on track. But other natural soap companies provide glycerin soap that contains all of the moisturizing benefits that you would expect. In the United States, food-grade lye must meet the requirements outlined in the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC),[4] as prescribed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). So I wanted to find out the truth about this substance. It is supplied in various forms such as flakes, pellets, microbeads, coarse powder or a solution. I’d love to hear about your decision in the comment section below! They are also used as a tenderizer in the crust of baked Cantonese moon cakes, in "zongzi" (glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves), in chewy southern Chinese noodles popular in Hong Kong and southern China, and in Japanese ramen noodles. But after reading the possible consequences of working with lye, I’ve decided that the risk just isn’t worth it for my family and me. Italian serial killer Leonarda Cianciulli used this chemical to turn dead bodies into soap. So how did people come to believe that lye soap dries out the skin? A notable example of this is the poisoning of teacher Barbara Lewis. In addition to aluminium, lyes may also react with magnesium, zinc, tin, chromium, brass or bronze—producing hydrogen gas. Lye is highly corrosive and known as a “caustic soda”. That’s because manufacturers know that glycerin is valuable. Solid lyes will deliquesce or dissolve when exposed to open air, absorbing a relatively large amount of water vapour. When lye mixes with oil, it becomes soap after it saponifies. But the most common use for lye is soap. All soap is made with lye. I assumed that the natural soaps I use are good for my body and not filled with harsh chemicals. "Lye" most commonly refers to sodium hydroxide (NaOH), but historically has been used for potassium hydroxide (KOH). Let me repeat that in case you’re as astounded as I was. Accordingly, lyes are stored in air-tight plastic containers. If you came here asking, “What is lye,” you likely have a much better understanding of the chemical. [7] Due to its low cost and high availability, it has also been used to dispose of corpses by criminals. Lye is used to make many of the things you’d expect, such as drain and oven cleaner. You may have heard that using lye soap will dry out your skin. Lye is used in many different ways, such as: food preparation, biodiesel production, water treatment, and of course in making soaps and detergents. Similar to the case of other corrosives, the containers should be labeled to indicate the potential danger of the contents and stored away from children, pets, heat, and moisture. Mexican cartel members have also been using it to get rid of victims' bodies. Nothing else will make oil become soap. They are also used in kutsinta, a type of rice cake from the Philippines together with pitsi-pitsî. For instance, drain cleaners contain lye, as do paint strippers and silver polish. The reaction between sodium hydroxide and a few metals is also hazardous. There are several types of lye, the most known and most commonly used being NaOH, sodium hydroxide, and KOH, potassium hydroxide. Lye has traditionally been used as a major ingredient in soap making. There is no substitute for lye. They didn’t have the sophisticated measuring devices that we do today. Personal protective equipment including safety glasses, chemical-resistant gloves, and adequate ventilation are required for the safe handling of lyes. Aluminium reacts with lyes to produce hydrogen gas. What’s left is soap, pure and simple. I’ve heard stories of the soap maker ordering everyone out of the house when handling the lye because they feared for their family. It can dissolve sticky substances such as fat and has a high degree of reactivity with other materials. How Is Lye Used For Soap Making? A lye is a metal hydroxide traditionally obtained by leaching wood ashes, or a strong alkali which is highly soluble in water producing caustic basic solutions. Potassium hydroxide soaps are softer and more easily dissolved in water than sodium hydroxide soaps. Strange, right? At the beginning of the soap making process, you will mix water, oil, and lye. When mixed with water, it can cause a fire. [3] In Assam, north east India, extensive use is made of a type of lye called khar in Assamese and karwi in Boro which is obtained by filtering the ashes of various banana stems, roots and skin in their cooking and also for curing, as medicine and as a substitute for soap. It can also be used as a hardcore home-cleaning agent, such as Drano, and is sometimes used by contractors to literally dissolve the carcasses of roadkill. 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