The short answer is, yes, you can make soap without using lye by using any melt and pour soap bases. Simply melt, add color or scent, pour into mold and wait to harden. Done! Once the soap base has harden, its a ready to use soap that you can use immediately.
The long answer is all real soap are made with lye (either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide). If you are planning to make soap from scratch, you will need lye. No lye, no soap, period.
Having said that, if you are not trying to make soap from scratch, you can use ready made soap bases. To make bar soap, use a melt and pour soap base. To make liquid castile soap, use a castile liquid soap base.
Soap bases like melt and pour soap base (also known as glycerin soap or glycerine soap) or liquid soap bases are great for soap makers if you are uncomfortable handling lye or obtaining lye.
Melt and pour soap bases are lye-made soap with added humectants to provide added moisturizing and the ability to melt and remelt over and over again.
Castile liquid soap bases are also lye-made liquid soap that’s ready to use.
In both types of soap bases, all the lye added are used up / consumed thru the saponification process (to make soap) and there are lye left in the soap base that you purchase. Its’ simply ready to use soap that can be customized to your preference.
To make liquid castile soap, use a castile liquid soap base. Soap bases like melt and pour soap base (also known as glycerin soap
glycerin soap
Glycerin soaps are soaps that contain glycerol, a component of fat or oil. They are recognizably different from other soaps because they are translucent. The clarity is due to the alignment of the soap molecules, which can be induced through the addition of alcohol and sugar.
In summary, magnesium hydroxide is a safe alternative alkali to use as a replacement for sodium hydroxide and is readily available as both a powder and as 63% solids slurry.
Melt and pour soap is made without ever touching lye yourself. Purchase the premade soap base, cut it into chunks, and melt it down on the stove top until it becomes liquid. Then, stir in whatever your little soaping heart desires. The melted base is poured into a soap mold, and left to cool and harden back up.
You could also replace lye with baking soda to make your own soap. We'll take you through these recipes step by step and give lots of tips about how to customize your soap. Pretty soon you'll have high-quality soap bars without ever having to break out the safety gear to handle lye.
Sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide are industrial chemicals controlled as a hazardous substances under the Environmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA) and its Regulations. No individuals are allowed to import/purchase such controlled chemicals for personal/domestic use.
In most cases, baking soda and caustic soda are not interchangeable. Their chemical and physical properties are so different that one cannot be an effective substitute for the other.
Sodium hydroxide is found in some household cleaners, such as drain cleaners, and oven cleaners. It is also used in preparation of homemade soaps, and to clean wood (such as decks) before painting. How can sodium hydroxide affect my health?
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!
Caustic soda is sodium hydroxide which is lye - they are the exact same thing; just different names. The reason behind the different names is mainly to do with the chemical name being “sodium hydrate” and the chemical itself is “caustic or corrosive”, leading to being known as caustic soda.
The process involves boiling the ashes from a hardwood fire (soft woods have too much resin to mix with fat) in a little soft water—rainwater is best. Boil for about half an hour, let the ashes settle to the bottom of the pan, and then skim the liquid lye off the top.
They are also known as syndet bars. To summarise, you can have a lye free product that is similar to a bar of soap but you cannot make real 'soap' in its true form without lye.
Because lye is used to make illegal drugs, it's harder to buy large quantities than in the past. However, small containers are available in stores and online.
Sodium hydroxide first was registered as a pesticide in 1951. Currently, seven products are registered which contain sodium hydroxide, most in combination with other pesticide active ingredients. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers sodium hydroxide generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for use in food.
You can also use potassium hydroxide. These will produce a softer soap, and in the case of KOH, liquid soap. Those are pretty much your only practical choices. Alkaline earth hydroxides, like Ca(OH)₂, will form insoluble soaps that you are probably familiar with as soap scum resulting from hard water.
Sodium hydroxide is strongly irritating and corrosive. It can cause severe burns and permanent damage to any tissue that it comes in contact with. Sodium hydroxide can cause hydrolysis of proteins, and hence can cause burns in the eyes which may lead to permanent eye damage.
The buffering effect of magnesium hydroxide slury will provide a much more stable pH over time in addition to eliminating the risks of pH excursions. Magnesium hydroxide slurry is non-hazardous and much safer to handle than sodium hydroxide.
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