Let's Talk Soap..
Soap has been made since approximately 2200BC starting in Egypt.
As soap use became more common, producing small patches by hand was not meeting the demand.
Most commercial "Bars" use surfactants like (SLS) Sodium Lauryl sulfate. SLS is a cost effective base found in Shampoos, Dish Detergent, Laundry detergent, liquid hand wash, almost anything that is "soap like".
SLS can be very harsh on the skin, stripping the skins natural oils and is well known to be an irritant.
Soap is made with pure ingredients, Fats and Oils.
Soap is composed of sodium salts of fatty acids.
The type of fatty acid and length of the carbon chain affect the properties of soap.
Lather, Cleansing, Bubbly, Soft/Hard etc.
Tallow (Cow fat) or Lard (Pig Fat) are primarily sodium stearate (18 carbons). This creates a very hard, insoluble soap, not used in our soap.
Soap is made by a saponification process or basic hydrolysis reaction of a fat or oil by adding Sodium Hydroxide.
fat + NaOH → glycerol + sodium salt of fatty acid
How does soap clean?
Oil and water do not mix. Soap is bridge that allows water to wash oils. Soap has a non-polarized hydrocarbon chain with polarized carboxylate salt. When washing, the oils will be absorbed in the non-polarozed end then carried away with the water and salt.
How is soap made?
The first step is to decide on the ingredients. Just like cooking with certain ingredients effects flavour, texture, tenderness etc, Choosing the right ingredients in the soap will have an effect on the properties. Oils have different amounts of certain fatty acids and it is the fatty acid types when saponified will determine how good the soap will be. Not all soap is the same! Just like not all Cola is the same.
The quality of soap depends on the ingredients and formulation!
Using a calculated blend of fats/oils with a calculated amount of sodium hydroxide soap is made.
Sodium Hydroxide is mixed with a liquid ( water, milk, etc..) so it can be dissolved and then blended with the oils.
A couple different methods of soap making are..
Hot Process - The hot process soap making method uses heat to cook the soap, to accelerate the saponification process.
Cold Process - Cold-processed soap making allows the lye to be neutralized without any outside sources of heat, saponification will take place in approximately 24 hours.
Both methods are great, it is a matter of personal preference for the soap maker. Here at South Shore Soaps our Everyday soaps are made using the Hot Process method mostly. Sometimes for a smoother look or decorative soap, cold is the best choice.
Try our SOAP, You will Love it!