# First Soap Try- No Lye- Help



## tishmatt (Mar 5, 2013)

Trying to make our first soap, i heard you need lye to really make soap, but we dont want to use it. So can we make any kind of soap out of just: palm oil, sodium citrate and vegetable glycerin?:sad: Any recipes?

Thanks


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## Shannon_m (Mar 5, 2013)

If you want to make soap from scratch you'll need Lye. Oils + lye = soap.  If you don't want to work with lye you should look into a Melt & Pour base and work with that. That soap is still made with lye but it's all premade so you won't have to deal with it.


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## thefarmerdaughter (Mar 5, 2013)

Lots of info here. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f24/why-do-some-sites-books-say-you-must-use-lye-23239/


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## RagingMammoth (Mar 5, 2013)

thats like saying you want too make a candle without wax...


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## melstan775 (Mar 5, 2013)

Don't be afraid of lye. Fear is how accidents happn. Educate yourself on how to use it and go slow. Gain control of your materials. It's like anything you do for the first tim; there's a learning curve but you are ultimately in charge of whatever you are working on.


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## Lindy (Mar 5, 2013)

No lye = no soap


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## Mildreds.naturals (Mar 12, 2013)

tishmatt said:


> Trying to make our first soap, i heard you need lye to really make soap, but we dont want to use it. So can we make any kind of soap out of just: palm oil, sodium citrate and vegetable glycerin?:sad: Any recipes?
> 
> Thanks



My guess is you don't want to make soap with lye because you are afraid being that it is a caustic chemical. Did you also know that Hydrochloric acid and Sodium hydroxide together produce something you put in your body every day?
Table Salt.

SOAP is a salt of fatty acids. If you are looking for something natural in terms of soap, you can't get much better than since this is the way soap has been made even in 300BC


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## Aunt Polly (Mar 26, 2013)

No lye=no soap=no lie!


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## Divadoll (Mar 30, 2013)

You can make it the totally old fashion way using ashes. But really soap is made from a chemical reaction from fats and lye, called saponification. It turns the fats to soap. No other way to make soap. 

You can buy pre made soap and add stuff like colour or fragrances. They are called melt and pour or MP.


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## cassia (Apr 2, 2013)

I thought I could make soap from scratch without lye, then I started reading books like _Soap Making it Enjoying it by Ann Bramson _and_ The_ _Natural Soap Book by Susan Miller Cavitch._
I'm not scared now, planning to start dating lye soon for a long term relationship (They say it becomes an obsession).
Seriously, I know of two different ladies not too far from me who make soap and I plan to ask them to give me a hands-on demonstration or walk me through it in my home.
Don't you all think it is advantageous to have a mentor?


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## DeeAnna (Apr 2, 2013)

Shanna owns a business selling goats milk soap near Rochester, Minnesota (USA), and she gives short classes on CP soap making. I took the class in February with my friend Renae, Shanna's cousin. Shanna said many of her students are new to soap making, but others are old hands. She said the experienced soapers really enjoy comparing notes with her about the CP soap making process, about fragrances, troubleshooting problems, etc., and the newcomers get a lot of confidence from her teaching and being able to see how she sets up her work area and does her soap making. It took a lot of the mystery and anxiety out of the whole process for me -- Shanna is so matter-of-fact and laid-back about it all. So, yes, I'd recommend taking a class or learning in person from a mentor!


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