# Soap without Lye?



## PR3TTYnihkee (Jan 2, 2010)

hey everyone! Im new to the forums and I have never made soaps before, but I really want to do my research before attempting because I cant afford to mess up! Im a college student   

Anyways, I read about lye and it seems like some pretty scary stuff. I really want to make ALL-NATURAL Vegan soaps with as natural ingredients I can use, if that's even possible. I also want to avoid using lard, and sticking mainly to oils or all-natural butters.

Is there any basic soap recipes for a beginner that are all-natural and do not use lye?

I also want to try making them from scratch, I think you guys call that cold press? I dont want to do Melt and Pour.

Thanks a lot! I hope to learn a lot from you guys on here!


----------



## carebear (Jan 2, 2010)

nope.

soap is the result of mixing oils/fats with a caustic (i.e., lye).

you don't want to WORK with lye then you can get some lovely melt and pour soap to which you can add color and fragrance (or not).   the manufacturer has dealt with the lye for you.

you don't want something MADE with lye then you get your choice of synthetic detergent (syndet) products to play with.

oh, and the term is cold pour.

but to reiterate - if you want to make soap you need lye.

I suggest you go to millersoap.com and read through it well.


----------



## PR3TTYnihkee (Jan 2, 2010)

Cool! Thanks for the bit of info, and thanks for the site, I will definitely read into it. Its been hard for me to find anything online that is super specific. 

Can I still call my soaps ALL-NATURAL if there is lye in it?


----------



## carebear (Jan 2, 2010)

There is no law against it - so it's your call.

But IMO, no - your lye is synthetic, and of course you are synthesizing your soap... So *I* am not comfortable with that term.

But I'm sure there are lots of other very positive things you can say about your ingredients. 

I believe there are some threads on this in the soapmaking section of the forum - so if you search on "natural" you should be able to find something.


----------



## Deda (Jan 2, 2010)

why don't you learn how to make it before you worry about what to call it?


----------



## PR3TTYnihkee (Jan 3, 2010)

Because I dont want to claim the soaps that I DO make are all natural, if they arent.


----------



## carebear (Jan 3, 2010)

Ah, well there really are no rules about the use of the word "natural".  So you can use it in any way you feel truly comfortable.  It really is your choice.


----------



## dagmar88 (Jan 3, 2010)

I don't see why you'd want to claim anything in the first place.
Claims to me only seem useful when you're selling your soap.


----------



## Tabitha (Jan 3, 2010)

I would not feel comfortable w/ the term "all natural" but I would with the term "natural". The FDA has not been able to define "all antural" or even "natural" which means those terms are not regulated. It is up to each individual to use the word as their conscience allows.


----------



## Tabitha (Jan 3, 2010)

Why don't you spend some time here: www.millersoap.com , it will answer most of your questions.


----------



## IanT (Feb 8, 2010)

no es posible!!!! no lye no soap... of course, as the above poster linked/mentioned... you dont need to handle the lye yourself, but that doesnt mean that it wasnt used in making the base that you are shredding up etc... in order to "make" soap without lye, you could really only do rebatch soap... or melt n pour... 

but whatever base you are using was most definitely created by saponification of oils and fats by lye


----------



## Cheirenya (Mar 22, 2010)

I was first very scared about lye. But it's not as scary thing as it sounds, it's like boiling water, handle it with care and it'll not hurt you.


----------



## donniej (Mar 22, 2010)

You can make soap with sodium carbonate, AKA wash soda.  Sodium and Potassium Carbonate were the only alkili's available for thousands of years.  The problem with carbonates is they're very weak so you'll need a lot more and you'll have to cook the soap for 6 to 8 hours or more at near boiling.  I've tried it, it's a *lot* of work.  

Carbonates were made by burning wood or seaweed and washing the ashes with water.  The water would absorb the carbonate, called potash.  Potash was a commodity used for making soap, glass and cotton.  It was in such demand that it lead to the deforestation of much of Europe.  Hydroxides replaced carbonates in the late 1700's with the invention of the Leblanc process.  

Today hydroxides are separated from salt water using electrolysis and a membrane.  The equation looks something like this...

NaCl + H20 --->  NaOH + H2 + Cl  (or something like that    )


----------



## IanT (Mar 22, 2010)

that would actually be a cool experiment to try...


----------

