What is soap made of?
Soap is made when an acid and a base are combined together to form a salt. This physical reaction is called saponification. The most common acid is a fatty acid and the most common base is usually lye (sodium hydroxide). Then the fat and lye combine, saponification occurs to make salt, which is your soap.
What exactly takes place during the saponification process?
Saponification isn’t that hard to understand. All you need to know is that when you combine the acid and the base together there are two reactions that are taking place. The first is the creation of glycerin, which happens when the triglycerides in the acid release a glycerol molecule. The second reaction occurs when salt is formed, which occurs when the acid and base combine.
What kinds of bases are most commonly used in soap making?
In soap making, the base must always have one thing: a hydroxide ion. As a result, the most common base is usually lye, because it has one sodium ion and one hydroxide ion. However, potassium hydroxide will also work, but it’s not usually used in bar soap, but liquid soaps instead.
What types of acids are used in soap making?
Your acid is usually some type of fat. Animal fat, or tallow, is most often used in non-vegan soaps. Tallow is made from mutton, beef, or pork fat. On the other hand, vegan soaps are made exclusively from plant fats like coconut or palm.
Why should you use vegan soaps?
Coconut oil is often used for its cleansing, healing, and moisturizing properties. It gently cleanses the skin, heals dry skin, and balances moisture levels. Palm is used for its high vitamin content, namely vitamin E and beta carotene. In fact, it has more beta carotene than a carrot!
Where can vegan soaps be purchased?
Vegan soaps can be purchased in a wide variety of places now. However, our favorite place is to get them from a company called iVi Scents.
Looking to find more information on vegan soap, then visit iviscents.com to find all the vegan soaps we have available for you.