Can I make soap without using lye. what can i use instead of Lye. thanks?

Question

hi. I need help with this one. I am making my own home made soap with goats milk. And I dont like the idea of using Lye. I tried it, and it stung my hands. is there anything else i can use instead of lye to make my soap? thanks

Answer 1

If you wish to make soap from scratch using oils you need lye - it can't be made with out it. Check out Kathy Miller's website - http://www.millersoap.com - she answeres many of your questions - and her information will help you make a succesfull batch of soap. I looked at many soapmaking insturction sites as well as books and her website by far was the best. I got the courage to use one of her recipes "Rachel's Tried and True" - I've never had a failed batch of soap and now make soap as a hobby and sell at craft fairs in the fall months, have many repeat customers all year round.

Answer 2

As you have found, lye is very caustic, you can't let it get on your skin! I have "burnt" myself with lye too...at only happened once, then I used gloves, long sleeves, and glasses.    

If want to make your own soap, then you must use lye, also called sodium hydroxide. The lye is a vital component to the process of soap-making, or saponification of fat. Before supply stores, people would make a weak lye solution by soaking ash in water.

Water isn't a very good cleanser of human skin, actually, because the dirt we accumulate mixes with the oils our skin produces. Water doesn't mix with oils, so it cannot effectively wash away the oil and dirt. Basically, when you make soap, you are creating a new "molecule" that will adhere to water at one end and oil at the other end. The soap mixes with the dirt and oils on your body, while allowing water to bond with it and wash it away. Pretty amazing, actually. Homemade soap also has all the moisturizing glycerin in it, which is a natural by product of saponification, that commerical companies usually extract and sell separately.

If you want to make soap from scratch (which is very rewarding, I find) then lye and fats are vital. You should invest in a good recipe book as well, or face many failed attempts. The homemade soap will need a "curing" time too of several weeks, meaning you must wait to truly test your results.

To avoid using lye, you might want to mill and remold soap. Find a high quality, premade soap base, grate and melt and add dried goat milk and any other additives you wish. Many craft stores sell big blocks of glycerin soap for this very purpose, calling it "soapmaking".

Good luck!