No Lye, I've Been Reading

I am in research mode at the moment. The lack of lye has slowed my soapmaking process considerably so I am left with my books and a cup of tea. It's raining and raining here, so no better time to read and re-read the soap books. They are actually very interesting and I have read 90% of them. Of course if you have no interest in making soap, you might find the chemistry behind soap dreadfully boring. Just like if you have no interest in sewing, reading my beloved Ottobre Magazines would be equally boring.

So here are a few interesting facts I've learned about soap. The big scary word in soapmaking is saponification. The definition is: a process by which triglycerides (oils or fats) are reacted with sodium hydroxide (lye) to produce glycerol (AKA glycerin) and a fatty acid "soap". Soap works by trapping dirt and allowing water to wash it away. It is both hydrophilic and hydrophobic meaning it will dissolve in both water and oil which allows it to clean. It dates back to at least 600 BC and was likely discovered by accident. Lye was originally produced by running water through wood ashes. Sacrificing animals in a fire would have combined just the right ingredients to make naturally occurring soap when it rained. Because of the inconsistent nature of lye, the soaps made in the recent past were notoriously unpredictable. I'm sure we have all heard the jokes about Grandma's lye soap that would take your skin off. Today the lye is predictable and the measurements precise enough to make wonderful soaps, not that I have been able to try it yet.

So why do we use sodium laureth sulfate in most of our cleaning products? Blame it on the war! Fats were in short supply back in World War I in Germany so an alternative had to be found for soap. Enter some synthetic cleaners that were cheaper and did the job. Add a few whiteners and water softeners (more chemicals) and you had a cheaper cleaning product that preserved precious fats. The US jumped on board and converted airplane fuel factories into detergent production and the use of detergents became widely acceptable by the 1940's. They are also made from petroleum byproducts. Again, I am not a scientist but there is a raging debate over whether they are carcinogenic or not. The problem is that some of these detergents clean too well. They remove the oil that protects our skin and leaves us dry and scaly.

Another tidbit, just as the peanut oil is removed from mainstream peanut butters, replaced with cheaper oils, and sold for more money elsewhere, glycerin is removed from mass produced soaps decreasing the moisturizing properties inherent in natural soap. Did you know that glycerin is hygroscopic meaning that it attracts water?

Now that I've taught you all a bit of history, some big words, and a little chemistry to boot, don't you want to take the soapmaking plunge with me?

Lyes, Lyes, Lyes

Here is my attempt at an honest look at soapmaking. I have never done it before so I am a beginner for sure. My husband said he knew it was coming and was surprised my foray into soapmaking had waited this long. I am a self proclaimed nut about food. I found a ranch south of us that makes grass finished beef because I wanted natural beef. Hodge Ranch It is wonderful and if you are in the Atlanta area, definitely check it out. I buy organic when possible and grow organic during the spring, summer, and fall.

About 2 years ago I threw out all the cleaning products in our house and replaced them with baking soda, vinegar, and castille soap. I found this great book, Clean House Clean Planet, and started making my own cleaning products that work just as well as all those chemicals. It has definitely made cleaning a more pleasant experience. My husband also notices that there are no lingering chemical smells about the house. My only chemical laden cleaning product is Tide. I have to use the HE detergent. I've tried other earth friendly detergents and they all make me itch. I will keep looking.

With 2 young girls around the house, I began to look at all the ingredients in our everyday beauty products. I have been so focused on our dietary intake that I have neglected to look at our bath and beauty products. They all contain parabens among other things. Now I have not done any research for I am not a scientist but there is a debate, whether real or imagined, about whether parabens cause breast cancer. There is also debate about their estrogen mimicking properties. On the flip side, blueberries actually contain naturally occurring parabens, methylparabens. Looking at my hereditary struggle with hormones, I am not taking any chances on my girls.

Now that you know my reasoning for this quest into soapmaking, I will detail my days journey into gathering supplies. I ordered several well reviewed books from Amazon about soapmaking. I checked out one from the library which frighteningly said to add water to lye! I started at Wal-Mart thinking it would be one stop shopping. I found a red stockpot, some rubber gloves, goggles, a few oils, thermometers, and gladware molds. Then I went looking for lye which all the books said is readily available at the grocery store. Wal-Mart does not carry lye. They carry all sorts of drain cleaners but nothing clearly identified as pure lye. Off to Kroger where I was quickly disappointed again. Surely Home Depot would carry lye but alas all I got was a lecture from a clerk about the dangers of lye. I would not be outdone so I returned home and googled. Apparently Red Devil Lye was pulled off the shelves years ago. I looked up some soapmaking websites and quickly discovered why it was so hard to find...methamphetamines! It's true, if you are into meth, you're ingesting lye. YIKES! It's classified as a hazardous material and costs extra to ship. I ordered some anyway. When I told my husband he said well lets hope the FBI doesn't come after us because he uses sudafed on a regular basis for his deviated septum and chronic sinus infections. This may be my first and last post!