Introduction to soap

What is soap?

Soap is a chemical substance that helps in removing dirt and clean our bodies and other surfaces. Industrially, soap is used for order aspects such as greasing purposes and as a lubricant but such soap is made of high metallic elements.

Our area of interest is homemade natural soap. For you to be able to get the best in your soap making, you have to know in detail the chemical changes that occur when soaping. But before that, we will talk about soap making process. 

Soap is one of the end products of chemical reactions between potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide with oil or fat.

We can say that mixing potassium hydroxide with either oil or fat will always result in soap as one of the by-products. 

When we mixed potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide with either oil or fat we will get two products which are:

👉 Soap

👉 Glycerin

When we use potassium hydroxide with either oil or fat we will get liquid soap.

When we use sodium hydroxide with either oil or fat we will get hard soap

The type of reaction that takes place whenever potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide is mixed together with either oil or fat to form soap and glycerin is called

👉 SAPONIFICATION REACTION

Saponification reaction is similar to neutralization reaction where acid and base mix together to form salt

In reality, acid is dangerous to skin as well as a base but when the two are mixed in the right proportion, they will form a product that is not harmful

The same thing happens when we mix potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide with either oil or fat 

Potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide are dangerous to the skin but when you mix them in the right ratio with oil or fat, it will give a product that is friendly to our body.

The key and most important fact is the ratio of the two mixture

When the ratio is not the same the result will not be what we desire and it can cause damage to our skin.

Another key fact is the saponification reaction

If the saponification reaction did not complete then the result will also be different

For example, if a bricklayer did not mix cement and sand very well, the 🧱 (bricks) will not be strong and it can result in the collapse of the building.

If all the molecules of potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide did not react with all the molecules of oil or fat, there will be a leftover or   unreacted sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide

This leftover is effective as the raw sodium or potassium hydroxide which is dangerous to the skin.

KEY FACTS

👉 Make sure that both potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide are in the same ratio with the oil or fat.

The best way to know is by using a soap calculator.

👉 Make sure that the saponification reaction is completed

If you get these two facts correctly then you will have a great 🧼 (soap)

We have different types of soap but the funniest thing is that all of them followed the same process. 

The only thing that differentiates a soap from another are:

👉 Type of oil and fats used 

👉 Number of oil and fats used 

👉 Other additional addictive added

👉 Type of perfume used

👉 Type of color used

The bottom line is that any soap is formed as a result of mixing potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide with either oil or fat.