Simple Alaskan Soap Suds
Hand Made in Fairbanks, Alaska
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About SASS
It's Simple
Simple Alaskan Soap Suds is an online store that offers a simple variety of high-quality and affordable soaps, made from and inspired by Alaska. From the ground where the blueberries grow, to the sky where the Northern Lights soar high.
A Passion for simple, yet sophisticated excellence has driven us since conception, and continues to drive us into the future. The team at Simple Alaskan Soap knows that every product counts, and strives to make the entire shopping experience as rewarding and fun as possible. Check out our store and special offers, and get in touch with questions or requests.
It's Called Saponification, and that's no Lye!
Well, maybe just a little lye...
4-10-2023
Soap making is a timeless craft, one that involves a mix of chemistry, patience and creativity! The best part is that you end up with a fragrant soap, one that you'll appreciate even more after understanding how it's made. Soap making requires just a few simple ingredients, Fats (Oils) Water and Lye, that’s it! Those simple ingredients require some tender love and careful handling to make it into soap through a process called Saponification! Read on to understand what I do here at Simple Alaskan Soap Suds on “Soaping days” !
So,What is Lye and is it safe to use?
Lye is a product often used to make soap and cleaning products. The two most commonly used types of lye are NaOH, sodium hydroxide, and KOH, potassium hydroxide. All kinds of lye are very basic, or alkaline, which means that they have a high pH. Because of this, lye is very caustic, so it can harm the skin if you touch it without protection (safety glasses and gloves). Lye is made from wood ashes seeped in water, and it was first called potash or pot ash, being ashes soaked in a pot. This is actually the origin of the word "potassium. Today, lye is commercially manufactured using a membrane cell chloralkali process. It is supplied in various forms such as flakes, pellets, microbeads, coarse powder or a solution. Lye has traditionally been used as a major ingredient in soapmaking.
Lye is also used in Food
Yes, you read that correctly! Lyes are used to cure many types of food, including the traditional Nordic lutefisk, olives (making them less bitter), canned mandarin oranges, hominy, lye rolls, century eggs, pretzels, and bagels. They are also used as a tenderizer in the crust of baked Cantonese moon cakes, in "zongzi" (glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves), in chewy southern Chinese noodles popular in Hong Kong and southern China, and in Japanese ramen noodles. They are also used in kutsinta, a type of rice cake from the Philippines together with pitsi-pitsî.[2] In Assam, north east India, extensive use is made of a type of lye called khar in Assamese and karwi in Boro which is obtained by filtering the ashes of various banana stems, roots and skin in their cooking and also for curing, as medicine and as a substitute for soap. Lye made out of wood ashes is also used in the nixtamalization process of hominy corn by the tribes of the Eastern Woodlands in North America.
In the United States, food-grade lye must meet the requirements outlined in the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC),[3] as prescribed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).[4] Lower grades of lye that are unsuitable for use in food preparation are commonly used as drain de-cloggers and oven cleaners.
Now, how does Lye make Soap and where does it go when soap is made?
Lye in the form of both sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide is used in making soap. Potassium hydroxide soaps are softer and more easily dissolved in water than sodium hydroxide soaps. Sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide are not interchangeable in either the proportions required or the properties produced in making soaps.
Soap is made by mixing fats and oils with an alkaline solution (a base mixed with water). Fats may include ingredients like lard or shortening. Oils can be for cooking, like olive, peanut, corn or coconut oils. The base could be something like lye, which is available at hardware stores. This is the important part… Since water and oil don’t mix well on their own, they need help combining, they need to be heated and stirred and a base added to help them stay together.
When the fats come into contact with the lye, a chemical process called Saponification happens. When the triglycerides in the fats (oils) combine, they react to for a fatty acid metal salt (aka SOAP) and a soap byproduct (glycerol). The lye forces the soap to coagulate without dissolving the water. Once that occurs, the mixture can cool and harden, forming soap! The lathering bubble factor, aroma’s, moisturizing capabilities, hardness, etc are all affected by how well the unsaturated and saturated fatty acids are distributed.
How to Make Homemade Soap | HowStuffWorks
No Lie, there’s no Lye!!!
Well, when soap is made properly—using the correct ratio of lye to oils—there is no lye leftover in the resulting soap. Instead, every single lye molecule reacts chemically to fat molecules, and both convert to soap plus glycerin. Home made soaps must have a cure/drying time of 3-6 weeks depending on the soap recipe. All of the soaps made by Simple Alaskan Soap Suds have cured a full 4 weeks prior to packaging and distribution.
Lye is a necessary component in Soap making, but rest assured, it’s perfectly safe and inert when your soaps make it to you for use.
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