Living · 6 pages · 12 min
How soap is made from fat and lye
Lye splits fats into glycerin and into fatty-acid salts, and those salts are the soap.
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From the opening
Soap is made by reacting fats or oils with a strong alkali, traditionally called lye. The alkali splits the fat into glycerin and into salts of fatty acids, and those salts are the soap, each with an end that likes water and a tail that likes oil. The opening covers lye splits the fat molecule, the salts are what lift grease, and hard water turns soap into scum.
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Inside
- Lye splits the fat molecule
- The salts are what lift grease
- Hard water turns soap into scum
- Detergent is a different chemistry
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Saponification of triglycerides by alkali
- Calcium soap scum in hard water