How Soap Works

Many people wonder how soap works.

Soap making results from the saponification chemical reaction which occurs when caustic alkali – either sodium hydroxide, NaOH (also known as caustic soda) or potassium hydroxide, KOH (also known as potash) – is mixed with animal or vegetable oils or fats. From the reaction between these soap ingredients a new matter is created, SOAP, in which there is no more alkali or oil, but which is made of carboxylate salts (R-CO2-Na), water and glycerin. Glycerin is a by-product of saponification that can be taken away. However it is recommended to keep it in the soap mixture as it brings its moisturising property to soap.

Soap is a surface-active product. Carboxylate salts molecules are amphiphilic: they are made of a long chain of atoms, one end of which, negatively polarised, is hydrophilic – attracted by water – while the other end is lipophilic – attracted by fats.

Here is the miracle of the soap recipe: the lipophilic end of soap molecule attracts fats and pulls them from their support, thus cleansing the skin (or any other object to be washed), while the other end is attracted to water. As a result fats caught by the soap molecules are cleaned off with water.

During the washing operation, soap takes away the fat constituting the hydrolipidic film that covers the skin, protects it and retains its water. Fat is tremoved by water along with the dirt held in it. Therefore washing dries your skin slightly until the hydrolipidic film is reconstructed after several hours. The removal of this protection by a stripper washing such as the one of commercially produced soaps weakens skin, which, without its protection, is highly exposed to external factors.

A superfatted soap is a soap enriched in fats, such as vegetable oils. The presence of these oils limits the drying up of your skin due to the removal of the natural hydrolipidic film.

I could not believe it when my wife told me the supposed “natural” soap I
was very happy to use was staining my shower screen; and it was true!
She gave me a natural handmade soap, and it was a discovery for me. The
peppermint soap was so sweet on my skin and so refreshing! I had never
felt such a thing. This started my passion for natural handmade,
homemade soaps. I begun searching what were soaps made of, and was
terrified when I learned what they put in commercially-produced soaps!
Straight away I decided I had the mission to inform people about natural homemade soap!So, for a start, let’s see how soap works.