Chandler's Soaps >> How Is Soap Made?

How Is Soap Made?

(The Simple Version)

Very simply, soap is made by mixing animal or vegetable oils or fats with lye that has been dissolved in water. It is a chemical reaction which results in a completely new substance - soap!

Animal and vegetable fats are made up of fatty acids and glycerin. When lye solution is mixed with the oils, the lye and fatty acids combine to make soap; some water and glycerin are left over from the process. This process is called saponification. It looks like this:

The qualities of the soap - such as how hard the bar is and what kind of lather it makes - are determined by the type of oil(s) and lye used.

For more information, see The Chemistry of Soap.