why i could not use hand made soaps for my family?
This was some 2 years back. When i got to know about the ugly effects of SLS used in mostly all the soaps, i was thinking to move to handmade soaps. it was also becoming a norm in my circle of friends. got to know that a friend's friend was making hand-made soaps with natural ingredients. I was too happy. i was more than willing to buy from her regularly than buy the hand-made ones that was available in the store. it always gives a confidence to know the person who makes it. right?
I requested my friend to take me to her home. she was also conducting classes to teach soap making at home. i was too curious how she makes the soaps. No. definitely not with an intention to learn to make it myself. At that time.. i was still running my corporate race. So no way it stuck to me to make soaps myself. i just wanted to know how it's made & know her.
And the day came. fortunately... she was making a fresh batch that day & she was sweet enough to take me thru the procedures and the ingredients. OMG that was the turning point.
while she was prepping up, i was like too excited to know she actually used real papaya, aloe, charcoal, etc., but when she was about to use the lye.. she wore a thick gloves, safety glasses and face mask. she asked her kids to move away from the room. She mentioned we have to be very cautious while using lye. at that time i didn't know what's lye. but. something was broken inside me. i felt something is wrong. yet, watched the process. she said the hazardous effects will go away when the soap is getting cured for a month. when lye & water was mixed, the solution had a real high temperature. she said that might burn our skin. And then she mixed that solution to the natural ingredients. What? really? Yes.
Soaps are made either with hot or cold process. And in both process i read, spoke to people understood that lye helps in saponification. without lye no hand-made soaps can be made.
So, now what's lye? it's a common name for Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide. It is highly soluble it water & produces caustic solution. recall the word "Caustic Soda" used in soaps. It is again the same lye. so any metal hydroxide can be called lye. Lyes are commercially available in the form of flakes, pellets, microbeads, coarse powder. The popularly used form is flakes. Basically these are corrosives & hence used as cleansing agents. The amount of lye is used in proportion to the cleansing required.
i learnt about these caustic solutions to an extent that's good enough for end users like us to know. again.. i will not go in deep detail on the chemical compounds & more.. But as usual if you are interested. let's chat. ping me on +91 9148588338. ok?
you can also search wikipedia for lye https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lye. don't miss to check out the section - Hazardous reactions. Let me also tell you onething. compared to cheap, dirty SLS, lye is better. i am ashamed & afraid to mention this in the blog. yet.. when you write something to share your knowledge, better to share in with unbias approach. what say?
lye flakes are available easily online. a sample link here: https://www.amazon.in/WSA-Essentials-Sodium-Making-Caustic/dp/B07BLR3X8X?tag=googinhydr18418-21&tag=googinkenshoo-21&ascsubtag=5c73e3bb-abbe-409c-93f1-ed66b8006747It costs around 800 / kg.
it'll be interesting to read the usage for the same product in this link. i will leave you guys to decide. ha ha- https://www.amazon.in/B501-13-Standard-Sodium-Hydroxide-Caustic/dp/1583219773/ref=pd_sbs_194_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XY9DMQD8PAATBBA10THA
Is sodium hydroxide bad? see.. it is corrosive. that's why is a good cleanser. my question was if the bad effects of lye in the hand made soaps will go away in a month when the soap is cured, how does it then cleanse?? i wasn't too interested to find technical answers as i felt it's not worth justifying the use of sodium hydroxide.
instead.. my desperate journey started in search of natural cleanser. and here today we are with a home brand - kaya shastra and with our first ever basic product - face & body cleanser - made from 100% all natural ingredients.
So, if you interested to try out my kayashastra - face & body cleanser, my only request to you will be.. please don't use soaps while you are using this cleanser. give a chance for your skin to breathe. Pl detox your skin. it definitely deserves all your love & care.
#nosoap #nosoapchallenge
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see you soon in another article. it will be a learning time for me if you could leave your comments & feedback. so, don't hesitate. share your thoughts in the comments.
in the But before i moved a good friend is making handmade soaps foto Lye is used in hand made soaps.
