What can I substitute for lye (sodium hydroxide) when making soap?

Question

Is there a better alternative to lye (sodium hydroxide) when making soap?

I'm making soap and I don't want to use lye since it's very hazardous.

Got any better suggestions that will work as well or better than lye for making soap?

Thank you!

Answer 1

Wood ashes, you could go to state park where there are fire places for cooking and collect the ashes.

Answer 2

Lye Substitute

Answer 3

Soaps may also use some potassium hydroxide but the problems are similar. Using ONLY potassium hydroxide may make "soft soap" that's somewhat liquid. Our ancestors used wood ash, not pure lye. There's no real alternative, you need a strong reaction to hydrolize the oil or fats which are your other ingredients.

Answer 4

Sorry to say, but you need the lye to make soap.
Unless you want to make melt and pour soap (which does have lye in it, but you don't have to handle the raw lye)...you need lye.

To make cold processed soap you need lye, water and oils.

Answer 5

Potash - potassium hydroxide - even more hazardous but "natural" (leached wood ashes). Sodium makes hard soap, potassium makes soft soap.

Answer 6

Well, the alkali converts the fat to soap, so you could use other alkali's. The good old days used potash which was obtained by soaking wood ashes then filtering the solids out.
http://www.alcasoft.com/soapfact/history.html

Answer 7

I am not a scientist so please correct me. Can we use NaCO3 instead of NaOH, NaCO3 is a salt and not an alkali therefore not dangerous. Woud n t the reaction of NaCO3 with fatty acid, create the same thing but more safely?

Answer 8

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Any animal fat will do instead of lard.

Answer 9

just use real soap it will save you some time

Answer 10

aritha is the best sustitued to use for cleaning anythings hence directly u can use ARITHA