Gigi-2024/5/13-what is soap made of?

Have you ever used soap? Do you know what it is made of?

Basically, soap is mainly composed of two ingredients: fat and alkali. In traditional soap making, the fat is usually animal fat or vegetable oil, such as olive, coconut or palm oil. The base of choice is usually sodium hydroxide (solid base) or potassium hydroxide (liquid base).

During the chemical process of soap making, alkali reacts with fat to form a compound called soap, with glycerin produced as a by-product. This process, called saponification, combines the fatty acids in the fat with the hydroxides in the base to form soap molecules.

In addition to the basic ingredients, soaps can have fragrances, colors, skin care ingredients, and more added to improve their appearance, smell, and skin care benefits. So, when you use soap, you are washing away dirt while also bringing care and cleansing to your skin.

In addition, soap is divided into three types according to process: machine-made soap, handmade soap, and cold soap.

Among them, machine-made soap is the cheapest and is generally used in hotels. It feels relatively hard and the effect is not that good.

Cold soap is the most expensive because it is a complete cooling process, so it can best retain the natural ingredients in the soap and is better for the human body. The texture is relatively soft.

Handmade soap is somewhere in between and is the most widely used soap.