Soap is mainly made from fat, potassium hydroxide, and water through a chemical processcalled saponification. In purely chemical terms, soap is a compound of fatty acids. Fragrances are usually added aftersaponification, but it is important to be aware of the amount of added perfume in the products. Other additives such aspreservatives and borax may occur, but they are not necessary. Common fats used include tall oil, linseed oil, andrapeseed and corn oil to make the soap.
Last edited on May 8, 2024
What is soap made of? and What is soap produced from?
We will answer these questions in this blog.
Soap is made from fat, potassium hydroxide, and water. These are mixed and boiled sothat a chemical process called saponification starts. In purely chemical terms, the finished soap is a compound offatty acids. Nothing more is needed to make soap.
Why are there more ingredients in the ingredient list then?
- Well, sometimes other things are added. Perfumeis common.
Since saponification is a strong chemical reaction, fragrances are not preserved through saponification, sofragrance is added afterward. What may be worth keeping an eye on is the amount of added perfume. If the amount ofperfume is large, it is time to be careful; a perfume can contain very many chemicals. Small amount of perfume or noperfume is therefore preferable. Cleaning products with a lot of perfume cover up bad air, which is not so good; whenwe clean, we want it to be really clean, not just a scent of perfumes.
Other additives are not necessary, although preservatives and borax may occur.
The fat that the soap is boiled with varies. Animal fat as a base was common in the old self-sufficient farmingsociety. Common fats today are tall oil; tall oil is a residual product from the paper pulp industry that is distilledand saponified into tall oil soap.
Linseed oil is another common base in soap. In the past, green soap boiled with hemp oil was common; today, greensoap is usually colored tall oil soap.
Västerbottenssåpa is soap boiled from rapeseed and corn oil, a reuse where oil from deep fryers ispurified in cyclone cleaners and then saponified. Västerbottenssåpa contains no preservatives. All packaging with blacklabels is also completely fragrance-free.
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Questions and Answers
- What are the main ingredients in soap?
The main ingredients in soap are fat, potassium hydroxide, and water.
- Why are fragrances usually added after saponification?
Fragrances are usually added aftersaponification because saponification is a strong chemical reaction that does not preserve the fragrances from theoriginal ingredients. It is important to be aware of the amount of added perfume in the products to avoid excessiveexposure to chemicals.
- What are some common bases used to make soap?
Common bases for making soap include animal fat, talloil, linseed oil, and rapeseed and corn oil.
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