Basic Soapmaking

Basic recipes and instructions for soapmaking

how does soap work

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how does soap work…?

Finding an answer to the question how does soap works means understanding a bit of chemistry.

chemistry of how does soap work

Soap consists of molecules and is an excellent cleaner because itacts as an emulsifying agent.

The soap’s molecules are comprised of 2 types which areopposites. One type is water soluble and one type is water repellent.

Soap and water are required for the cleaning process. Thehistory of soap making reminds us that water and soap have been workingtogether since the start.

This is how soap works well with water and also it makessoap bind to elements other than water such as dirt and grease.

Theprocess of how soap works is like this.

Your hands are dirty and need cleaning.

You place your hands in water to wash them, the water will remove a good partof the dirt because most of the dirt is water soluble, so the dirt mixes wellwith the water and is removed from your hands.

How does soap work and come intoplay after the water has washed away the water soluble dirt?

There are othermolecules that are not water soluble like oil and grease.

Thegrease and oil molecules will try to stick to your skin and this is where soapmolecules are really required. Rememberhow soap works, it has 2 types of molecules some that mesh well with water andsome that are water repellent. The soap molecules which are water repellent willbecome attached to grease and oil and they will just be removed or float awayin the water.

This processexplains how soap works and how it cleans.

Soap can sometimes do too good of ajob. Good body oils that your skin needs to be moisturized can also becomeattached to the soap molecules and be washed away leaving your skin clean butdry and possibly irritated.

Natural soap making can help this from happening byusing certain natural oils that give back to the skin what might have beenremoved by the cleaning.

The more we know about soap, how soap works and theprocess, learning how to make soap makes all good sense.

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