How Soap Works?

If you're like me you jump in the shower everyday to wash off the worries of the world and greet your life with passion and balanced energy. You feel refreshed and energized afterwards, happy in the full knowledge that you are fresh and clean. But have you ever wondered how this innocuous amalgamation of oils, lye (yes lye) and water works it's magic. Well, let me say it is not magic. It's simple science. Let me explain.

The Science

Just a snippet, don't worry there won't be a test at the end. Soaps are mixtures of sodium or potassium salts obtained from fatty acids and alkali solutions in a process called saponification. Each soap molecule is made of a long, non-polar, hydrophobic (repelled by water) hydrocarbon chain or "tail" capped by a polar, hydrophilic (water-soluble) "salt" or head. Because soap molecules have both polar and non-polar properties, they easily mix.

The Process (Saponification)

If you break it now into chemical components, you can think of the oil that you make into soap as three long legs (fatty acids) held together by a glycerol cap (this combination is a “triglyceride”). And lye is made up of sodium, hydrogen and oxygen (sodium hydroxide), which splits apart when dissolved in water.

When the fat is heated with lye dissolved in water, the cap separates from the legs. The sodium from the lye bonds with the legs from the fat to form soap, while the hydrogen and oxygen together bond with the now, separated glycerol cap to become glycerin. The sodium end of the soap molecule continues to attract water, while the tail continues to attract oils.

Keep Reading Almost Done...

After saponification, anything that isn’t soap is a byproduct. The byproducts affect the quality of soap you get in the end and or the type of soap. Glycerin is considered a byproduct. It is what makes #dossmansoap so skin loving. Using different oils or fats to make soap will produce different amounts and types of soap attributes. Attributes or qualities, like hardness, lather and moisturizing ability. Our soap is a softer soap, but it is a well lathering, and moisturizing soap. The combination, of oils used is a complex process to pin down. We work on our soap formula constantly. But right now, we think we have a winner.

Commercial soap manufacturers work very hard to remove the extra glycerin, which is good for your skin, by the way. But it is also good for making other stuff too. Glycerin is “hygroscopic,” which means it likes water so much it will draw moisture from the air. Which will help to keep your skin moisturized for a longer period of time.

How it works

When you wash with soap and water, the tails of the soap molecules are repelled by water and attracted to oils, which attract dirt. The tails cluster together and form structures called micelles, trapping the dirt and oils. The hydrophilic heads of the soap molecules form the outside of the micelle and allow it to suspend in water. The hydrophobic ends of the soap molecules trap dirt and oil in the middle of the micelle where they can't come in contact with water. With the oils trapped in the center, the micelle is suspended in water, and all the toxins and stress from the day get washed down the drain.