To make soap you need to combine a fat with an alkaline solution. When fat and alkali combine the process called "saponification" takes place.  This process creates what we know as soap. Most of what we THINK is soap at the supermarket is actually a detergent (hence, why you won't see the word "soap" on the label).  

Real handmade soap has been around for centuries.  There is documented evidence of its use in Ancient Babylon, Egypt, Rome and Persia.  It is believed that the use of soap dates back to 2800 BC.

Soap is considered to be much more gentle to your skin than commercial detergents found in the supermarket. The reason being that commercial detergents that are presented like soap have the natural glycerin removed which leaves the skin dry and itchy.  Natural handmade soaps retain that glycerin leaving the skin soft and supple.  Another difference between detergent and real soap are the additives used.  Often times fragrances, BHT, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, trisodium etidronate, and tetrasodium EDTA and other synthetic chemicals are added to detergent bars to make them visually and sensually more appealing; all of which are considered unhealthy or unsafe to our bodies.  While natural soaps are created using essential oils, high quality vegetable and nut oils.  All of which are beneficial to our skin.

Our ancestors used an old fashioned process of soapmaking.  They would combine animal fats with an alkali called lye.  Lye was obtained from rain water filtered through wood ash.  To create my soap I use the cold process method of soapmaking.  I combine various nut and vegetable oils with water and sodium hydroxide (lye). Although the sodium hydroxide (lye) I use is a synthetic compound there is no lye remaining in the final bar of soap once the saponification process has taken place.  Saponification is a chemical process that happens when the lye and oils meet.  True bar soap cannot be made without combining a fat with lye.

 

To learn more about the history of soap please check the following sites:

http://www.sdahq.org/cleaning/history/

 

To learn more about the saponification process please check the following site:

http://www.canis-art.com/soaping.htm