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Pellets of soda lye (sodium hydroxide) Pellets of potash lye (potassium hydroxide)Lye is a hydroxide, either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide.The word lye most accurately refers to sodium hydroxide (NaOH), [citation needed] but historically has been conflated to include other alkali materials, most notably potassium hydroxide (KOH).
The 2nd-century AD physician Galen describes soap-making using lye and prescribes washing to carry away impurities from the body and clothes. The use of soap for personal cleanliness became increasingly common in this period. According to Galen, the best soaps were Germanic, and soaps from Gaul were second best.
Some soapmakers prefer "melt and pour" because the process is simple and safe, allowing the soapmaker to concentrate more on the aesthetic aspects of soap making. Because it avoids the need to handle lye , a hazardous and very caustic chemical, it is a hobby even children can enjoy under adult supervision.
Some soap-makers leave the glycerol in the soap. Others precipitate the soap by salting it out with sodium chloride. Skeletal formula of stearin, a triglyceride that is converted by saponification with sodium hydroxide into glycerol and sodium stearate. Fat in a corpse converts into adipocere, often called "grave wax".
Lye water is an essential ingredient in the crust of the traditional baked Chinese moon cakes. Most yellow coloured Chinese noodles are made with lye water but are commonly mistaken for containing egg. One variety of zongzi uses lye water to impart a sweet flavor. Sodium hydroxide causes gelling of egg whites in the production of century eggs.
Aleppo soap (also known as savon d'Alep, laurel soap, Syrian soap, or ghar soap, the Arabic word غَار, meaning 'laurel') is a handmade, hard bar soap associated with the city of Aleppo, Syria. Aleppo soap is classified as a Castile soap as it is a hard soap made from olive oil and lye , from which it is distinguished by the inclusion of ...