What is laundry soap made of?

Despite the wide variety of detergents on the shelves of modern household chemical stores, in almost every house you can find quite impressive sizes of brown soap bars. However, even though this product has amazing cleaning and hygienic properties, few people know what laundry soap is made of. In this article, we will share with you the secrets of soap making and tell you about the properties of such a detergent that was popular a few years ago and is no less popular today.

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Household soap

Not every modern housewife can imagine how useful a bar of ordinary laundry soap can be. The secret of the excellent properties and useful qualities of this substance lies in the use of natural raw materials, which makes the soap also safe for human health.

Important! Due to its natural components, this product is hypoallergenic and does not cause skin irritation.

The washing properties, as well as the tendency to foam well and to wash, are given to such soap due to the alkalis used in the production.

Important! The more sodium hydroxide contains a soap bar, the lighter its shade and better soap properties. That is, when choosing which laundry soap is better, choose the one that has the lightest color.

In everyday life, laundry soap is perfect for the following tasks:

• this product does an excellent job even with the most difficult soiling when washing - both in hot and cold water;
• the disinfecting properties of this soap will allow you to forget about fungal diseases forever if it is used for foot hygiene and washing socks;
• so that the trousers retain the shape of the ironed arrow for as long as possible, from the wrong side of the textile product should be rubbed with a dry bar;
• laundry soap will help get rid of acne if you apply a cosmetic mask of foam soap and salt to your face;
• antiseptic properties allow it to treat wounds and cuts.

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Composition of laundry soap

Today, the production of brown soap bars is carried out in strict accordance with established standards. The following substances are included in the standard recipe for household soap:

• fatty acid;
• animal fats;
• water;
• sodium;
• alkaline substances.

Depending on the proportions of natural fatty acids contained in laundry soap, all types of detergent can be qualified according to the following categories:

• more than 70.5%;
• not less than 69%;
• about 64%.

Important! The higher the composition of fatty acids in soap, the better its washing and hygienic properties. And so the answer to the question of which laundry soap is best to acquire is obvious.

What did soap in old times be made of?

Our ancestors made this kind of detergent based on ash. The entire procedure for the production of laundry soap consisted of the following steps:

• Ash was formed in a natural way as a result of burning plants and wood.
• The substance was sifted through a sieve and wetted with water, after which a “slide” with lime in a proportion of 1 to 2 was created.
• In the process of chemical interaction of the components, the process of quenching and scattering of the substance into a powder occurs.
• After this process, the resulting mixture was abundantly watered and left in this state for a day.
• The lye of the highest concentration forms on top, which was poured into a special vessel, and the ash was re-doused with water, resulting in another weaker composition.
• After that, the lye was poured into the boiler and boiled until a soap base was obtained, which is still used in home soap making.

This was the simplest composition of laundry soap. How different is it today?

What are the features of modern laundry soap recipes?

In modern soap factories, an additional component, kaolin, is used in the manufacture of detergent. The secret is that white clay significantly softens the effect of alkalis on the skin. However, not all varieties of the detergent offered in stores can boast of the content of this substance.

Important! Also, most manufacturers add a variety of artificial colors and perfumes to the laundry soap, which is not very good for the consumer. However, the main ingredients and composition of laundry soap have remained unchanged for many centuries.

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Preparation of laundry soap at home

Today, soap making is a very popular activity and many housewives practice the creation of washing and personal care products with their own hands. This is not surprising, given that in this case you will really know what laundry soap is made of and how safe the product is for domestic use. There are several recipes for making laundry soap, which of course differs from GOST, but also has excellent properties.

Recipe number 1

This method of preparing soap is based on a hot technique, and the resulting detergent copes well with washing and is suitable for personal hygiene procedures. Here's what modern ladies make laundry soap:

• 75 grams of coconut oil;
• 100 grams of water;
• 175 grams of palm oil;
• 21 grams of 7% fat;
• 50 grams of corn oil;
• 45 grams of alkali NaOH.

Important! Sodium hydroxide or, as it is commonly called, caustic soda is a rather dangerous substance. Not only vapors of a given alkali can harm human health, but also improper storage of the substance in a solid state. Therefore, if you decide to cook the soap yourself, be sure to adhere to safety rules and use protective equipment.

Recipe number 2

You can also cook soap from the following ingredients:

• 80 g of castor oil - 10% of the oil composition;
• 640 g of ordinary sunflower oil - 80% of the composition of fats;
• 80 g of coconut oil - 10% of all the oils that make up the substance;
• 30% of the total water composition;
• 109 g of caustic soda.

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Stock footage

In this article, we told you about the methods for preparing laundry soap, as well as the main areas of its use. The need for its application, of course, is determined only by you. But now you know about all the positive qualities of this substance and probably decide to check how good it is in everyday life, while saving a fair amount of money.