As is well-known, sodium hydroxide is strong alkaline which is harmful to the skin. But when saponified with oil and water, it is no longer sodium hydroxide, but soap and glycerin. The production of the handmade soap in life also needs sodium hydroxide. Many people may ask if handmade soap use sodium hydroxide, why it still call pure natural product? Is it safe to use? The following I will give you a brief introduction of the process of handmade soap production. Saponification is the reaction that the strong alkaline and ester react and generate alcohols and carboxylate. In the narrow sense, saponification is limited to the combination of grease and strong alkaline (sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide), resulting in the higher fatty acid sodium salt and glycerin, which is a step in the process of making soap, hence the name is from it. The saponification equation is as follows:
