[0rvilleJenkenson]

Hello everyone,

I am a soapmaker.  As you all know, in order to make soap, one has to combine dissolved lye (NaOH) with fats and/or oils.

My concern is that the various oils like coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, bacon grease, castor oil, avocado oil may have preservatives, conditioners, coloring, and other additives.   If lye gets in contact with food additives such as these, is anything dangerous or toxic produced ?

Thanks for your time.

[billnotgatez]

@0rvilleJenkenson
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[Enthalpy]

Hi 0rvilleJenkenson,

Maybe your question lacks information to get answers. "Preservatives, conditioners, coloring, and other additives" is quite general, and NaOH reacts with many compounds, so telling whether some reaction products are dangerous is impossible.

Would you know more precisely what additives you expect in your oils? And if possible the amount, since a dose small enough makes deleterious compounds acceptable.

[0rvilleJenkenson]

Sorry about that.

Here are the additives (in bacon and bacon grease)

1. sodium phosphates
2. sodium ascorbate
3. sodium nitrite
4. sodium erythorbate
5. corn syrup

[Enthalpy]

Wait for the chemists' opinion, but my gut feeling is that any compound called "sodium ...ate" will not react at all with sodium hydroxide.