Demystify the use of lye?

Here is the answer to your next soap making question:

I think that by the end of the course the use of lye will be clear to you, but in essence, lye - which is also known as Sodium Hydroxide or Caustic Soda - is a strong alkali (the opposite to an acid, but just as corrosive and potentially dangerous to handle).

Very briefly, to make soap, the required quantity of lye pearls (also supplied as beads, crystals or flakes) are slowly mixed into the correct amount of distilled water, the solution is then carefully stirred into the oils. The lye causes a chemical reaction in the oils which turn them to soap, the reaction is called saponification.

More soon.