Saponification: The Science (and Magic) Behind Real Soap

mysoaps
4 days ago
2 min read

Ever wonder how oils turn into soap?

The answer lies in a fascinating process with a fancy name: saponification.

At My Soaps we love geeking out about the details behind our handcrafted products—and saponification is where it all begins. It’s both a chemical reaction and a bit of everyday magic. And yes, it’s 100% natural.

What Is Saponification?

Saponification is the reaction that occurs when you combine fats or oils with a lye solution (sodium hydroxide mixed with water). When the mixture is blended just right, the oils and lye transform into two things:

Soap – for cleansing
Glycerin – for moisturizing

No soap = no saponification. This reaction is what actually creates true soap—not a detergent, not a melt-and-pour bar, but the real deal.

Why It Matters

The saponification process is at the heart of our cold process soaps. It’s what makes our bars:

Effective cleansers that don’t dry out your skin
Rich in natural glycerin, which draws moisture to your skin
Mild and skin-friendly, thanks to a carefully balanced formula

We test every recipe to ensure the lye fully reacts, leaving behind a safe, luxurious bar with no harsh residues—just creamy lather and goodness.

The Cure for Great Soap? Time.

Once saponification happens, the soap still needs time to cure. Over 4–6 weeks, water evaporates, the bar hardens, and the soap becomes milder and longer-lasting. This is why cold process soap isn’t just mixed and molded—it's carefully aged to perfection.

A Beautiful Balance of Art and Science

Behind every bar of our soap is a perfect harmony of chemistry and craftsmanship. Saponification might sound intimidating, but we see it as a creative process: one that turns raw ingredients into something simple, useful, and beautiful.