Soap:Chemical Aspects

[Aldebaran]

I believe it is essential to try to understand how a chemical soap ache:
How does soap
The soaps are generally sodium salts of carboxylic acids with long chain. In simpler terms, a molecule of soap is rather long and one side sticks very well to water and clings well to the other fatty substances, thanks to the fact that long can separate the fat from the water and then to emulsify dirt and remove it:

(End that attaches to fat): CH3-(CH2) n-COONa +: (water soluble end)


In water, the soap molecules attach themselves to dirt surrounding it and allowing its removal.

Chemical saponification
The saponification is essentially a hydrolysis of a fat with a base that results in an alcohol and salt on acid. In our case one starts with a grease and whatever you do react with caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), the result is perlappunto an alcohol (glycerine or glycerol more properly, all fats are esters derived from glycerin) and a salt sodium (the soap itself).


Then using this reaction produces a soap that also contains glycerin, a substance that has beneficial effects on the skin.