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please clarify this debate for non-chemist…
Does excess lye neutralize in soap suspension over time?
There’s a discussion in the handmade soap making community with little science to back the claim that if we make a lye heavy soap, PH greater than 10, that in time the lye will neutralize. Some old time soap makers say that after months the lye in the soap is safe. Some like me want evidence and to understand how this could be especially since whatever lye needed to convert the oils, butters and fats in a given recipe is utilized and the rest is then suspended in the soap. as soap cures water evaporates that lye crystallizes and appears on the surface as ash. Is it actually neutralized? Thank you.
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