Soap Making
Both sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide are used in soap making. Sodium hydroxide is often used to make solid soap while potassium hydroxide is used to make liquid soap. Soaps made of potassium hydroxide are softer and can more easily be dissolved in water than sodium hydroxide soaps.
When soap making, sodium hydroxide cannot be substituted with potassium hydroxide and vice versa because soap making recipes will have different quantity requirements for these two chemicals depending on the kind of soap being manufactured. In addition, the quantities required for soap saponification differ when using caustic soda and hydrated potash.
Read more about this topic: Lye
Famous quotes containing the words soap and/or making:
“To know whether you are enjoying a piece of music or not you must see whether you find yourself looking at the advertisements of Pears’ soap at the end of the libretto.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. And also the only real tragedy in life is being used by personally minded men for purposes which you recognize to be base.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)