Will this work for soap?

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landj

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So a few years back I bought lye, and it was labeled Sodium Carbonate Anhydrous (soda ash). Am I going to be able to use this for soap? Thanks for the help.
 
Sodium Carbonate or soda ash cannot be used to make soap. Sometimes the soap will actually makes soda ash when the lye inside react with carbon dioxide in the air.
You will need sodium hydroxide to make solid soap. You may find it in hardware stores as drain cleaner.
 
Sodium carbonate can be used to make soap, but you cannot use the normal soapmaking methods we normally use -- hot process and cold process.

Anstarx's advice is essentially correct. You really do need NaOH not Na2CO3 for soap making.
 
Thanks for clearing that problem up. I think I can use 1/4 cup in the laundry. :)
 
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