The boss lady/building manager (who is super cool by the way), stopped me and was like "I saw this Chris Rock movie...something about sodium hydroxide...being bad for you...makes your scalp crazy and it exists in soap"?
First of of all Eleanor, relax. I know you saw Good Hair, so did I, and it was a great movie, no? Yes! Let's have a drink after I'm done with work. No? Ok.
Second - Sodium Hydroxide (aka lye)is crazy dangerous on its own, so DO Not farkle with it unless you know exactly what you are doing. In the case of soapmaking, a sodium hydroxide/H2o solution is combined with fats + oils at a specific temperature. The molecules do a song and dance similar to the snowball event at old Skate King...before long, saponification occurs, the initial dangerous properties of sodium hydroxide become neutralized, so there's nuthin to worry about because voila, tah-dow...you now have soap. (insert the sound of a record scratch). I walk away with the bravado of a bad ass breakdancer...and then I trip.
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