Is glycerin a lotion or a soap?

Answer 1

You cannot make soap without lye. Even glycerin soap is not free of lye. The Lye is a naturally occurring chemical that can be produced using simple rainwater and wood or plant ash. Soap has been made with some form of lye for thousands of years and can be traced back as far as 2800 BC. Here is a website that gives a summary of the history of soap. http://www.cleaning101.com/cleaning/history/ The glycerin is the byproduct that is left over after the commercial soapmakers skim the soap off the top. What is left is then distilled and becomes what we know as glycerin, but the glycerin results from the original process to make the soap which invariably uses lye. The removal of the glycerin from the soap along with the addition of other, God knows what, chemicals added in the commercial soap is what is harmful or drying to your skin. Lye soap (there REALLY is no other kind)is not harmful to your skin IF the soap is properly made. If too much lye is used for the fat content, it may retain some of they lye's caustic properties. Some soapmakers (homemade soap, not commercial) will "super fat" their mixture to avoid any chance that the lye's caustic properties were not neutralized. If you worry about the "chemical" use of lye in your soap, don't be. Without lye, there is no soap. Water, Lye and Fat are the ingredients in any soap. The only alternative is detergent which is made with phosphates. Phosphates are carcenogenic and are known to cause cancer. Also, don't forget the potential for chemical harm attributable to glycerin either. Nitroglycerin is made from glycerin! When used and handled properly, lye is very safe. Here is another article about the soap making process. http://www.pioneerthinking.com/glycerin.html

Answer 2

Glycerin is neither a lotion nor a soap although it may be present in either a lotion or a soap.