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When you get down to the nitty-gritty of soap making, you only really need two components- fats and an alkali. All the other ingredients on our labels - such as goat's milk - just make a better bar!
Lye is a key ingredient in soap making and is listed on just about every bar you buy, whether you get one from us or your local Wal-Mart. But what is lye? Lye is a compound that, by itself, can actually cause a lot of issues, which is why it's also referred to as "caustic soda". But during the soap making process, the lye molecules bind to the fat molecules in through a process called emulsification. During this process, a product that we know and love is produced called soap! Once emulsification occurs, the soap then goes through a process called saponification which is when all the sodium hydroxide molecules find a fat molecule and become bonded creating soap. Without lye, all the soap would be is a bunch of oils that don't create any lather at all.
Similar to making a cake with eggs - you don't see yellow egg yolks floating around in your cake because the baker mixed them all together with the other ingredients. There is no lye remaining in a fully cured bar of soap.
Yes, lye is in ALL soap! Even the ones you get from the stores. If someone tells you there is no lye in their soap they are lye-ing! Liquid soap has a slightly different type of lye called Potassium Hydroxide but still acts as the alkali in the soap.
If made correctly, lye is not a risk at all in bar soap. Comment below with any questions you may have about lye!