I have been wanting to learn to make soap but a friend told me that lye is extremely toxic and should not be used when pregnant because the fumes could cause birth defects. I thought lye was a natural chemical made from wood ash and straw. Haven't women made soap for centuries? Is lye this dangerous?

-- Tiffani Cappello (cappello@alltel.net), February 07, 2001

Answers

I've made soap while pregnant and my babies are fine. I've never heard of it being detrimental during pregnancy. You don't want to breathe the fumes,but this is true at any time. Lye is definitely dangerous, you want to be very careful using it anytime. It is natural, but there are many natural things that are dangerous, such as some mushrooms that you should not even touch.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 07, 2001.

Lye isn't toxic, it is caustic, extremely. I doubt if it would cause birth defects, but you don't want to breathe it or get it on any part of your body.

I made soap when I was pregnant (my youngest is 6mos). You can have someone else mix the lye water for you, but if you haven't made soap before, you might just want to wait until after the baby arrives (keep the kids out of the kitchen, too).

Always remember when and if you do start to wear goggles and gloves. It also helps to wear something that buttons up that you don't have to pull over your head if you do splash lye or raw soap on yourself.

HTH, Christa

-- Christa Hunter (novahunt@usa.net), March 06, 2001.

I asked my doctor and she said it was fine.

-- Amelia Townsend (meowkat13@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.