Sodium Soaps vs Potassium Soaps as Latex Stabilisers

Manufacturer: We use both KOH and NaOH for making our fatty acid soaps as  stabilizers for our latex compounds. We are experiencing more problem with sodium soaps especially when there is a change in ambient temperatures. Why?

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): Simple. The reasons are as follows:

1) Sodium soaps are less soluble than potassium soaps.
2) Sodium soaps are harder than potassium soaps.
3) Sodium soaps tend to gel at lower temperatures although this phenomenon is reversible.

Therefore from technical point of view, there is no reason why you should use sodium hydroxide although it might be cheaper than potassium hydroxide.