# How To Make Lye From Ashes?



## Pam in KY

I would like to make some lye soap from scratch, the way our granny or great-granny used to make it, with lye made from ashes. I have found several YouTube videos on the subject and while I commend these folks for wanting to spread the knowledge, they aren't very thorough with their measurements and/or directions. (1/4 of their bucket may not be the same amount as 1/4 of MY bucket...see what I mean?) Lye is SERIOUS stuff and I don't want to be guessing my way through it. Yes, I could just go out & buy some lye, but would like to be able to brag that I made 100% home made soap.


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## MullersLaneFarm

Pam,
As a person who has made potash (lye from wood ashes) for a few years I will *not* recommend using this method if you want to a) sell to the public or b) use if for cleaning anything but a human body.

Oh, there are exceptions. Are you a chemist that has a lab where you can analyze the concentration of the KOH produced from the wood ashes, (or the NaOH if you add salt to the mixture)????

If not, then please buy 100% Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) for bar soap or KOH for a liquid soap or both for a Cream Soap.

If you really want to make potash and use it, please use it to lye flint corn (commonly used for animal feed) into hominy (and hominy grits).

You only want to use ashes from hardwoods, with Ash being the best wood to use. Don't bother with softwoods (like pine). You're just wasting your time.

WHY?? Because soap making is an exact chemical reaction combining fatty acids with a base creating a salt (i.e. soap). Commercial lye has been around for centuries, the past 100 years it has been available for consumer use. Before that, if a family could not afford store bought soap and had to make their own, it was by guess and by golly. 

Most of yesterday's soap made from potash was stored in a pannikan (sp?), a cup used to hold soft soap. If salt was added (slightly changing the chemical composition from KOH to NaOH), then a layer of hard soap would form on top of the soap kettle. 

Please, please, please Ask questions on this forum, visit the Lye Calculator at Soapcalc.net. see my soapmaking page. But please don't use potash for making soap!


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## lathermaker

Well said Cyndi.


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## Wisconsin Ann

And here I come AGAIN to tell you that for centuries people have made soap ONLY using lye made from ashes. Soapmaking is NOT hard to do. You do not have to have EXACTLY this temperature. (research hot process) and it's not a "buy guess or by golly" craft.

There are quite a few sites giving you a *process for leeching* lye out of wood ash. One of the most prominent is Journey to Forever It has detailed plans and discussions on how to do it, how to tell the PH (there are very simple ph papers out there that get to the 1/10 point, as well as pricier PH meters), and how to make soap as well as biodiesel. 

You can make hard soap. You can make soft soap. You can make shampoo. I do it all the time using Potassium hydroxide (KOH). My mother did it. My grandmother did it. The colonists did it. 

Sodium Hydroxide was FIRST created in 1807 in the laboratory. It was not available for consumer use until around 1900. Before that, all soap that relied on lye was made with Potassium hydroxide (KOH)(from wood ash)

My soap is an excellent cleaner...very soft on the hands, can be fragranced or super fats added...just like any other home made soap. It's not hard to do. Leeching wood ash does have to follow common sense safety. But millions of people do it. 

In the past soap makers knew their craft just like any other craftsman. They knew how much of a feather should be eaten by the lye for a particular type of fat. They knew how much of the egg should be floating above water line. They taught that to their children or apprentices....just like my grandmother and mother taught me. 

If working on it alone worries you, find someone in the area that will help you. Check out biodiesel ppl, historic re-enactors, old time farmers, history museums will often have real world resources to draw on, too.

eta: I decided to post because this is a forum for asking questions in a homesteading forum. A place where people seek answers for a variety of reason, but quite often because they want to recapture something from the past. and to simply DISMISS a craft that has been around since before Rome is a disservice to history.


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## AngieM2

Pam in KY said:


> I would like to make some lye soap from scratch, the way our granny or great-granny used to make it, with lye made from ashes. I have found several YouTube videos on the subject and while I commend these folks for wanting to spread the knowledge, they aren't very thorough with their measurements and/or directions. (1/4 of their bucket may not be the same amount as 1/4 of MY bucket...see what I mean?) Lye is SERIOUS stuff and I don't want to be guessing my way through it. Yes, I could just go out & buy some lye, but would like to be able to brag that I made 100% home made soap.


Well Pam - seems one wants to tell you NOT to do what you've asked for help on, and another sent you information.

Guess you can take your pick.

Lordy - who knew soap making would have folks with such opposite ways of responding to a how to, help post.

Angie


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## Bill_the_Baker

Agreed, there are way too many conflicting views on soap making and leeching and every other topic in that are, all i have to say is whether your working with NaOH or KOH, BE CAREFUL! ive had this stuff on me several times and believe me, it doesnt feel good.


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## Karen

I'm going to deal with this just like I did the great canning debates in the canning forum: which is agree to allow each other the grace to do as they please without making a big issue over differences and techniques (no matter how full of information, documentation, or warnings we may feel the need to post to the contary). 

It's okay to issue a word of warning (such as to simply say, "If you're going to sell your soap, you may wish to check into some factors using wood ash"), but then leave it simply at that one line. The poster then can either look up that information independently or ask for further information about the warning. 

If the poster does ask for more warning information, then opposing views can be made by both sides; however, there will be no debating, no snippy comments, and everyone will post in a friendly and helpful manner and simply agree to disagree.

If we can't agree to disagree on techniques, then I'll do just as I did in the canning forum. I'll start eliminating the snippiness by issuing 2 warnings. After that, there will be no further warnings and the offenders will be banned from the entire Homemaking Forums. 

I don't expect us all to agree, but I do expect us to give *friendly* advise when asked for it. :thumb:


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## Pam in KY

I didn't mean to stir up such a controversy, but it's good to know people are looking out for one another.

In my case, I don't plan on selling the soap, but may give a couple bars for Christmas presents, etc. I would like to make potash for the sake of bringing back an olde world craft. My granny was a farmer's wife who raised a dozen kids on their farm. NOTHING went to waste and making lye soap was a necessity. Not only that, but the small hobby farm we bought had belonged to a farming couple that lived well into their 90's and according to the stories I've heard from neighbors, they would make their own potash and render lard out in the side yard...and got some cracklin out of the deal too. :happy: 

I may only make potash/soap one time, but I would like to at least try it and hope that my Granny Mary and Rufus & Francis will be watching me from heaven and nodding their heads with approval.

Thank you for the helpful link Wis Ann. They do go into more specific details re: measurements, but since those large barrels cost the earth these days, I'm wondering if I can get enough potash using a 5 ga plastic bucket instead? (assuming I only have to fill with oak ash one time) 

Maybe I'm using the wrong name in my internet search, but where does one buy one of those pH/litmus kits? (and do they have a shelf life?) I'm thinking the 'floating egg' test would work since I just know Granny didn't use litmus paper. lol


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## Wisconsin Ann

litmus paper is available from any place that sells science stuff..often for kids even. It keeps as long as you keep it dry. (usually comes in little waterproof vials...great numbers of papers in a vial). If you are near a highschool, you could probably just drop in and talk to the science teacher and ask if you could maybe borrow a couple, or where he/she gets the litmus. (it's available online in numerous spots. )

Do be careful if you decide to make the KoH. Like NaoH it's very caustic and will burn you VERY quickly. what I like about using crafts from the past is I'm not relying on purchasing anything. 

The biodiesel ppl need to make it in large quantities at once because they need so much of it to turn oil into usable fuel. Just reduce the amounts of ash/water and watch the PH. 

The caution about using KoH in soaps you sell probably comes from the idea that you aren't controlling the PH. :shrug: I don't know any other reason why you couldn't sell your soap. Every batch I make I test before using on myself to make sure it's "done". However, with the hot process I've never had a problem. The soap is ready to use as soon as it cools. You just need to make sure that all the lye and all the oils are ...consumed, I suppose is a good word for it. 

Do your research. Write everything down. Be sure to use good safety procedures and have NO distractions (like little kids or dogs running around). Good luck with your endeavors. 

I still remember my grandmother's soap. Always a lovely white, hard bar. She'd grate it fine for the laundry, left it in a bowl of water to make shampoo, and a bar on the sink for the grimy hands of the mechanic in the family. Lard was her fat of choice.


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## Karen

Pam in KY said:


> I didn't mean to stir up such a controversy...


You didn't do anything at all wrong, it's been an ongoing thing.


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## Pam in KY

Wisconsin Ann said:


> I still remember my grandmother's soap. Always a lovely white, hard bar. She'd grate it fine for the laundry, left it in a bowl of water to make shampoo, and a bar on the sink for the grimy hands of the mechanic in the family. Lard was her fat of choice.


That's another use that occurred to me - replacing the Fels-Naptha in my home made laundry soap. Looking to save any way I can these days. 



Wisconsin Ann said:


> Do your research. Write everything down. Be sure to use good safety procedures and have NO distractions (like little kids or dogs running around). Good luck with your endeavors.


Oh boy - I've got a curious pup that thinks everything I do revolves around food. Guess I can distract him with a nice bone from the butcher. :icecream:

Looks like I'm going to have to wait for cold weather though before I can try making my lye soap - since my reliable hubby cleaned the wood stove out months ago. That's ok, I don't handle summer temps very well.

Thanks again for your help! :thumb:


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## MullersLaneFarm

Pam in KY said:


> I would like to make potash for the sake of bringing back an olde world craft. My granny was a farmer's wife who raised a dozen kids on their farm. NOTHING went to waste and making lye soap was a necessity.


No worries, Pam. I've made soap using commercial NaOH & KOH and have made soap using potash from Oak & Ash ashes & lard rendered from our own hogs over 10 years ago.

The link Deb gave is one of the better ones at describing the 'how to make potash' but fails to tell you how much lard you need to how much lye solution. Perhaps Deb can fill in the blanks with this? 

It's been way too long ago for me.



> I'm wondering if I can get enough potash using a 5 ga plastic bucket instead?


Yes



> I'm thinking the 'floating egg' test would work since I just know Granny didn't use litmus paper. lol


I trust the floating egg over the 'melting' feather. I liked my potash solution strong enough to have a quarter size portion of the egg above the 'water' line. Make sure you use a fresh, fresh egg.



> and it's not a "buy guess or by golly" craft.


Even on the Journey to Forever site, they do not give exact amounts for oils and lye solution. Each batch of soap has to be 'proved' (i.e. my reference to "by guess or by golly"). Making soap using potash isn't an exact science like making soap using commercial NaOH. I don't need to 'prove' each soap batch I make using commercial lye.

I'm certainly not dismissing making soap using potash. I certainly understand wanting to do it this way. It is how I made soap for a few years until I started making soap with commercial lye in 1999. 

As for selling soap made with potash to the public, as with any soap or body product, make sure you have liability insurance just in case. This is a litigious society out there.



> seems one wants to tell you NOT to do what you've asked for help on


Please read my first post. There *is* good information about making potash in my post ... see paragraphs 4 & 5.


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## Pam in KY

MullersLaneFarm said:


> The link Deb gave is one of the better ones at describing the 'how to make potash' but fails to tell you how much lard you need to how much lye solution. Perhaps Deb can fill in the blanks with this?


Now that you mention it... :teehee: 

I figure I've got about 2.5 months before I get any oak ashes from our wood stove, so we have at least that long to find the exact measurements. Who knows, I may come down with a case of the lazies and never get around to it 'til March.


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## Wisconsin Ann

Okay. Let me answer a few of the implied things here. I don't test and prove,etc. ...I look at them when I've used a new oil, or different recipe. Perhaps I wasn't clear enoughon that.

If you use PH testing, you're as safe as using any commercially, chemically man made lye. When you use something like RedDevil, etc., you have to be exact with measurements in order to get the correct strength. Period. When you leech wood ash, you use the PH testing to get the exact PH, the same way you'd use the measurements with the chemically made lye. It's all about dilution. Not strong enough, leech more. Too strong, use more water. simple....it's the same thing. You can make a mistake with either.

so. Go to a soap calculator. Look at their instructions. You will see on most of them a selection for NaOH, or for KOH. They will also tell you the correct PH/dilution. 

There is nothing wrong with soap made from either type of lye. No one is going to sue you because you used KOH or NaOH. They'll sue you because you gave them caustic soap. It's the end product. If you produce good soap...no problem.


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## MullersLaneFarm

What pH are you looking for when you test your soaps, Ann? I looked over the Journey to Forever Traditional Soapmaking Page and didn't see this answered.



> You will see on most of them a selection for NaOH, or for KOH. They will also tell you the correct PH/dilution.


Please, help me understand your meaning of the correct pH/dilution. I want to understand this process using potash better, in case one day I can no longer get commercial NaOH.

Please bare with me as I 'think out loud' through this. (oh joy, a view into the inner workings of my thought process :yawn Hopefully, this will help you see where I am so you can enlighten me. 

I do understand how SoapCalc calculates the amount of NaOH/KOH needed for the oils chosen and how each of the liquid amounts are calculated on SoapCalc as well as how the attributes of the finished soap are calculated. (Ken turned my Excel worksheet with all these calculations into the php format known as SoapCalc) 

The recommended liquid amount for NaOH on Soap Calc is only a recommendation of how much liquid to use to dissolve the NaOH. The default on SoapCalc and a number of other lye calculators (such as MMS is 38% of the total amount of oil (noted on SoapCalc as _"water as % of oils"_. It has nothing to do with the amount of NaOH used.

_"Lye Concentration"_ is calculating the amount of water used based on the amount of lye used. There is no default number for this, although based on the default water as 38% of oils, lye concentration usually falls between 25% - 27%. Using 25% lye concentration, this means your lye solution is 75% water and 25% NaOH . 

Using commercial lye (and making my lye solution using lye & frozen milk), I use about a 32% lye concentration (68% milk to 32% lye).

Here's the part I don't understand about the instructions on Journey to Forever.


> To test the strength of the lye you need a saturated solution of salt. Dissolve chemical-free salt in a pint of water until no more salt will dissolve. Take a stick and put a small weight on the end of it and float it in a pint of the salty water. The weight will sink to the bottom, while the top of the stick will float. Make a mark on the stick where it reaches the water line. Then float the stick and weight in a pint of lye. The mark on the stick will probably be above the water mark of the lye. If so, stir in some more rainwater until the mark on the stick is in exactly the same place it was in the salt water. You now have the correct distillation of lye for making soap.


This is where I get stuck. I understand the process of what they are doing, but I don't understand their definition of the "correct distillation of lye for making soap". Just what is the lye concentration of this solution? (water/lye) 75/25? 50/50? 25/75?

On lye calculators that ask for liquid lye solution, such as MMS, or on SoapCalc, you need to know this to properly calculate how much of the solution is needed for your recipe.

Say you're making soap using 5 lb of lard with a 5% superfat and your lye concentration is *75/25 (water/lye)*, you would use *42.917 oz* of this lye solution to make a 5% superfatted soap.

Okay, what if the water/lye is* 50/50*? You would only use* 21.428 oz *of the solution.

And if the water/lye is *25/75*, only *14.305 oz* is needed.

See my quandry? If I don't know the concentration of the potash, how can I accurately calculate how much of the lye solution to use for the amount of oils I'm using??

If you could clear this up for me, I'd sure appreciate it! :goodjob:

eta:
When I made soap from potash, I was never able to get a white soap. Heck, I was lucky to get enough hard soap skimmed off the top  Maybe I didn't add enough salt? :shrug: How do you do it?


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## tentance

I should think that as long as you had the appropriate pH then there might be a way to use hot process to "boil off" additional water, as it probably wouldn't reach the "mashed potato" state if the soap had too much excess water. did the settlers we are speaking of use hot process with their leached ashes and lard?
Wikipedia says the pH of potassium hydroxide is 13.5. I think wikipedia says the pH of sodium hydroxide is 13. if the ashes had a pH of 13.5 and passed the egg floating test, then it would just be a matter of trying to figure out how much oils to use with how much ashwater. And extra clean water shouldn't be a problem.


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## Terri

There is a demonstration by a historian on this film, just past 24 minutes.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUKIrO-5nV4[/ame]


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## MullersLaneFarm

tentance said:


> then it would just be a matter of trying to figure out how much oils to use with how much ashwater. And extra clean water shouldn't be a problem.


And there in lies the rub. Unless you can determine just how strong the potash is, you do not know how much oil to use. The excess water in the potash isn't a problem ... it is using too much or too little oil for the strength of the potash. Potash is neither KOH nor NaOH and can vary with strength depending on what ashes are used, how many times you have ran the potash water through the ashes, et al.


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## K.B.

the pH of the KOH solution will depend on the strength (normality) of the solution. if you have a sensitive method of determining the pH (i.e. litmus paper with the proper range), you can calculate the normality.


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## MullersLaneFarm

That's the easy part ... the hard part is determining the proper SAP value for the oils used based on the normality of the potash.


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## K.B.

Once you have the normality, you can convert the information to a percent solution. 

There seemed to be some confusion in the thread regarding pH vs concentration.


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## MullersLaneFarm

So ... just how much potash would it take to convert 1 ounce of Olive oil to soap? 

I know it would take 3.5 grams of NaOH and 5.32 grams of KOH ... but how much potash??


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## K.B.

The solution that results from the methods described above in this thread will provide a solution that is variable in strength. You will need to evaluate the prepared solution, such as by a method already described, to calculate the strength. 

I am not trying to provide you with a stock recipe, just to help in understanding some of the terms and measurements.


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## tentance

actually the strength is the easiest part to calculate, because the strength of your ash solution can be measured by the pH value - 13.5 for potassium hydroxide range, for example. i'm more interested in the answer to this: 


> just how much potash would it take to convert 1 ounce of Olive oil to soap?
> I know it would take 3.5 grams of NaOH and 5.32 grams of KOH ... but how much potash??


because it would not be difficult to make the potash solution up to the range of 13 to 13.5. if anyone knows the answer...


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## NostalgicGranny

I thought pot ash only made soft soaps??? Has anyone actually made a hard soap with it?


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## viper125

Wow I guess chickens aren't the only biddy's on here. LOL! Homesteading isn't any thing to do with science or what others opinions are. I would tell you if i know. I prefer not to judge or be judged. Including what i should or shouldn't do. I suggest goggle it will tell you with out any other unneeded lectures. Homesteading is about being self sufficient.True today many things are considered not good. For so many different reasons. And Im sure many on here are doing other things some one don't agree with. Press on only you know whats right for you.... other then God.


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## gunsmithgirl

This is an interesting thread. I have wanted to try making lye for soap, but I am also confused about how do you know how much lye to use with your oils. Commercial lye gives us reliability to figure sap values and makes it so much easier. I think that determining how strong your lye is would be a skill developed over time and I'm sure that with a whole lot of trail and error someone could figure it out enough to get consistent results.


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## NostalgicGranny

viper125 said:


> Wow I guess chickens aren't the only biddy's on here. LOL! Homesteading isn't any thing to do with science or what others opinions are. I would tell you if i know. I prefer not to judge or be judged. Including what i should or shouldn't do. I suggest goggle it will tell you with out any other unneeded lectures. Homesteading is about being self sufficient.True today many things are considered not good. For so many different reasons. And Im sure many on here are doing other things some one don't agree with. Press on only you know whats right for you.... other then God.


I wasn't passing judgement. Just wondering because I thought potash only made soft soaps.


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## MullersLaneFarm

Not to worry, NG. Some folks don't seem to understand that soap making IS an exact science whether you are in town or out in t by e country.

I AM judgmental when it comes to soap ... too much lye, in the form of NaOH, KOH, or Potash, used in the final form of soap is very dangerous.


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## MullersLaneFarm

*If* too much lye exists in final form of soap, it can be dangerous. Whn responding to questions about soap making, I * will * be exact and judgemental so folks are not permanently hurt


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## JPKeenan007

Pam in KY said:


> I would like to make some lye soap from scratch, the way our granny or great-granny used to make it, with lye made from ashes. I have found several YouTube videos on the subject and while I commend these folks for wanting to spread the knowledge, they aren't very thorough with their measurements and/or directions. (1/4 of their bucket may not be the same amount as 1/4 of MY bucket...see what I mean?) Lye is SERIOUS stuff and I don't want to be guessing my way through it. Yes, I could just go out & buy some lye, but would like to be able to brag that I made 100% home made soap.


Granny's gone and so is her box of ashes for making lye. Here's a modern technique to make high quality lye (Sodium Hydroxide) at home for any number of reasons, including soap making.

Might not be what you are looking for, the old fashioned way, but might be a way to try out. Needless to say with any chemical (and chemical reaction) always make sure you have the right safety equipment. Doing something from scratch isn't any good if you burn out your lungs, do blind, or blow yourself up.

Either this way or the wood ash way you should pick up something to test the pH.


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## tentance

Keenan, 
cool instructable. i know that would be a technique to try out if i were going to make sodium hydroxide from scratch for non-vintage recipe purposes 

Lady Muller, 
I have to agree with you that the journey to forever website is extremely vague with their numbers, and give no recipes to speak of that I could find. Also, I love your website.
The traditional technique of floating eggs/potatoes in lye water will let a person know they have achieved the appropriate specific gravity, not really the appropriate strength for saponification. However, we can assume the chicken feather destruction test to be an accurate-ish determinant of lye strength in the absence of a pH test.
After looking into it quite a bit, i think we should experiment with it as much as possible. I don't see why the recipes using potassium hydroxide would not work. The soap could be cooked hot process style with a lot of salt added at the end for firmer bars. tallow and lard are pretty cheap, right? ashes are free? so it would just mostly be an investment in time. This thread has inspired me to get a pH tester if they aren't too expensive next time I'm at the store, and start saving all the ashes from the fire pit. 
I found a couple recipes online for using ash lye water to make soap...



> Put 115 ml (1/2 cup) of lye water in the kettle for every 230 ml (1 cup) of fats or oils.


 From http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/vita/soapmake/en/soapmake.htm



> If your lye water will float an egg with only a quarter size showing, boil down 1 gallon of lye water to 3/8 cup. Use 2 cup fats with 3/4 c. concentrated lye water


 From a poster discussing grandpappy's recipe, which I am unable to locate.



> 3.04 oz lye water, 6.67 oz. water, 16 oz. of fat


 From a video from youtube about How to Make Lye Soap [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE-gJHpUuQE[/ame]

I made some crock pot hot process salt spa soap (sodium hydroxide) for the family for the holidays along with the hibiscus and lemongrass. the salt soap is by far my favorite. I think the salt (about 95% of the oil weight) is really good for killing germs, because my skin is a bit nicer now. even with about 18% superfatted, it still is drying on the skin, but most soap is, even the crappy commercial stuff. When i get all the supplies together (won't be soon as we hardly ever use the fire pit) I will definitely be trying to make crock pot hot process salt ash lye soap.

http://oldescrubland.blogspot.com/2013/12/crock-pot-hot-process-salt-soap-bar.html


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## MullersLaneFarm

tentance,
Would _love _to hear about your experiments. I experimented with it when I first started making soap 15 years ago.


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## JPKeenan007

tentance said:


> Keenan,
> cool instructable. i know that would be a technique to try out if i were going to make sodium hydroxide from scratch for non-vintage recipe purposes


I really like the instructibles web site, DIY for just about everything you can think of.


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## StarofHearts

OMG LOVE this!!! This is perfect for those preppers who want to be totally self sufficient! <3


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## engblom

I will write a few words here as some here might think to make a cold process soap from own made lye. I make a lot of cold process soap, but I would never make a cold process soap from own made lye. Why? Because you need to have the exact (using gram, not ounces) amount of lye or you might end up with a lye heavy soap.

However, it is possible to make really mild and good soap using own made lye. You need to use older methods.

First you make sure you have enough of lye (preferable slighly excess). There are several methods for determing the concentration. Some will dissolve a feather, some will see how the egg floats, some will use pH paper. All this will give a very rough estimate and not exact enough for cold process soaps. I recommend each one trying this to first measure the pH of a pure KOH solution of right concentration so you have a good reference. Also I recommed everybody to spend some time with soapcalc.net in order to figure out how much lye solution is needed for a certain kind of fat.

Okay, so now you have your lye solution and a slight excess of lye. Now you proceed in making a soap as you would do with pure lab lye solution. What you get is a soap with 0% super-fat and lye heavy. 

To this soap you add a lot of water, the more the better. Everything should be dissolved. It should be really runny, nothing similar to liquid soap. Just simply soapy water. The excess lye will get solved into this water. Saturate the solution with salt and soap will float up to the surface leaving almost all lye left in the brine. Strain well. Now you have a soap that is still containing some lye, but very weakly. This soap fits for laundry. As salt was expensive in the past, many stopped here and had a harsh soap.

Now you repeat the previous step by adding fresh water again, and then salt out the soap. After this you have even less lye left in the soap. Repeat a third time. This time your soap is clean of lye.

This product you could gently rinse with fresh water if you want to get more salt out of it. This is optional. Extra salt will give milder soap, but less lather.

After this I put the soap into a textile bag into the laundry machine and centrifuge at highest speed to get as much of the brine residues out as possible. 

To the resulting soap you could add fragrance, or superfat if you want. Just put everything into a blender and mix in what you want for faster mixing. This is optional. Even if you do not superfat, the remaining salt will make the soap milder than what it would have been from a cold process.

After this you squeeze bars with a suitable mold. I am using a PVC pipe and some pistons made out of wood. The soap is at this point stable enough to dry on its own outside of the mold. In the past when they had no centrifuge, the soap had to dry a long time in the mold.

This kind of soap would be really dangerous without the washing and salting out procedure. But if you do all the washing and salting out you get a very safe soap.


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## creativetracy

I'm with Pam in KY. I want to be able to learn an old skill that has been forgotten and know that I can do it if I had to. Its not that I would do it this way all the time but I just want to do it once. So, here is where I'm at. I followed directions from the Frontier Freedom website: http://www.frontierfreedom.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=57

I have leached the lye water through the ashes twice now and I have put a chicken feather in the water. It isn't dissolving. So, I left the feather in for 2 days now and it hasn't dissolved! That tells me the lye water still isn't strong enough and I think it has to do with the ashes I used. Tell me if I'm wrong.

Can soft wood ashes be used at all? Can I still make it work if I keep boiling the lye water and putting it through to be leached again?

All we have to burn in this area is Pine, Juniper and a little Oak. We mostly have Pine. So, what can I do to make this lye water work? I want to stick with as original to the old fashioned way as possible.

I'm sorry if I missed this answer in the posts along the way. I tried reading through a lot of them but missed a lot. Thank you.


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## NostalgicGranny

I am pretty sure I read that pine can not be used. It's been a while since I have read up on it but I believe soft woods are unsuitable.


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## Skandi

I see it's an old thread, but if you want to find litmus paper, try a fishshop. they carry it, I'm not sure if it will go that far up. You would have to read the lable

PS also posting so I track this.. I might have a go at soap making at some point. Though buying ingredients here would be hard.


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## MullersLaneFarm

You need hardwood ashes.

You can keep boiling it down to try to increase the potency of the potash. I've never successfully created a strong enough potash using soft wood ashes.


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## creativetracy

MullersLaneFarm said:


> You need hardwood ashes.
> 
> You can keep boiling it down to try to increase the potency of the potash. I've never successfully created a strong enough potash using soft wood ashes.


Thank you. I was afraid of that. Should I even waste my time in boiling it again and re-leaching it or should I dump it and start over with hardwood ash, which is very limited right now. Or, can I start over with hardwood ash and put the existing lye water into the ash bucket along with some fresh rainwater? Or will the existing lye water potentially ruin the hardwood ashes? Thanks.


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## MullersLaneFarm

I don't think the potash you have now from softwood would hurt anything if used as the water in your hardwood ashes


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