How to Make lye Soap and Other Homemade Concoctions
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Getting Started

There are several things you need to know before you begin your soapmaking experience.
Lye which you can either make yourself from woodash, or purchase at a grocery store,is very irritating to the skin and can do severe damage to eyes and throats. Use extreme caution when using lye, aways keeping it away from children. You should use rubber gloves and saftey glasses when using lye. Follow the directions on the back of the lye box on how to handle lye. Red Devil is a popular brand of lye.
You can also make your own lye by pouring water over wood ashes and saving the biproduct--lye water. The lye water is then added to fat to make soap.
Although lard is the main ingredient in soap, one can successfully substitute other oils to use in its place. Possible substitutions for lard can be sunflower, canola, or just vegetable oil.(I have found that soap made from oil is greasier than that made of lard.) Lard can be purchased at a grocery store or a butcher shop.
The utensils you use in soapmaking should be saved for soapmaking use only and should not be use thereafter for food purposes. This goes for the kettle you cook the soap in too, although I have used my enamelware canning kettle to can in after using it for soapmaking...I gave it a good scrubbing, of course.
You must not use metal pans and utensils,like aluminum,iron,tin,or teflon for soap making. You can use cast iron (as in a kettle, if you are making it outside over a fire)or enamelware,stoneware,wood, glass or plastic.
Always add lye to cold water. Not vise-versa.Remember to stir slowly to avoid splashes. The water will start heating up once the lye is added, due to a chemical reaction.Afterwards, pour the lye solution into the fat, once again stirring slowly.
Chunks in your bar soap is caused by the separation of the lye and the lard. The chunks are the fat. If this happens, melt the mixture and add a cup of water at a time, until the mixture is thick and syrupy again.
You can make your own soap molds out of a rag-lined box or glass cake pans or casseroles. Simply slice the bars with a knife after the soap has cured for a week.

Soap Recipes
I know the trend right now is to add wonderful smelling scents and beautiful tints to homemade soaps. I have given up doing this because both the scents and the colors fade after a very short time, and to me it isn't worth the extra expense and effort. You are suppose to use essential oils when adding scent to your soap, but I cannot tell a diffence between it and any other scent.


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Boiled Soap No.1 For cooking outdoors in a kettle.
32 pounds lard

16 quarts soft water

8 cans lye

Boil 2 hours and then add 1 more gallon of water.Stir and remove fire from kettle and pour into molds.



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Boiled Soap No.2
2 gallons of soft water

1 can lye

5 pounds lard

Heat the fat. In a separate container, add lye to water. Add the lye water to the fat and cook for 2 hours.



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Cold Soap No. 1
6 lbs melted fat

1 can lye

2 1/2 pints water

Add lye to water and dissolve. When container which holds the lye water is warm, add the fat and stir until cool. Pour into a cloth lined box, or a box that has been dipped in cold water, and cover. Cut soap into squares when set.



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Cold Soap No.2
1 cup fat

1/2 cup cold water

1 1/2 T. lye

1 T. powdered borax (optional)

1 T. ammonia (optional)

Melt fat. In a separate container,add borax and ammonia to lye. Add lye( with the borax and ammonia in it) to water. Then, add the lye solution to the fat. Beat with an egg beater for 20 minutes.



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Cold Soap No.3
1 can lye

2 1/2 pints of cold water

5 1/2 pounds lard

Dissolve lye in water and set aside until temperature is less than 80 degrees. Melt the fat and set aside until temperature is 115 degrees. Very slowly pour dissolved lye into fat. Stir until it thickens, and pour into mold.



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Laundry Soap
11 cups water

1 cup borax (found at the grocery store in the detergent aisle.)

1 cup bleach

9 cups melted fat (around 95 degrees)

1- 13 oz. can lye

Using an 8 quart or larger pan, add water. Then very slowly add the lye to the water. Stir constantly until the lye is dissolved. Slowly pour the lye water into the fat. Stir and add the bleach, borax, and any scent if you so desire. Stir. Every half hour, stir the mixture. It will soon resemble cottage cheese. You can break up chunks with a potatoe masher. Leave overnight, and for the next several days, stir occasionally to dry the soap out. When almost dry, pour into a plastic-lined box and leave until completely dry (about 2 days.) To use,blend one cup of soap in the blender to a fine consistency. Keep in mind that this soap is low sudsing. The harder the water you have, the less suds you will have. Softening your water will produce more suds.