Making Homemade Soap with Mom

   I love doing things with my mother. I am over half a century old and still, I so enjoy my mother's company and love working beside her, regardless of what we are doing. Butchering chickens, canning, working in the garden, sewing or making soap.
   My mother has this soap thing all figured out. She knows what she is doing and it does not take her long at all. She saves all of her pork drippings and when she has collected enough, she makes a basic lye soap.    Lye soap is made of 3 basic ingredients. Lard, lye and water. My mother uses a cold soap method. It is very easy to make. Fragrances can be added.
    Lye soap is all natural. It is excellent for cutting grease after working in the garage, it can be used for bathing, shampooing hair, laundry. Some use it for catfish bait, ridding one of head lice, soothing sunburns, poison ivy, conditioning leather, as well as a stain remover. Lye soap can be softened in a little bit of water and used as a lotion for skin conditions.( I would recommend using distilled water).

Basic Cold Soap Method Recipe

6 lbs of melted fat (12 cups)
1 can of lye
2 ½ pints of water (5cups)

Carefully add lye to water and stir until dissolved.  The water will naturally heat up to what seems like a boiling point. Let the lye/water mixture cool down until warm. Add to melted fat and stir until cool. Pour into prepare mold (a cloth lined box or box dipped into cold water) and cover. Cut soap into squares when set (24 to 48 hours).

My mother always uses the same containers marked clearly for lye, as to not reuse them for other projects. Metal equipment should not be used.  A glass gallon jar is used for mixing the lye and water. A wooden spoon should be used for mixing. The melted fat is placed in a plastic bucket and the lye mixture added to it. I recommend this process be done out of doors so there is plenty of ventilation. For this recipe, my mother uses a Tupperware cake taker lid for the mold. The plastic lid is a perfect size and soap "pops" out of the mold easily. The soap will appear dark, however will lighten up to almost white as it sets. If the weather is cooler, a moving pad or blanket is used to wrap the mold, to prevent the process from cooling too quickly.

 



WARNING: Lye is highly caustic and will degrade organic tissue. Do not allow lye to touch your skin, breathe in the fumes or be taken internally in any way. It will cause chemical burns, permanent scarring or blindness. Do not ever combine lye with aluminum, magnesium, zinc, tin, chromium, brass or bronze. When using or making lye, always wear protective equipment including safety glasses and chemical resistant gloves, and have adequate ventilation.