Comments on: Homemade Lye From Wood Ash

By: marti

marti — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:27:00 +0000

No mention is made of the material your tools need to be made of. For instance, lye eats aluminum. So, watch out with your buckets, etc.

By: saramonster

saramonster — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:43:42 +0000

I LOVE this site!!!! It is so straighf forward and to the point and has so many helpful comments! We are working on self sufficiency at my house and it makes a world of diference to get great tips from real life experiences. Thanks so much! Now on to our first butchering of chickens! lol

By: Mrs.Dirty Boots

Mrs.Dirty Boots — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:24:10 +0000

Lot – Many thanks for the great information!

By: Lot

Lot — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:13:22 +0000

Janette
In the old days they used high numbers of the ingredients. So you need to figure your amounts out. The recipe calls for 12 pounds tallow and uses 4x 5 gallons lye water. It requires some time on a burner. You melt the tallow and add the lye. If a thick scum of grease forms on top, that means you need more lye. If the soap does not thicken and no scum appears you need more fat. You know when it gets done, when no more froth rises to the top. When large white bubbles pop to the surface remove from the heat and let cool. Test: with a clean knife lift some soap over a plate. If the soap turns whitish and falls in small pieces, there is too much lye in it. If the soap falls in long ropy pieces, it needs more lye. When you think it is really done, you put a blob of the soap on a plate. If it cools transparent with whitish streaks and specks, it is done. If it turns out greyish, it needs more lye. If it has a grey skin over the top too much lye. Hope this helps you some way.

By: Mrs.Dirty Boots

Mrs.Dirty Boots — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 07:24:05 +0000

I wouldn’t want to eat lye – VERY bad!

By: l taylor

l taylor — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:53:13 +0000

Does this lye work with making hominy also?

By: Starting the Olive Harvest | A Self Sufficient Life

Starting the Olive Harvest | A Self Sufficient Life — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 12:40:19 +0000

[...] time. Plus its quite nice to know we’re not eating olives that have been soaked in caustic lye like so many are. Even better is the even more fruity than usual olive oil left in the jars that [...]

By: Mrs.Dirty Boots

Mrs.Dirty Boots — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:03:42 +0000

Janette,

The method and ingredients for homemade soap may be found here http://www.aselfsufficientlife.com/homemade-soap.html

By: janette dym

janette dym — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 01:21:15 +0000

how much homemade lye is used in oil to make the soap

oil=?

homemade lye +?

do you need to heat the oil and the lye to temperature? could some one please tell me I have made homemade wood lye but i need the total amount thanks !

By: gela

gela — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:54:08 +0000

i burn wood all winter to heat my home..i put the ashes mostly on my garden.. we have for generations… the rain goes thru these endlessly.. at what point.. rainy day can i figure this has turned into lye on the land ?? eventually the rain will delute the lye… my great grandparents had their garden under the ashes & lived into their 90′s & so on thru the times..& the garden grows like anyone elses normally.