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Primitive Soap help?
Emennis:
I'm hoping to make old school style soap, has anyone on here ever tried with making lye water from hardwood ash? I have yet to find good ratios for water to ash and then to figure how much lard I need to add later, or how long the wood ash needs to soak in water to get the desired strength. I had talked once about it with DVShunter at Marshall and he mentioned something about floating an egg? Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.
Also hoping to eventually sell at events along with my jewelry ;) if it all goes well. I've made other soaps before, but would like to do old school style.
Pat B:
John(JWHalverson) sent me some deer tallow soap he made. get in touch with him.
TrevorM:
I've been wanting to try this, but so far haven't done it. Check out countryfarm-lifestyles they have a good write up on the process.
Outbackbob48:
Braintanners use lye for bucking at a ratio of enough hard wood ashes to float and egg to about the dia. of a quarter, 5 gallons of water just keep adding hardwood ash to strength you want, It will swell a deer hide in about 4 days if warm enough and hair and grain comes off easier, not sure if any of this helps in soap making, Lye at this ratio seems pretty strong to me for soap, Sorry could not be more helpful. :( Bob
JW_Halverson:
Before you get into making your own lye, do some reading up on the science of saponification. One of the reasons lye soap gets a bashing (and often well deserved) is that without some seriously decent chemistry lab equipment, you cannot measure the strength of your home made caustic. Not enough fat to the batch and you can burn yourself badly.
Make your first batch using store bought lye. A five dollar bill will garner enough lye to make enough soap to last a couple decades, even if you are a slob like me.
Also find your way onto several soap making forums, they are pretty helpful folks in those places. And google "lye calculator".
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