Let's dispel the mystery and myths about Lye Soap. Soapmaking has been a part of human history for the past 2000 years. It's nothing more than a mixture of fats or oils with lye and water. Once people made the connection between bacteria and disease and figured out that soap killed bacteria, cleanliness became much more important.
Today, if we want to make a batch of homemade soap, we buy lye already to go in flaked form between 94-98 % Sodium Hydroxide. I use a "Lye Calculator" when formulating soap recipes to be completely sure that all the lye is incorporated into the specific type of oils and fats I've chosen, with 5 % superfatting. If using proper skin and eye protection, there is little chance of danger to the soap-maker and no caustic effects at all in the finished product.
This was not always the case in the past. It was much more difficult to regulate how strong the lye was. To make the lye, ashes from hardwood trees were placed into a barrel with a small hole at the bottom for the water to leach through. Clean rocks were put into the bottom of the barrel by the hole, then generous layers of straw, hay, or grass were added. Last of all, ashes were dumped into the barrel until the container was full. Then, soft rain water was poured into the barrel until it started to run from the tap. The hole was then plugged and left to be for several days. After three days, the hole was unplugged and the trickle of lye water which emerged was collected in a non-metal container.
To make sure their lye concentration was strong enough, an egg or potato was placed in it. If it floated enough that an area the size of a quarter was exposed on the surface, the lye was about right for soap making. If the egg dropped to the bottom, the entire batch of lye water had to make the rounds through the barrel once more.
This wasn't as exact a science as the purchased lye, calculators, & recipes that we have today. If their homemade lye wasn't strong enough, it produced a soft soap. If it was too strong or too much lye was used, the soap was coarse, flinty, crumbled easily, and burned the skin.
Making soap in the 'old days' was a long, arduous task! The above only touches on the hard work and unreliability of making the lye for the soap. For all soaps, you must also have fats. I search online and buy pure, natural, luxury oils, butters, and fats. A nice UPS man delivers them straight to my door. Since I buy in bulk from WholesaleSuppliesPlus, the shipping is free! Great grandma did not have that option. She saved fats from frying and rendered fats at butchering time. Then, the fat, lard, tallow, or grease needed to be clarified and desalted. If the fats had become rancid since refrigerators were scarce back then, the fats needed to be boiled with vinegar water and reclaimed. Such a process!!
Never believe the 'lye' that soap can be made without lye! Soap is the result of a chemical reaction between fat and lye (sodium hydroxide) called "saponification". The resulting 'salt' and glycerol with the exact proportions and percentages used today produces a luxurious bar of soap which so gently cleanses and leaves your skin feeling refreshed and renewed.
Soap makers today take great pride in their handcrafted soaps! They are made in their own homes, under their skillful, caring eyes, using the very best ingredients and healthful supplements nature has to offer. If that wasn't good enough, many of us have gone wild in our kitchens, using earth based mica colors and essential oils to create a work of artisan beauty and aromatic pleasure!
I hope you will thoroughly enjoy the work of our hands and appreciate how far soap making has come! Lather up!
I think it's important to clear up misconceptions that will keep people from trying handcrafted soaps. Once they try a fragrant bar of silky, lathering soap, they'll never go back! :)
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