Old Fashioned Lye Soap

This soap actually goes by many names - Lye Soap, Amish Soap, Appalachian Cure All, and Hunter's Soap are some I can think of off-hand. It's probably the oldest and simplest of recipes for soap. About the only thing that has changed about this recipe over the last hundreds, or possibly thousands, of years is the lye itself.

Lye traditionally was made from filtering rain water through hard wood ashes. Since it wasn't a very exact method, when they used this lye water to make soap it made it difficult to get the right mix of oils and lye. If they used too little, the soap would be too soft. If too much was used, the soap came out very hard, but also very harsh on the skin. Of the two choices, they preferred to have a hard bar of soap. This meant though that lye soap earned the reputation of being extremely harsh on the skin, to the point of leaving a person raw and red from the excess lye.

Lye soap no longer has to be this way, and is quickly becoming very popular. With modern lye, called sodium hydroxide, soapers can measure out very exact amounts of lye and make endless recipes. But the basic lye soap is the one I want to stick to here. This is the recipe I use, and I've decided to go with the name Hunter's Soap for it...

Hunter's Soap
32 ounces Lard
10 ounces well water
4 ounces lye

This is a soap that can be used for just about anything. It's gentle, unscented, and gives a wonderful thick white lather. I made it for two main reasons ..... to sell to hunters since they need an odorless soap, and to sell to their wives to use in homemade laundry soap. I'll give that recipe here too. Of the many uses for Lye Soap, here is a short list - cleaning the body or hair for every family member (even pets), rubbing on the runners of drawers or sliding glass doors (helps them slide easier), as a laundry soap or laundry pre-treatment (rubbed directly on a stain), placing under a mattress at the foot of the bed (I was told it reduces leg cramps - don't ask me how), and last..... but certainly the most interesting use... as catfish bait!

If you like saving money, you need to try out these recipes for laundry soap and dishwasher soap. They both use 20 Mule Team Borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Powder, which you find in the laundry isle of your store. I love all the ways you can use 20 Mule Team Borax. My three most common uses are laundry soap, dishwasher soap, and carpet power (kills fleas).

Laundry Soap (safe for HE machines - low suds)
1 Bar - Hunter's (Lye) Soap - finely grated
(or any other PURE soap - Fels Naptha is a commonly used one)
1 Cup - 20 Mule Team Borax
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Washing Power
1/4 Cup - Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (optional - reduces odors)
 *use 1-2 tbs per load*  (32-64 loads)

Dishwasher Soap
1/2 Cup - Citric Acid (Fruit Fresh, LemiShine, or plain lemon kool-aid powder)
1 Cup - 20 Mule Team Borax
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Washing Powder
1/4 Cup - Coarse Salt (Kosher or sea salt) (optional - usually only added if you have hard water)
*use 1-2 tbs per load*

I use both of these recipes, and I'm very pleased with the results. Occasionally I'll add a couple drops of liquid dish soap to a load in the dishwasher, if I'm washing a load heavy in glassware. You'll sometimes find a mild cloudiness on glasses, but using 1-2 drops liquid dish soap, or a heavy splash of vinegar can usually clear it up. These recipes are not my creation. They've been around for a long time, but that's because they work!

Goat Milk Soap

Milk soaps in general will moisturize the skin, but there is a slight difference in coconut milk vs. other milks (such as goat milk). Coconut, in general, gives soap a more bubbly lather. Goat's milk will give a more creamy lather. I like having both soaps here in case there is someone that has a specific preference for one or the other.

Goat Milk Soap

20 oz. Lard
8 oz. Coconut Oil
4 oz. Sunflower Oil
5 oz. Goat Milk
5 oz. Water
4.5 oz. Lye

• Put the oils all in the crock pot to melt.
• Once the oil has melted, let it cool to about 100-110 degrees in the mixing bowl.
• Weighed out the lye.
• I used ice cubes and frozen goat milk for my lye mix. Slowly pouring the lye over the ice and goat milk, and stir, till all the lye has dissolved. 
• Don't let this over heat and burn the milk, but you need it within 10 degrees of the oil.
• When satisfied with the temperatures of the lye mix and oils, add the lye mix to the oil and use an immersion blender until the soap comes to a light trace.

 

I personally love milk soaps! The goat milk soap is most often used for babies, or for elderly skin.

Green Tea & Cinnamon (Plus)

I asked my sister in law what sort of soap she wanted, and it was Green Tea & Cinnamon! So I took a look at the herbs and such I had around and added rosemary & mint. The green tea is meant to help reduce puffy eyes and wrinkles. Cinnamon was added to be a mild exfoliate. The rosemary and mint are said to both be good at increasing elasticity in the skin, clean black heads, and shrink pores.

Green Tea & Cinnamon (Plus)

20 oz Lard
8 oz Coconut Oil
4 oz Olive Oil
1/2 Tbs Cinnamon
4.5 oz Lye
10 oz Water (made this into green tea also)

• I first did an infusion in the oils of green tea, cinnamon sticks, mint, and rosemary. This cooked on a low temperature for 4 hours.
• I then strained the oil, and let it cool to room temperature. I could have had it at a higher temp, but I had things to do so I just left it.
• When I was ready I made the lye solution (green tea & lye). I chose to do the lye in the sink in an ice bath so I wouldn't burn the tea at all. Plus the oils were so low in temp I wanted an easy way to get the lye solution low too.
• Once I was happy with the temperatures of the lye solution and oils (within 10 degrees of each other), I began pouring the lye solution into the oils and mixing with the immersion blender.
• Once at light trace, add the 1/2 tbs of ground cinnamon, mix in well, and place in the mold, wrap it in towels, and let it alone.

Pine Tar Soap

An old time classic soap! This soap has been popular for outdoor-type men - it has a wonderful pine scent, and I hear it'll keep ticks away. It's often used for treating psoriasis and eczema, helps with wound healing, and is used to clear up poison ivy by easing the itch and drying out the area. It has been said to be anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antiseptic, and antimicrobial - used for smelly feet, armpits, acne, bug bites, rashes, wounds, or dandruff. Ok this stuff sounds awesome, we need it in our house. lol My husband has very flaky skin on his face and head, so I very much wanted to make some for him. We decided to use coffee as the liquid because this is a soap often used on the face - the caffeine can help with wrinkles and help to close up pores. The caffeine is also acting as a colorant for me, along with 1 oz of honey. I want a very dark soap. We're just lucky the caffeine and honey will add more benefits to this soap.

Pine Tar Soap

20 oz. Lard
8 oz. Coconut Oil
4 oz. Sunflower Oil
12 oz. Coffee (a little extra was added because pine tar soap comes to trace so fast)
1 oz. Honey
2 oz. Pine Tar
4.5 oz. Lye
Special Note: I made 2 batches - in one batch I put 3 tbs finely ground coffee, for an exfoliant - the other I did not.

• I started by getting all my supplies out and ready. Tools, oils, lye, protection gear, scale - all of it. I took awhile doing this to be sure I had everything covered, so I wouldn't be trying to hunt something down during the process.
• I then wanted to the the lye part out of the way, so it could be cooling while I mixed the rest. I usually do the oils first, but with this recipe I want to do it all at close to room temperature - because the the unique way pine tar soap is. It will come to trace extremely fast! The lower temperature of everything will help slow it some. I used an ice bath for the coffee and lye. 

• Once that was done I left the lye mixture in the measuring cup in the sink while I work on the rest. (In the other half of the sink, not left in the ice bath.)
• I measured out all the oils, honey, and pine tar.
• I placed the hard oils in the crock pot to melt, and added the honey in with it. Warm soft honey is easier to mix in.

• Once melted I put all the oil in a bowl. I didn't heat up the sunflower oil, since it's so soft, and I am working to do all of this at a much lower temperature - 90 or less. 
• Then added in the pine tar, and mixed it all very well before adding the lye mixture. Do not use an immersion blender with this soap. Just mix with a wooden spoon or whisk. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes.
• With my husband's help we poured the soap into our 3" pvc pipe mold. I'll take it out of the mold in 24-48 hours, depending on how it looks after the first 24 hours (if it's hardened enough). 
 

 

These are the 3 pine tar soaps we made in the picture above - 1 with coffee grounds (for an exfoliant), 1 plain, and 1 that was poured with coconut milk soap (for moisturizing).  Before we wrap them up we'll smooth out the edges a little. Makes them look a little nicer. For now we're just letting them dry out on some trays I have. They need to cure and harden for 4-6 weeks.

Coffee & Cream Soap

I made this soap to try out a few things - mixing 2 batches of soap together - for swirls, color variation, or maybe each one could be different mixes. Each batch has a different liquid, color, and purpose.

Coffee Portion:
8 oz. Lard
4 oz. Olive Oil
4 oz. Coconut Oil
5.5 oz. Strong Coffee
2.25 oz. Lye

Goat Milk Portion:
8 oz. Lard
4 oz. Olive Oil
4 oz. Coconut Oil
5.5 oz. Goat Milk
2.25 oz. Lye

- Put oils in a crock pot or double boiler and allow to melt. Heat it to 90-120 degrees F.
- Slowly pour lye into your coffee, or frozen milk. I had used frozen the goat milk (using ice cube trays) for my goat milk portion. Or you can measure out the liquid you need into plastic bags and freeze those. The idea is, you don't want to burn the milk, which can happen easily with things that contain sugars. Lye and water can heat up to 200 degrees. This can burn the milk and turn and turn your soap brown. Ice baths can help too.
- Let the lye and liquid mix cool to the same temperature you have your oil, whatever that is, somewhere between 90-120 degrees F. I had personally taken all the precautions possible on my firsts batch NOT to burn the coffee or the goat's milk, and found my liquid was pretty cool. Sometimes if you just go ahead and take them out of an ice bath you might be using, and stir a bit, it can start to warm up. I ended up needing to bring my oils down to about 80 degrees, which is pretty low. You can if needed warm the liquid in a microwave, just take it slow. As long as the oils and your lye mix are within 10 degrees of each other you should be ok.
- Once they're at the temperatures you want, put the oil in a bowl (glass, heat resistant plastic, or stainless steel - do not use aluminum, cast iron, or copper).
- Mix these together till they reach light trace (if you took a spoon or something and tried to trace a snaky line, it would stay). This looks a bit like pudding. When trying to mix two or more batches together though, you might want to have your trace very thin.
- If you want you can add other things at this time.
- I poured both batches into my mold at the same time so I could get a gentle swirl effect, then left alone for over 24 hours.
- Once firm enough, it can be removed from the mold and left to cure for 4-6 weeks. 

Oatmeal & Honey Soap

This is almost exactly like the coconut milk soap, but I added oatmeal and honey, so I adjusted the liquid just a little to account for the honey. This is the soap my mother in law likes to use.

Ingredients:
8 oz. Coconut Oil
20 oz. Lard
4 oz. Safflower Oil
2 oz. Castor Oil
4.5 oz. Lye
5 oz. Goat Milk
5 oz. Water
2 oz. Honey
0.6 oz. Finely Ground Oatmeal

- Put oils in a crock pot or double boiler and allow to melt. Heat it to 90-120 degrees F.
- Slowly pour lye into your water, or water and frozen milk. I had used frozen goat milk (measured the night before, put in a plastic bag, and placed in the freezer). But you could also just mix together the lye into your water, and add the coconut milk later just before your soap reaches light trace (if you did freeze it). The idea is, you don't want to burn the milk, which can happen easily with things that contain sugars.
- Let the lye and liquid mix to cool to the same temperature you have your oil, whatever that is, somewhere between 90-120 degrees F. You want them to be within 10 degrees of each other.
- Once they're at the temperatures you want, put the oil in a bowl (glass, heat resistant plastic, or stainless steel - do not use aluminum, cast iron, or copper).
- Mix these together till they reach light trace (if you took a spoon or something and tried to trace a snaky line, it would stay). This looks a bit like pudding.
- If you want you can add other things at this time. I added in my oatmeal and honey. Honey will turn the soap a red or burnt brown color almost immediately. The first time I saw this I thought I'd ruined my soap. It was fine though, and later turned into a nice medium brown color like you often see in oatmeal & honey soaps.
- Pour into your mold and let it set left alone for 24-48 hours.
- Once firm enough, it can be removed from the mold and left to cure for 4-6 weeks.

Coconut Milk Soap

This so far is my favorite soap, and everyone who's tried it has really enjoyed it too. What I made has very few ingredient. It was just a way for me to begin making soap without too many complications.

Ingredients:
8 oz. Coconut Oil
24 oz. Lard
4.5 oz. Lye
7 oz. Coconut Milk
4 oz. Water

- Put oils in a crock pot or double boiler and allow to melt. Heat it to 90-120 degrees F.
- Slowly pour lye into your liquid. I had used frozen coconut milk (measured the night before, put in a plastic bag, and placed in the freezer). But you could also just mix together the lye into your water, and add the coconut milk later just before your soap reaches light trace. The idea is, you don't want to burn the milk, which can happen easily with things that contain sugars.
- Let the lye and liquid mix to cool to the same temperature you have your oil, whatever that is somewhere between 90-120 degrees F.
- Once they're at the temperatures you want, put the oil in a bowl (glass, heat resistant plastic, or stainless steel - do not use aluminum, cast iron, or copper).
- Mix these together till they reach light trace (if you took a spoon or something and tried to trace a snaky line, it would stay). This looks a bit like pudding.
- If you want you can add other things at this time.
- Pour into your mold and let it set left alone for 24-48 hours.
- Once firm enough, it can be removed from the mold and left to cure for 4-6 weeks.

Making soaps

Tools I Recommend:

Crock Pot
Digital Scale
Immersion or Stick Blender
Candy Thermometer (preferably 2, 1 for the oils, 1 for the lye mix) 
Plastic Tools - large bowls, measuring cups, spoons
Protective Gear - gloves, glasses, apron, newspaper, vinegar & rag (in case of spills)
Mold - I use 3" pvc pipe (@14" long)

Items for wrapping soap:
coffee filters
tape or round labels

There are tons of directions on the internet on how to make soap. It's really easy and fun. Please spend some time reading many posts on how to make soaps, or watch some videos. My instructions are very basic. My first batch I experimented and wanted to try making soap in the simplest way - canola oil, lye, and water. It didn't make a nice soap for personal use. It's slimy - or rather the lather from it is slimy. I decided I'll just grate it and turn it into laundry soap. Oh and a word on my water - I have well water, it's strongly recommended not to use city water, as it bleach in it. It suggested to use bottled water, but good clean well water is fine. There are a couple tools that you'll need in the form of web sites too. One is a "oil chart", such as this: http://www.lovinsoap.com/oils-chart/ or this: http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/soap-making-oils.html. The other important tool is "lye calculator", such as this one at Bramble Berry: http://www.brambleberry.com/pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx

Basic Soap
32 oz. Canola Oil
4.25 oz. Lye
10.5 oz. Water

All soap ingredients are measured in weight, not volume. It's all best done outside, or in a well ventilated area. The lye, when mixed with the liquid, makes some really horrid fumes. Plus there are potential times you might spill something, and since lye is so caustic it would be better if the spill isn't all over your kitchen counter or on a carpet. Here are some starter instructions:

1. Prepare your space. Put on protective gear, lay out newspaper, place supplies in easy reach.
2. Weigh all ingredients.
3. Put your oils in a crock pot. Heat to around 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Slowly pour the lye into your liquids. NEVER pour liquid into lye, this can cause an explosion. If your liquid is a product that could burn (such as milks, or a yogurt) it works well to freeze them the day before. The lye will cause a chemical reaction that has a lot of heat. This can easily cause things like milk to burn and be spoiled. Let the lye mix cool to around 90 degrees.
5. Put your heated oils in a mixing bowl and start adding the lye mix. Use your immersion blender, pulsing it, to bring the oils and lye mix to a light trace - light trace looks a little like the thickness of pudding.
-- at this point you could add *extras*, ground oatmeal, essential oils, mica colorant --
6. Put the soap in your mold and place in a draft free, room temperature space.

You can check it 24-48 hours later to see if it's hard enough to take out of the mold. Once out of the mold allow the soap to cure for 4-6 weeks before using.