THE LITTLE THINGS - MAKING SOAP PART I OF III

As I wrote earlier, I’ve been experimenting with making my own laundry soap.  I believe I’ve been successful, but since my daughter (who seldom spends any money on household items) bough ther own laundry detergent, the jury’s still out on that subject.

One of the more costly ingredients is soap.  Pioneers used to make their own, so why can’t I?  A little research told me that they made it from grease and wood ashes.  Fine, I have both.  So, I save our grease from cooking and wood ashes and am preparing to make my own soap.

The given recipe was to fill a barrel with ashes, soak them in water for a few days, and then drain off the water.  The result is then heated to evaporate the excess water and reach the desired concentration of lye water. Simple? Not.

I already had a large $10 plastic garbage can for recycling that could serve as a barrel.  So, knowing it would be heavy and needed to be positioned up above a bucket, I built a small platform that had two levels, one for the barrel and the other for the bucket to receive the lye water.  Some wood from a discarded concrete form provided the materials for the stand and I found a bucket on the roadside.  Viola!  A free lye barrel stand and collection bucket.

THIS USED PLASTIC CHEMICAL BARREL WAS ONLY $5 AND RESISTS THE CORROSIVE EFFECTS OF THE LYE WATER BETTER THAN A STEEL DRUM OR A CONVENTIONAL PLASTIC GARBAGE CAN.

To fill the barrel, some rocks are added to the bottom of the barrel to provide space for water to drain out.  On top of this was placed a fitted plywood spacer to hold the ashes above the rocks.   (I later learned it helps to drill some finger holes in the plywood for easy removal!)  On top of this about three inches of hay was placed to keep ashes from filtering down to the bottom and plugging the drain hole. 

NOTE BOLT USED TO PLUG DRAIN HOLE WITH SPLASH GUARD AND DRIP PIPE.  CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN WHEN REMOVING PLUG SINCE LYE WATER MAY BE UNDER PRESSURE AND COULD SPURT AND SPLASH.

On the first run I let the ashes steep for a few days and then drained it by drilling a small 1/8 in diameter hole near the bottom of the barrel.  I covered my precious bucket of lye water and set it down where I thought it would be safe and could evaporate in the sun.  No, one of the farm animals kicked it over.  Then the caustic ashes weakened the cheap plastic garbage can and it too cracked and fell over, dumping the contents and damaging the stand.  Back to square one.

ROCKS PLACED IN BOTTOM OF BARREL ALLOW WATER TO COLLECT AT DRAIN

An acquaintance had some blue plastic chemical barrels in their back yard they were glad to sell so I bought a couple and reinforced the stand.  Then I reassembled everything and ran another batch of lye water.  Success! Not yet.  

PLYWOOD BASE ON ROCKS SUPPORTS ASHES

This time I tried to be clever and made a concrete base for the barrel with a groove all the way around, a splash guard in front of the drain hole, and a spout.  What I forgot to do was seal the form around the concrete base.  It worked well, except that much of the lye water leaked out between the form and the concrete.  Lesson learned.  I plugged the drain hole with a  stainless steel ¼-20  UNC-2A stud and refilled the barrel and then sealed the base with roof cement.  Then I ran another batch.  Success! Yes!

HAY IS ADDED ON TOP OF PLYWOOD TO KEEP ASHES FROM PLUGGING DRAIN AS WATER LEACHES THROUGH

 Now I will try concentrating the lye water and see if it will make some soap in Part II.

AFTER THE BARREL IS FULL OF ASHES, WATER IS ADDED BY INSERTING A HOSE DEEP INTO THE ASHES. AIR WILL BUBBLE UP THROUGH ASHES, SO WEAR FACE AND EYE PROTECTION AGAINST SPLASHES.

 CAUTION: Ashes and lye water are very caustic.  Proper PPE should be used when handling them such as a dusk mask to keep from inhaling ash particles and gloves and safety goggles to keep skin and eyes from exposure!

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