Looking for some lye soap.

[Catshooter]

Anybody know where a guy can find some? Thanks.


Cat

[Alvarez Kelly]

Anybody know where a guy can find some? Thanks.


Cat

Yep. My sister makes it. She has lots of different ones and once made a soap that "felt" like Lava soap.

She will sell some, but it's a hobby, so she won't have a huge quantity. She told me $4 a bar, 3.5 to 4.5 ounce bars, rough cut. She may do a quantity discount... Plus postage of course.

If you, or anyone else who wants some homemade lye soap, may want to contact her, I will PM you her email address.

[Ed Barrett]

Try this site;
http://astore.amazon.com/lye.soap-20

[geargnasher]

I buy some from time to time from a cottage outfit called "Grandma's", I think I still have a wrapper here somewhere, PM me if you run out of options. Most hippie/health food/vitamin stores carry lye soap. You can always use Ivory soap, but it's missing two of the triglycerides.

Gear

[Catshooter]

Mr. Kelly,

PM sent. Thanks for the quick responses gentlemen.


Cat

[smokemjoe]

I remember the folks on the farm 1950 make it after butchering hogs and cattle, Cook the fat down, add louis lye and pour it wooden boxs, It would eat the paint off a barn door, but we also had headcheese, brains, hog cheese and bloodsauers and that stuff you dont get in store. Around here at a old folks house auctions it still comes up.- soap

[mongoosesnipe]

I use dr broners soaps http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/LS.htm they have liquid castle soap made with KOH and bar soap made with NaOH (lye) I refer to it as hippie soap as it billed as all natural fair trade organic... But it's really nice soap

[Jailer]

Make your own, it's not that hard. I'll never buy soap again after making my own, it really is that much better.

http://www.millersoap.com/

[swamp]

Catshooter,
I make it and haven't used store bought for years. Mine is just lye and grease. Nothing added. If you would like to try some PM me your info and I will send you some to try.
swamp

[AviatorTroy]

Yea I save all the bacon grease I can and once a year make a batch up, I like about 50-50 bacon grease and olive oil for a general purpose soap.

Use the saponification table and shoot for about 5% excess oils in your recipie. Also I measure everything out and add the lye to the lard first, let it trace, and then after a few minutes add the olive oil. I my mind and I could be wrong but any excess oils left over that don't saponify will be the olive oil which is better for skin and doesn't putrify.

[Catshooter]

Swamp, I sent you a PM, thank you for your generous offer.

Aviator, interesting. What saponify mean? What does letting it trace mean?

Thanks.


Cat

[felix]

To saponify means to convert something oily/waxy/greasy which is not water soluble into something that is. Tracing is a funky name for something that will gently and slowly roll down a wall when the wall is splashed with that something, and leave a definite trail of that something on the wall. ... felix

[Catshooter]

Cool Felix, thanks.


Cat

[Wayne Smith]

Excellent definition of "Trace", Felix!

[btroj]

Call your congressman, they can get you "lie soap", it helps keep them looking clean.....

Sadly, it doesn't remove the stench

[Bill*]

Try this site;
http://astore.amazon.com/lye.soap-20

That link alerted MSE (antivirus)

[AviatorTroy]

That miller soap website explains it pretty good. In soap making, the trace is when you start to get the chemical reaction that causes the oils to saponify. Takes a few minutes of stirring in a pan at I believe 140 degrees, or you can do it in a blender and its darn near instantaneous!

After I am happy that the batch is going set up right I pour it in a muffin mold and let it set up for a couple weeks. I find the silicone muffin molds are perfect for this.

"Castle" soaps are 100% olive oil but I like having at least 2 maybe 3 kinds of oils in a batch, because each source of grease gives the final soap product different characteristics like lather, grease cutting ability, some are better for your skin than others, etc.

If I have any I like to throw some some beef or venison tallow in too, it makes the soap real hard and durable. But bacon grease is free so that is going to usually be the bulk of the ingredients. I think a real good mix is 25% beef tallow, 50% bacon lard, 25% olive oil and I usually throw some crushed up dehydrated mint or lemon balm leaves in there to make it smell better..

Just make sure you very carefully calculate how much lye to use in proportion to each fat you use.

[xs11jack]

The wife and I went to a cane sugar harvest here in MO. several years ago and on a whim I bought a bar of goat milk soap. Suppose to be wonderful in the shower. It stunk so bad I threw it away. Is the stuff you guys make with the bacon, etc. smell and work any better than that goat stuff??
Jack

[swamp]

I don't know about goat milk soap. Mine smells like soap unless I add some essential oil I use in my candles. I don't normally add anything. Once in awhile maybe a candle for color.

swamp

[MBTcustom]

I love this place!!!!!
Guy asks where do I buy umty-flump, he is obliged with 3 posts on where and how to buy it and 15 on how he can make it himself, save money, scientific explanations, and explanations of the scientific jargon used in the scientific explanations!

My friends, you ROCK!!!

[Catshooter]

And that is God's truth Tim. A guy can learn a lot here if he pays attention, can't he?


Cat

[lreed]

There is a lye soap put out called Grandma's Lye soap,but of greater importance they make Grandma's poison ivy-oak bar that has jewelweed in it that sure helps with the itchies, works fair on them seedtick bites too! lreed

[3006guns]

Maybe the spelling has changed over the years, or I'm confusing two products, but isn't it "Castille" soap and not "Castle"?

Edit: My 9 year old grand daughter just came in and asked me what "lye soap" was, so I tried to explain it to her. First I had to explain what "lye" was and then tell her that you rendered down the animal fat......

That's as far as I got.....from the look on her face you'd think I was describing embalming or something! Hope I didn't put her off bathing........

[gwpercle]

Here's my Mom's soap recipe :
2 pounds rendered, strained lard ( beef tallow will also work )
4.4 ozs. lye (from older hardware stores )
7 fluid ounces water ( to dissolve the lye in )

Melt the lard , stir the lye into the water ( never add water into the lye ). Be careful as it gets hot when mixed and will burn if splashed on skin. When the lye water mix cools add to melted lard mix well and pour into mould. let harden and cut into
soap sized bars. Be careful making soap can be hazardous.

[starmac]

Maybe the spelling has changed over the years, or I'm confusing two products, but isn't it "Castille" soap and not "Castle"?

Edit: My 9 year old grand daughter just came in and asked me what "lye soap" was, so I tried to explain it to her. First I had to explain what "lye" was and then tell her that you rendered down the animal fat......
That's as far as I got.....from the look on her face you'd think I was describing embalming or something! Hope I didn't put her off bathing........

I hope she never finds out what all is used in some womens makeup. lol

[Jailer]

Maybe the spelling has changed over the years, or I'm confusing two products, but isn't it "Castille" soap and not "Castle"?

Edit: My 9 year old grand daughter just came in and asked me what "lye soap" was, so I tried to explain it to her. First I had to explain what "lye" was and then tell her that you rendered down the animal fat......

That's as far as I got.....from the look on her face you'd think I was describing embalming or something! Hope I didn't put her off bathing........

You are correct on the Castile soap. Tallow soap is my favorite, it makes a very hard long lasting bar and is great on the skin. I haven't had to use hand lotion since I started making my own soap.

My wife refuses to use the home made soap, she says it grosses her out. She doesn't know what she's missing.

[Ed Barrett]

Maybe it's to wash goats in the shower. Nothing like a nice clean goat.


The wife and I went to a cane sugar harvest here in MO. several years ago and on a whim I bought a bar of goat milk soap. Suppose to be wonderful in the shower. It stunk so bad I threw it away. Is the stuff you guys make with the bacon, etc. smell and work any better than that goat stuff??
Jack

[Blacksmith]

I love this place!!!!!
Guy asks where do I buy umty-flump, he is obliged with 3 posts on where and how to buy it and 15 on how he can make it himself, save money, scientific explanations, and explanations of the scientific jargon used in the scientific explanations!

My friends, you ROCK!!!

And don't forget the song not exactly Rock and Roll but appropriate!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr_XQjBEgzk

[AviatorTroy]

Maybe the spelling has changed over the years, or I'm confusing two products, but isn't it "Castille" soap and not "Castle"?

Edit: My 9 year old grand daughter just came in and asked me what "lye soap" was, so I tried to explain it to her. First I had to explain what "lye" was and then tell her that you rendered down the animal fat......

That's as far as I got.....from the look on her face you'd think I was describing embalming or something! Hope I didn't put her off bathing........

Yes on the spelling, the spell ahead on my iPad just assumes it knows what I want to say and fills in whatever it wants, and it has a mind of its own.

[Catshooter]

Isn't that Spell Ahead about the stupidest!?!

It must be a feature, not a bug. :)


Cat

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I think of trace more like i do whip cream

when whipping cream stiff peaks is when you can make a shape and it stays just before that when the whipping cream will make a shape but it slowly goes back to flat , just before that you have a melted ice cream consistency where you can make a line in it with a spoon and it fills back in but it takes a few seconds that's right about trace , and when we pour into molds

the immersion blender is the way to make soap takes the work out of stirring it and gets you to trace fast

it also makes whip cream in a hurry

we get the lard when we have our pig butchered and buy some more form a place in Cuba city that renders it , but does not hydrogenate it
we also use it for some cooking.


the wife decides what kind of soap she wants to make , she runs it through one of the online calculators to decide how much lye , all ingredients are weighed
we were getting the Lye as drain cleaner from the hardware store but she just got 10 pounds in the mail from a web site for about half the price shipped, it was costing us about 6 dollars a pound at the hardware store pound makes a bunch of soap

she makes the soap i help , and i make the ammo she helps shoot it

[Wolfer]

Most of the feed stores around me carry ( Grandmas ) lye soap. I've used a lot of homemade lard lye soap and this is the real stuff.

[Catshooter]

What a fascinating collection of responses. How cool.

Thanks to all for the bunch of very helpful responses. I'm learning a lot.


Cat

[oneokie]

Here's my Mom's soap recipe :
2 pounds rendered, strained lard ( beef tallow will also work )
4.4 ozs. lye (from older hardware stores )
7 fluid ounces water ( to dissolve the lye in )

Melt the lard , stir the lye into the water ( never add water into the lye ). Be careful as it gets hot when mixed and will burn if splashed on skin. When the lye water mix cools add to melted lard mix well and pour into mould. let harden and cut into
soap sized bars. Be careful making soap can be hazardous.

You need to let Lye soap age for several weeks before using it to bathe with. Aging gives the lye time to fully react with the oils. Fresh lye soap will take the hide off.

[stubshaft]

I do virtually the same thing when making lye but rather than pouring it directly into the mold I cook it in a crock pot and stir the bejeezus (technical term) out of it until it resembles mashed potatoes. THEN, I put it in the mold. When cool it is ready to go, I don't have to wait for it to air dry and harden.

[Boerrancher]

For most of my life I have only used Lye soap for my hunting clothes, and for myself in the shower. The community has started making their own laundry soap from Lye, castile, and fells, and has been doing so for a year or so. It started at the local church and spread around the neighborhood a year or so ago. The wife has not used commercial laundry detergent in over a year. It costs $6 to make 10 gal of laundry detergent, and that breaks down to a bit over a nickel per large load of laundry. When we make our own bar soap it costs less than the $6 to make 10 gal.

Best wishes,

Joe

[xacex]

Yup, another soap maker here! If your state doesn't let the plumbing section carry lye (red devil) it is cheap to get online. Over the last several years 2 pounds of lye has made 50+ pounds of soap, and I still have some. Save your bacon grease! What are you using it for? General cleaning or something else? I have to say I wont but soap anymore because mine is so cheep, and last a long time. Not only that add some anise oil to it for fishing soap. Some people even make it for bait because the soap milks out the anise oil in the water and attracts the fish. Add some sand and orange oil to your soap for working on your car. Works like Lava soap.

[mjwcaster]

It looks like you have the soap thing covered, if not drop me a line, I used to sell it and still have a large supply left, priced right.
One thing I didn't see mentioned was coffee soap.
It is a great deodorizer/stain remover, takes off fish smell, grass stains, been camping and haven't showered in days BO, everything I have thrown at it.

Add in some coffee grounds and it makes a good scrubbing soap also.

Matt

[AviatorTroy]

For most of my life I have only used Lye soap for my hunting clothes, and for myself in the shower. The community has started making their own laundry soap from Lye, castile, and fells, and has been doing so for a year or so. It started at the local church and spread around the neighborhood a year or so ago. The wife has not used commercial laundry detergent in over a year. It costs $6 to make 10 gal of laundry detergent, and that breaks down to a bit over a nickel per large load of laundry. When we make our own bar soap it costs less than the $6 to make 10 gal.

Best wishes,

Joe

Yes my wife makes a 5 gallon bucket of laundry soap from my lye soap about once a year.

Our friends all think we are crazy.

[AviatorTroy]

It looks like you have the soap thing covered, if not drop me a line, I used to sell it and still have a large supply left, priced right.
One thing I didn't see mentioned was coffee soap.
It is a great deodorizer/stain remover, takes off fish smell, grass stains, been camping and haven't showered in days BO, everything I have thrown at it.

Add in some coffee grounds and it makes a good scrubbing soap also.

Matt

I've tried adding coffee grounds and I like it, also I have added oatmeal for a gentle scrubbing soap.

[hiram1]

soap goods .com