Homemade Lye Soap
Not Grandma’s Lye Soap
The modern homemade lye soap is not the dated Grandma’s lye soap that was heavy and harsh. What is more, you need not use lard as the key ingredient. You can use sunflower or canola, or other oils. Using oil will make your soap greasier than if you use lard, but it is all a matter of preference.
The Do’s of Homemade Lye Soap Processing
- Process in well-ventilated location
- Whether you are buying lye from the store or making it yourself, handle with extreme care and caution. Lye is a very strong irritant to the skin, eyes, and throat.
- Use rubber gloves and safety glasses when handling lye for your homemade lye soap
- Use glass, plastic, enamelware, wood, or stoneware for making lye
- Add lye to cold water, not cold water to lye.
- Stir slowly to avoid splashes
- When the lye and the lard separates, liquefy the mixture and add about a cup of water while slowly stirring. Keep adding a cup of water until your mixture is in syrup consistency.
- Reserve the pans or other utensils you use for homemade lye soap exclusively for making lye soap. You should not use them for food processing.
- Remember not to use pans or other utensils made of metal, tin, aluminum, iron, or Teflon.
Materials for Homemade Lye Soap Making
Ingredients for Homemade Lye Soap
- Crisco for greasing the soap molds
- 1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) of lye
- 3 cups (24 ounces) coconut oil
- 1or 2 drops of scented essential oil and of food coloring to match the scent, if desired
- 24 ounces solid vegetable oil
Making Homemade Lye Soap
- Wear safety glasses and gloves
- Work in a well-ventilated area
- Place four cups of soft water in one of the glass bowls
- Pour very slowly (to avoid splashing) and in a continuous stream 1-1/2 cups of lye in the bowl with water, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon
- Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth; the chemical reaction will cause the temperature of the mixture to rise considerably
- Set aside the bowl with the lye water and let cool
- Check with the glass thermometer both fat and lye; the temperature should be between 85º and 100º
- Pour the liquid fat in another glass bowl
- Very slowly add the lye water
- Stir fat and lye with the wooden spoon until you can see the spoon cut a path in the mixture for a few seconds
- Stir in a drop of food coloring, if desired; do not overdo the food coloring
- Stir in a drop of fragrance oil, if desired; it should be a faint scent
- Grease your soap molds and line with wax paper
- Pour the homemade lye soap mixture in the soap molds
- Place wax paper on top of the molds
- Remove from molds and cut, if desired
- Place on a rack in a cool, dry place
- Let dry up two to three weeks to harden your homemade lye soap
Enjoy your homemade lye soap!
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