What is Lye Soap?

home garden

Up until the 1850s, when the general store started stocking provisions, folks made most of their household supplies themselves, including lye soap. Three ingredients went into the making of lye soap: lard, lye, and lots of hard work.

Lard was rendered and saved for soap-making from the annual hog kill that took place at the time of the first hard frost in autumn. Lye was made from the ashes left over from the wood stoves. (Most people kept a wooden bin with a side spigot just outside the house, into which they'd dump their ashes. When it came time to make lye soap, they poured water through the ashes and siphoned off the liquid lye.) The third ingredient of lye soap had to be supplied by a pair of hard working hands.

Lye is an extremely caustic agent, so the soap makers had to be careful to have just the right concentration. Too much lye would cause the soap to burn the skin, and too little would keep the soap from hardening. An old wives' tale held that lye was at the proper strength when depositing a floating egg into the mixture revealed only its tip.

To make lye soap, lard and lye were mixed together over an open fire, and stirred for hours with a long-handled paddle. It is said that when the paddle stuck straight up, the soap was ready. Lye soap was then poured into a metal pan and allowed to dry and harden; a process that could take from two weeks to one month. After the lye soap hardened, it was cut into smaller bars for everyday use. People used lye soap to clean everything from their faces to their laundry. Today, many people still like to buy and use original lye soap.

Lye soap can be purchased from soap companies, which sell their product in specialty bath shops or over the Internet. Many people tout the benefits of lye soap; it is a natural product, and because soap makers have perfected the level of lye to add, it can be a very gentle soap. Current lye soap manufacturers have substituted different types of oil for lard. Fragrances are added, and sometimes natural oils such as aloe, jojoba, or coconut, which soothe the skin. Fans of lye soap also say that it can help reduce the itching caused by insect bites. Nostalgia is another reason why people like lye soap. Some enjoy homemade lye for the novelty of using the same rugged brown soap that their Great-Great-grandparents used so many years ago.

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New: Discuss this Article

Posted by: djr0992
only JESUS can wash away people's sins.
Posted by: anon21009
will lye soap wash away sins?
Posted by: djr0992
yes it kills germs. yes it kills lice and eggs.
Posted by: djr0992
it's good for many, many things. i will aways have lye soap at my home. here are some but there are more

11. kills head and body lice

10. psoriasis, eczema & acne

9. poison ivy & poison oak rash -rub in let dry on

8. keeps mosquitoes & chiggers away -rub in let dry on skin

7. relieves pain and itching from sunburn, mosquitoes or chigger bites & athlete's foot, just lather on and let it dry on skin.

6. tied in old sock at backs of tree prevents insect invasion

5. better than bleach on whites and removes stains- wet, rub, wash

4. put on hook for catfish bait

3. lather hides human scent for hunters

2. kills fleas & dander on pets

1. best for dirty mouthed kids

Posted by: anon13070
Lye soap is great for my laundry. I disolve a few chips in hot water and pour into my washing machine. The beauty of this is that the waste water is safe for my garden. Donna (Pembroke, Bermuda)
Posted by: anon10062
is lye soap supposed to be good for you? because i just bought a bar after reading a comment that she uses it to wash her face because she has acne. the only thing i have noticed is very soft skin. so the question is what exactly does lye soap do for you? thanks
Posted by: djr0992
yes, it will kill head and body lice. and fleas on pets too.
Posted by: anon7214
is this soap good for lice treatment?
Posted by: djr0992
i have been using 14 oz of red devil lye for my soap but if i wanted to use Lye,#2 Flake how much would i need to use? or would it still be the same? any help would be great. thanks
Posted by: anon2160
Will lye soap kill germs?

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