Soap/lard/lye

[Salyan]

Has anyone here experimented with making their own soap, or the ingredients for the same? One of my friends just butchered a pig, and I've been learning to render lard this week - hoping to use it to make some real soap! I'd love to do the whole thing from scratch, but making one's own lye seems a rather daunting task (especially as we're kinda at the wrong time of year for getting rain up here).

[Alimantado]

Does collecting up the remains of soap bars lying along the edge of the bath and sticking them together count as making one's own soap?

[Salyan]

Does collecting up th e remains of soap bars lying along the edge of the bath and sticking them together count as making one's own soap?

Um... it counts as creative recycling! 

[Bro K]

I can faintly remember seeing the oldtimers making the soap. I can remember my mom scraping the meat from parts of a pig and making cracklin (pieces of meat). She would take the cracklin and mix it with corn meal to make 'cracklin cornbread'. Back in those days, very little was thrown away. Never could acquire the taste for pig feet!!

[swathdiver]

http://www.muzzleblasts.com/archives/vol4no6/articles/mbo46-2.shtml

 

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?181893-Looking-for-some-lye-soap

[ASongOfDegrees]

I use Lava soap to shower with. Sometimes I'll go with GoJo but I prefer that for my hair.. Fels-Naptha is good too. I use that when I haven't washed in a few weeks and I need to pre-soak before showering.

[HappyChristian]

We never made our own soap.  We always used the rendered lard for things like bread and pie crust.   My mom says it makes the best crust.

[Salyan]

We never made our own soap.  We always used the rendered lard for things like bread and pie crust.   My mom says it makes the best crust.

 

How 'clean' does it have to be for making pie crust? Reading online seems to suggest that it needs to be the kidney fat, and that it won't smell 'piggy' when rendered. My fat is all mixed up, and is definitely not the almost-white stuff recommended for leaf lard, and I think my lard is coming out a bit piggy-smelling too. It's a bit hard to tell right now as my entire house smells of pork.

[Ukulelemike]

My wife makes soap from goat fat when we butcher. You can make lye or buy it online. Here's one example:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Grade-Sodium-Hydroxide-Micro-Beads/dp/B001EDBEZM

 

You used to be able to use Draino, but it has metal flakes in it now so its no good.

 

When you make lye, it will come out grey and somewhat discolor the soap, so be prepared to use natuiral colorings for it. Also, plain soap is rather fat-smelling, so you might look into essential oils, and a drop or two will scent it for you.

 

By the way, you often see soaps with milk in them-don't do this as it will cause the soap to go rancid.

 

You can also buy soap molds on ebay. For little, whimsical soaps, use candy molds.

 

Also, look into adding borax to help it lather better.

[Salyan]

Thank you for the advice, Uke! I'd read that coconut oil will help it lather too - is that right?

[HappyChristian]

For cooking purposes, the lard needs to be white and solid.  If it's not, that means it didn't get hot enough - I think the heat burns off the smell...I remember the smell eventually going away, but the process was stinky! 

[Ukulelemike]

Thank you for the advice, Uke! I'd read that coconut oil will help it lather too - is that right?

Not certain-it may, and it might add a bit of nice scent, too. I'll ask mi esposa when she's awake-(working 12hr night shifts!  )

[Ukulelemike]

Has anyone here experimented with making their own soap, or the ingredients for the same? One of my friends just butchered a pig, and I've been learning to render lard this week - hoping to use it to make some real soap! I'd love to do the whole thing from scratch, but making one's own lye seems a rather daunting task (especially as we're kinda at the wrong time of year for getting rain up here).

By the way, congrats on the new load of wonderful, home-grown pork! We hope to buy a pig at auction and raise it about a month, so we know its system is cleaned out and its nice and fat and healthy, then stick him in the freezer. Hoping to build a walk-in smokehouse, as well.

[EKSmith]

If I can catch up with my brother he knows how, but I thank he's in Alaska right now and out phone reach and if for some reason he comes out of the wilderness I'll try to find out, I wish I had learned how from my Dad but I was more into making butter and buttermilk.

 

God bless in your search  

[Invicta]

Just as a matter of interest, an ad for this site was at the top of this page.

 

http://www.littleforestsoap.com/