Make Your Own Soap

Homemade Soap:
A small plastic dishpan, about 10” x 12”
A glass or enamel 2-quart sauce pan
1 can of lye (sodium hydroxide), 12 ounces
3 pounds of lard (BHT and BHA are OK here)
Plastic gloves
Water
1. Pour 3 cups of very cold water (refrigerate water overnight
first) into the 2-quart saucepan.
2. Slowly and carefully add the lye, a little bit at a time, stirring
it with a wooden or plastic utensil. (Use plastic
gloves for this; test them for holes first.) Do not breathe
the vapor or lean over the container or have children
nearby. Above all use no metal. The mixture will get very
hot. In olden days, a sassafras branch was used to stir, imparting
a fragrance and insect deterrent for mosquitoes,
lice, fleas, ticks.
3. Let cool at least one hour in a safe place. Meanwhile, the
unwrapped lard should be warming up to room temperature
in the plastic dishpan.
4. Slowly and carefully, pour the lye solution into the dishpan
with the lard. The lard will melt. Mix thoroughly, at
least 15 minutes, until it looks like thick pudding.
5. Let it set until the next morning; then cut it into bars. It
will get harder after a few days. Then package.
If you wish to make soap based on olive oil, use about 48
ounces. It may need to harden for a week.
Liquid Soap:
Make chips from your homemade soap cake. Add enough
hot water to dissolve. Add citric acid to balance the pH (7 to 8).
If you do not, this soap may be too harsh for your skin, while it
is excellent for cleaning the skin.