During hard times sooner or later everyone runs out of soap.
To make soap you only need three things:
1. Rainwater,
2. Cold ashes from any hardwood fire, and
3. Animal fat from almost any type of animal, such as beef, pork, goat, sheep,
bear, beaver, raccoon, opossum, groundhog, etc.
All soap consists of the above three ingredients in one form or another, and
that includes bath soap, dish soap, laundry soap, and hair shampoo.
Soap is not difficult to make and it does not require any special equipment.
And soap can be made from things that exist in large quantities in nature, and
which are typically discarded as being of little value (rainwater, campfire ashes,
and animal fat). Therefore, a person who knows how to make good soap could provide
his or her family with a small but steady income during hard times by making
and selling soap. Soap requires no financial investment in raw materials, and
therefore it does not require the advance purchase and storage of inventory before
the hard times occur.
Soap is a “perfect consumer product” for the following five reasons:
1. soap is a legal product,
2. everyone everywhere uses soap,
3. soap is completely used up in a short period of time,
4. when people run out of soap they want to buy more, and
5. soap is relatively low in price so almost everyone can afford it.
In my opinion, soap is one of the basic necessities of life for the following
five reasons:
1. Personal hygiene: Good health is maintained by washing your hands before eating
and by taking a bath on a regular basis.
2. Laundry: If your clothes get really filthy then they will collect lots of
germs and those germs will eventually attack your body and you will get sick.
During hard times families with small babies quickly revert back to cloth baby
diapers that require a really good cleaning before being reapplied to the baby’s
bottom.
3. Dish washing: If your eating utensils are not clean then it won’t be
long before you get sick from the microscopic organisms that collect and grow
on your dishes.
4. Wound care and other medical situations: Even small wounds can get infected
and become life threatening if they are not properly cleaned with soap at the
earliest possible opportunity.
5. Disease control: Soap is extremely valuable in preventing the spread of diseases
because you can wash the bed sheets, clothes, and eating utensils of the sick
person, and you can also give the sick person a daily bath or cleaning to help
neutralize any germs on the sick person’s body.
In developed countries most people take soap for granted until they don’t
have any, just like they take water, canning salt, socks, and shoes for granted.
When their soap is all gone people suddenly realize how important it really was.
Regardless of how much soap you may have stored for an emergency situation, it
will eventually be used up. At that time it would be useful if you knew how to
make really good soap from rainwater, campfire ashes, and animal fat.
The major difference between commercial soap and homemade soap is that homemade
soap does not lather or produce soap bubbles. However, soap bubbles are only
for visual appeal. Bubbles do not increase the cleaning power of soap. (Note:
It is possible to add bubbles to homemade soap and that procedure will be explained
below.)
(Note: Soap making lye crystals have been withdrawn from the market because they
were being used to make illegal drugs. Therefore, if you have an existing soap
recipe it will probably be of limited value because you can no longer purchase
lye crystals at your local grocery store or hardware store. However, if you follow
the instructions below you can still make good soap using lye water made the
old fashioned way.)
BASIC SOAP MAKING EQUIPMENT:
A cook
pot made of stainless steel, or cast iron, or enamelware, or heat-tempered
glass, or a clay-fired cooking pot. Aluminum and tin and Teflon coated pots are
not acceptable because the soap making lye will adversely react with these materials.
The cook pot should be at least twice the size of the batch of soap you intend
to make. Generally, a one-gallon or four-quart cook pot will be more than adequate
as a soap making pot. (Note: You may use the same pot for soap making and cooking.
Just wash the pot when you are finished making soap. Some soap recipes suggest
having a special pot just for soap making but this is not necessary, in my opinion.
You are just making soap in the pot, and it will be the same soap you use later
to wash the pot after you cook a meal.)
A long spoon made of stainless steel or wood. If necessary, an old wood broom
handle or a big stick may be used to stir the soap if nothing else is available.
A glass
measuring cup. You can use a plastic measuring cup but the concentrated
brown lye water may permanently discolor the inside of the measuring cup. (Note:
If you don’t have a measuring cup, then use approximately 2.5 times the
amount of melted grease as concentrated brown lye water.)
Some type of mold to pour the soap mixture into so it can harden into a bar of
soap. For example, you could make a soap mold out of a large empty
kitchen matchbox by lining it with plastic food wrap.
Or you could use the small black plastic serving trays that contain frozen dinner
meals, such as a single serving lasagna meal. The soap mold container should
be at least 1 to 1.5 inches deep.
A thermometer
is
optional because soap was made for centuries before the thermometer was invented.
If you wish to use a thermometer, then select a cooking or meat or candy thermometer
that will show temperatures from a minimum of 70ºF to at least 140ºF. An instant-read
thermometer works exceptionally well.
Almost anyone can make good soap if he or she has a little patience and is willing
to begin on a small scale in order to gain practice and experience.
GRANDPAPPY’S HOMEMADE SOAP RECIPE:
(Yields two large eleven-ounce bars of soap or a total of 22 ounces of soap by
weight. This is equivalent to approximately four normal bars of store-bought
soap.)
3/4 cup of concentrated brown lye water. Normal strength brown lye water can
be made by pouring rainwater through the cold ashes of any hardwood fire. Detailed
instructions for making concentrated brown lye water are at the end of this article.
Two cups of melted grease. Any type of animal fat may be melted into grease,
such as beef, pork, lamb, goat, bear, beaver, opossum, raccoon, groundhog, etc.
Only use the fat because lean meat will not make soap. Do not use any lean meat.
Ordinary vegetable oil or grease may be used instead, but vegetable oil or grease
has more valuable uses than making soap. Detailed instructions for melting animal
fat into grease are at the end of this article. Beef tallow is a hard fat and
it makes a hard soap that cleans really well. Pork lard is a soft fat and it
may be used in a ratio of up to 75% with a hard fat. A mixture of half-tallow
and half-lard is usually recommended to achieve a good all-purpose soap. (Note:
If you do not have access to animal fat, then you can ask the employees in the
fresh meat section of your local grocery store if they have any beef fat or pork
fat for sale.)
(Note: You should reduce the above quantities by one-half when you first attempt
to make soap. This will give you the opportunity to gain confidence and experience
on a small scale. You may use the above quantities, or any multiple thereof,
for future soap making efforts depending on how much soap you wish to make in
one batch.)
THE SIX SOAP MAKING STEPS:
STEP ONE: Mix the concentrated brown lye water and the grease, stir thoroughly,
and give the chemical reaction between 30 minutes to 3 hours to gradually take
place. Be patient.
This is the most important step in making soap.
The concentrated brown lye water (or lye crystals) used in soap making can hurt
you. Be careful when handling the lye. Wear rubber gloves to protect your skin
from the lye. If some lye solution gets on your skin, wash it off immediately
with soap and water. Lye is caustic and it will permanently disfigure Formica
counter tops, kitchen tables, and other nice furniture, even if you wipe it off
the surface immediately. Be careful when handling lye and do not let it splash
or spill or bubble over onto your kitchen furniture or onto your floor.
Concentrated brown lye water is normally used at room temperature unless the
room is unusually cool or cold (below 75ºF). If necessary, heat the concentrated
brown lye water to between 80ºF to 130ºF in a separate cook pot. The temperature
is not critical as long as it is not too hot. The purpose of using warm lye water
is to help maintain a warm soap mixing temperature inside the soap mixing pot.
Put the grease into a separate small melting pot and then put the pot on the
stove over very low heat. Do not heat the grease to the smoking point. If you
see smoke then you are burning the grease. Melt all the grease and then allow
it to cool back down to 90ºF for pork lard, or to 130ºF for beef tallow, or to
110ºF for a combination of tallow and lard. Do not allow the grease to harden
while it is waiting to be added to the soap mixture. The grease must be melted
when it is added to the soap mixture, and it should be relatively warm. The temperature
does not have to be exact, but the grease must be warm and fully melted.
Pour one cup of the melted grease into the big soap making pot. Slowly pour 3/8
cup of the concentrated brown lye water into the soap making pot. Stir the mixture
for three-minutes. The mixture will look like brown
soup with white streaks in it. Add another cup of grease and another
3/8 cup of concentrated brown lye water and stir thoroughly and continuously
for about 15 minutes. The grease and lye must be completely and thoroughly blended
together to make soap. If the mixture is not thoroughly blended then the mixture
will separate later and you will not get a good soap.
(Note: You can use a manual hand-cranked blender to speed up the mixing process
and reduce the amount of time it takes for the chemical reaction between the
grease and the lye to be completed. However, this method does require a little
practice and experience because it can also result in what is called a “false
trace” which is described in Step Two below.)
(Note: If you increase the original recipe to make larger batches of soap, you
should still slowly and gradually mix the grease and concentrated brown lye water
together at the rate of one cup of grease to 3/8 cup of concentrated brown lye
water until all the grease and lye water has been added to the soap making pot.
By adding the ingredients gradually and mixing thoroughly each time, you can
avoid a separation problem later in the process.)
When you are not stirring the soap mixture, cover the soap mixing pot with a
towel to help conserve the heat inside the mixing pot. Remove the towel if you
need to add a little heat to the mixing pot, and then replace the towel when
you turn off the heat.
This part of the soap making process normally takes between thirty minutes to
three hours if you are using grease made from animal fat. During this time the
soap mixture needs to remain slightly warm and just above the temperature at
which the grease normally hardens. This is where an instant read thermometer
is useful. If the mixture begins to cool too quickly, then add just a little
bit of heat to the soap mixing pot until the temperature of the soap mixture
is between 90ºF to 130ºF, depending on the type of grease you are using (pork
lard melts at 85ºF and beef tallow melts at 125ºF), and then turn off the heat.
(Note: Do not cook the soap mixture and do not heat it to the boiling point.
Although additional heat will speed up the chemical reaction it can also cause
potential separation problems later in the process.)
Be patient and wait for the chemical reaction to gradually take place at its
very slow normal speed. Once every ten or fifteen minutes stir the soap mixture
vigorously for one-minute to facilitate a more complete mixing of the lye and
the grease. Vigorous stirring means fast and smooth stirring. Do not splash the
soap mixture onto the sides of the mixing pot. When you begin stirring the mixture
after a ten or fifteen minute rest, you will notice that the brown lye water
and the grease are still partially separated because you will be able to see
streaks of color in the soap mixture as you stir. However, as you stir vigorously
for one minute you should attempt to combine the lye and grease into a solid
color so there are very few or no streaks in the mixture. Then you may stop stirring
and wait for another ten or fifteen minutes.
Each time you make a new batch of soap you may or may not encounter one of the
following two problems. These problems may occur because your concentrated brown
lye water may be just a little stronger or a little weaker than what you used
in your previous batch of soap. You may also encounter one of the following problems
if you use a different type of animal fat, or combination of animal fats, than
you normally use. The exact amount of concentrated brown lye water that is required
will be slightly different depending on the type of animal fat you are using.
Problem One: If a layer of grease forms on top of the mixture, then check the
temperature of the soap mixture and make sure it is above the temperature that
the grease normally solidifies, which is 125ºF for 100% beef tallow, or 85ºF
for 100% pork lard, or 110ºF for a 50-50 blend of tallow and lard. If the top
layer of grease is simply due to a cold soap mixture, then heat the mixture just
a little bit and stir the grease back into the mixture. However, if the soap
mixture was already at a reasonably warm temperature, then heat the soap mixture
just a little, then turn off the heat, and then add 5% more of the concentrated
brown lye water, and stir the soap mixture thoroughly for ten minutes.
Problem Two: If the mixture does not thicken properly after three hours, then
heat the soap mixture just a little, then turn off the heat, and then add 10%
more melted warm grease, and stir the warm grease thoroughly into the soap mixture
for ten minutes.
(Note: It takes time for the concentrated brown lye water and the grease to combine
together chemically to make soap. Depending on the type of animal fat or grease
you are using, it may take as much as twenty-four hours. If you are using vegetable
grease or oils, it can take several days. The most difficult part of Step One
is to be patient if the chemical reaction is going slowly, and not ruin your
batch of soap by adding too much lye water or too much grease in an effort to
get the soap mixture to Step Two more quickly. Waiting patiently does not hurt
the chemical reaction. Adding too much of the wrong thing can upset the chemical
balance.)
When the soap mixture is a solid
cream or solid light brown color that displays no streaks when it is first stirred
after
a ten-minute rest, and it is the consistency of thick gravy or soft pudding,
then you can test it using one of the methods in Step Two below.
STEP TWO: Verify the soap mixture is warm enough and that it is ready to be poured
into the molds using one (or both) of the following two test methods.
The grease will gradually thicken if the temperature of the soap mixture gets
too low. This will make you will think the chemical reaction is complete, when
in fact it is not. This is called a “false trace.” Therefore you
must verify the soap mixture is still above the melting point of whatever grease
you are using before you test the mixture using either (or both) of the following
two methods. The minimum soap mixture temperature is 125ºF for 100% beef tallow,
or 85ºF for 100% pork lard, or 110ºF for a 50-50 blend of tallow and lard. If
your soap mixture temperature is above the minimum, then it is ready to be tested.
(Note: If the soap mixture is below the minimum temperature, or if you do not
have a thermometer, then add a little heat to the soap mixture and see if the
soap mixture melts back into a fat and lye solution that separates into different
colors when stirred gently. If the mixture does show streaks of different colors,
then continue to add very low heat for two minutes, stir the mixture vigorously,
and then turn off the heat and cover the pot with a towel and return to the instructions
for Step One.)
Test Method One: Use a spoon to lift a little of the soap mixture about one-inch
above the top surface of the mixture, and then allow one drop to fall back onto
the top of the mixture. If the surface of the mixture will support the drop for
a moment, then the soap is done.
Test Method Two: Try to draw a medium thick line in the top of the soap mixture
with the front tip of your spoon. If you can see the line, then the soap is done.
This is called “tracing.”
(Note: When the mixture “traces” the chemical reaction between the
lye and the grease is approximately 90% complete. However, the final 10% will
happen very, very slowly and it will take another 3 to 7 weeks. The soap will
not be ready for use until the chemical reaction has been 100% completed.)
STEP THREE: (Optional Step) - Add Color and Fragrance.
If you wish, you may add color and/or fragrance at this time. However, in my
opinion, it is generally not worth the effort. Soap is a consumable item and
when it is used up it is gone. Investing time and energy to make the soap more
colorful or more fragrant has marginal value if you are simply going to use your
soap yourself. On the other hand, if are considering the sale of your soap for
a profit then color, shape, and smell are important marketing factors. However,
do not use commercial perfumes or alcohol-based solutions. Adding a fragrance
or color that is not compatible with the soap making chemical process may ruin
your batch of soap. Pure essential oils or herbal solutions are preferred, if
you chose to use them. Stir them thoroughly and completely into the soap mixture
and then proceed to step 4.
STEP FOUR: Pour the soap into the soap molds and let the soap rest for seven
days.
Any container can be used as a soap mold, such as cupcake pans, small boxes,
or any other type of container. Lightly grease the inside of the containers.
Or place aluminum foil or plastic food wrap inside a small cardboard box, such
as an empty kitchen matchbox. The small
black plastic serving trays that contain a frozen dinner meal, such
as a single serving lasagna meal, make really nice soap molds if you wash them
out first. The soap molds need to be at least 1 to 1.5 inches deep because
the soap mixture needs to retain its heat during the initial phase of this
step and if the mold is too shallow it will lose its heat too quickly.
In the old days our ancestors would use a thin damp towel to line the inside
of whatever container they were using as a soap mold. When the soap finished
curing, the towel permitted the easy removal of the soap from the mold.
Today the best way to line the inside of a mold is to use plastic food wrap.
The plastic food wrap will not react with the soap while the chemical reaction
continues to its completion, and it provides a very easy way to remove the
soap from the mold when the soap is done.
The soap mixture should be above the minimum melting point temperature for
the type of grease you are using.
Pour the warm soap mixture into the molds and then put the soap
molds in a warm location.
Immediately cover the soap molds with a thick cloth or blanket to prevent the
heat from escaping too quickly. Do not let the cloth or blanket make contact
with the soap in the molds. The blanket should simply provide a cover to help
keep the molds warm.
Allow the soap to rest in the soap molds for one day. Then remove the towel.
Let the soap continue to rest in the soap molds uncovered for six additional
days.
If you peek at your soap during the first day while the soap is covered inside
the molds, the soap may look strange depending on what stage of cooling the
soap is in. Do not worry. Be patient and wait for the chemical reaction to
run its normal course.
During most of this seven-day period the soap may be relatively soft and it
will not have the hard consistency you expect from soap. This is normal. Remember
to be patient.
STEP FIVE: After a total of seven days, remove the soap from the molds.
If you used a hard fat that melts at a higher temperature, such as beef, or
goat, or lamb, then the soap will probably be firm enough to be easily removed
from the molds. However, if you used a soft fat, such as pork, or some combination
of soft fats such as chicken or pork mixed with a hard fat, then your soap
may not be firm enough for it to be easily extracted from the molds. If your
soap feels soft like a firm pudding then put it in the refrigerator for two
hours and it should then be firm enough to be removed from the molds.
Turn the soap mold upside down and the
soap should
fall out, if the soap mold was lightly greased or if the mold was lined with
aluminum foil or plastic food wrap. If the soap does not fall out of the mold,
and you are using flexible plastic molds, then flex the sides and bottom of
the mold to loosen the soap from the mold so it can release and fall out. If
necessary, you can use a thin bladed knife to separate the soap from the sides
of the mold and then gently help the soap out of the mold. (Note: If you used
plastic food wrap to line the inside of your soap mold then you will not encounter
this problem.)
If you wish to cut the soap into smaller bars, then use a sharp thin knife,
such as a serrated steak knife, or use a thin fine wire to saw through the
soap. At this time the soap should still be relatively soft, similar to cheese,
and it can be divided into smaller sizes if you wish.
If there are any imperfections, lines, or tiny cracks in the exterior surface
of the soap, you may smooth them out with your fingers at this time.
STEP SIX: Air dry the bar soap for 2 to 6 weeks.
After removing the soap from its mold, allow the bar soap to dry in a warm
dry dark place for two to six weeks before using it. If you really need your
soap, then you could start using it after the second week. But if you want
the best possible soap, then allow it to air dry for the full six weeks.
Cover a dish or large serving tray with some plastic food wrap, and then stack
your soap on the dish in a manner that will allow as much air as possible to
reach each bar of soap. Do not stack one bar of soap directly on top of another
bar of soap. Do not put the soap in direct sunlight or in a moist area. The
longer the bar soap ages the harder it will become and the better it will perform
when used as soap. During this time any remaining water in the soap will gradually
evaporate, and any remaining lye will gradually blend in with the surrounding
grease. However, if your soap is brown lye water heavy, then it will leak out
of your soap onto the dish during the first day and you will see a small puddle
of brown lye water around your soap. If this happens, then drain off the excess
brown lye water so it does not have an opportunity to be reabsorbed into your
current batch of soap. You should also consider the addition of about 10% more
grease to your next batch of soap at the beginning of Step One.
After six weeks, put the bars of soap into an air-tight container, or wrap
them in plastic wrap, or put them in a plastic food storage bag. Depending
on your local climate conditions, this will either prevent the soap from drying
out, or it will prevent the soap from absorbing moisture from humid air.
When you remove your bar of soap from storage it may have a thin layer of white
powder on it, which is the result of the air reacting with any lye on the outside
surface of the soap. This thin layer of powder will contain some lye and it
needs to be removed from the surface of the soap. Just rinse the powder off
and forget about it.
You may also discover that the first two or three times you use the soap to
wash your hands that it does not work very well. This is because the soap needs
a brief adjusting period after making its first initial contact with water.
After the soap has been in brief contact with water a few times, and rubbed,
and allowed to dry, it will start to behave like normal soap and clean very
well, with one exception. Homemade soap does not lather the way ordinary store
bought soap lathers. Bubbles are not necessary for a soap to be effective.
Bubbles only add visual appeal.
(Note: If you are going to sell your soap for a profit, then you should dip
the bar of soap in water and allow it to air dry several times to pre-condition
the soap for your customers. This will help to reduce the number of customer
complaints about your soap not working the way it should.)
You can test the quality of a finished bar of soap by shaving it with a sharp
knife. If it crumbles, it contains too much lye, but it will still be very
effective as a good laundry soap. Good all-purpose bar soap will curl slightly
when shaved with a sharp knife blade. Keep a written record of your soap making
results and make minor adjustments as required on your next batch of soap.
