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On the upcoming Saturday, 1 November, we will be having a soap making demonstration at our farm. This is an informal event with potluck food. We will be demonstrating the making of soap from potash lye, including how to collect the ash, leech the ash to extract the lye, and how to make liquid soap over the fire. Time allowing, we will talk about processing the liquid soap to make hard bars.
"Lye" comes in two forms, soda lye or "caustic soda" (NaOH) and potash lye or "caustic potash" (KOH). Store-bought lye is generally soda lye which makes hard bars of soap most easily with liquid soap taking extra processing. Most traditional soap-making, however (except in the few places where NaOH was naturally available) was made from potash lye which was obtained from wood ashes. This process yields a liquid soap most readily and requires reprocessing with salt (expensive) to make hard bars of soap. As a general rule, most farmsteads made a barrel or two of liquid soap every year for their own use and only made hard bars for sale and export. It is this process that we will demonstrate.
WARNING:Caustic potash is, well, "caustic," meaning it will cause severe chemical burns if mishandled. Fire is also, of course, potentially dangerous. We will take (and discuss) a number of precautions to avoid injury, but participate at your own risk. Unruly children, in particular, are a danger around the soap making process and any children must be under tight control at all times for their own safety. Anyone wishing to directly assist in the soap making shall be required to wear protective gloves and goggles and follow safety instructions. Anyone not willing to follow instructions will be asked to leave for the safety of themselves and others.
That being said, soap making can be an enjoyable and educating experience if the materials are handled with appropriate respect and caution. This was a process which used to occur every year on nearly every farm for centuries. Photos will be taken during the demonstration and some of the materials will be online after the event.
Hope to see you there. |
