Homemade Lye Soap

Letter Re: How to Make Lye Soap

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As a former soap company owner and operator, I enjoyed the article on soap making (How to Make Lye Soap, posted on November 30, 201.) However, for safety's sake, I would like to caution your readers regarding some of the statements made in the article:

1. The author’s instructions say to “Heat the water to 110° F. Add the lye to the water.” This is a dangerous suggestion. The chemical reaction caused when lye combines with water causes even room temperature water to heat up almost to the boiling point. Starting with overly-warm water could (and probably would, depending on room temperature) cause the lye solution to literally boil—a potentially catastrophic occurrence. I always use room temperature (or colder) distilled water then, after sprinkling and stirring in the lye, allow the water to cool down to between 100 and 110 before combining it with the warmed oils.

2. The author also says that the lye water can be combined with the warmed oils in a blender. Although, technically, this is true (and I’m sure there are many experienced soap makers who use a blender), the batch of soap would need to be very small to stay within the blender’s capacity while operating. Most of us have had a blender accident at one time or another by either overfilling the blender or realizing (too late) that the lid wasn’t security in place. It’s one thing to have applesauce or a milkshake sprayed around the room, but toxic and dangerous lye water spraying around your kitchen (and on you) would be a scary scene, indeed. Personally, I would never use a blender for making soap. Instead, I use a stainless steel pot and either a wooden spoon or a stick blender (make sure the blades are stainless steel) to combine the lye water and oils.

3. Your readers need to be aware that each oil requires a different amount of lye to be turned into soap (a process called saponification). Some oils require more lye than others. Too little lye for the type of oils used means that the mixture won’t turn into soap; too much lye and you’ve got a hot (overly alkaline) bar of soap that can potentially hurt the skin of the ultimate user. Here’s an example of what I mean: One pound of olive oil requires approximately 2 ounces of lye to properly saponify; however, one pound of coconut oil requires nearly 3 ounces (suggested amounts can vary depending on the amount of water used in the recipe). The problem is magnified if you are making a larger batch (and really, making soap is messy enough that you’ll want to make larger batches). When it comes to lye, one size does not fit all. Fortunately, free lye calculators are available online from a number of web sites, including Majestic Mountain Sage, Brambleberry, and SoapCalc.

Soap making can be a rewarding and creative skill to master, but I encourage anyone who is interested in making soap to learn the basics by reading a good soap making book, such as The Soapmakers Companion by Susan Miller Cavitch or Soap Maker’s Workshop: The Art and Craft of Natural Homemade Soap by Robert S. McDaniel and Katherine J. McDaniel. By the way, Robert McDaniel is a scientist who explains not only what to do when making soap, but why.

How to Make Lye Soap, by Masquita

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WARNING: Lye is highly caustic and will degrade organic tissue. Do not allow lye to touch your skin, breathe in the fumes or be taken internally in any way. It will cause chemical burns, permanent scarring or blindness. Do not ever combine lye with aluminum, magnesium, zinc, tin, chromium, brass or bronze. When using or making lye, always wear protective equipment including safety glasses and chemical resistant gloves, and have adequate ventilation.
 
 
Basic homemade lye soap is useful for so much more than cleaning up the language of wayward children. Grandma used to rub it on dirty stains before washing. It is very soothing to sensitive skin, since the glycerin contained in homemade soap helps to clear acne, eczema and psoriasis. It eliminates the “human scent” on hunters. When rubbed on a poison oak, ivy or sumac reaction it will cool the itching when allowed to dry. Grandma used to tie a bar in an old sock and hang it on the porch as a bug repellent, and spread the scrapings around the base of the house to repel ants, termites, snakes, spiders and roaches. It was often used as a lubricant on machinery, drawers, and hinges.
 
Soap was discovered in Ancient Babylon as early as 2800 BC. It is thought to have been made for the first time when grease from the cooking pot boiled over and combined with the ashes from the camp fire. Our forefathers picked up the resulting soap and found that it was a good tool to keep themselves clean. Modern soap was made in regular practice as early as 300 AD in Germany .
 
The Saponification process
In its simplest form, soap is made from oil or fat, water and lye. Now, we buy concentrated lye and dissolve it in water before combining it with oil, but before modern lye could be bought at the store, people would take the hardwood ashes from their cookstove, store it in an old carved out tree or wooden barrel, and then pour rainwater through it to make the lye. They would test the strength of the lye by floating an egg in it. Then they would pour the lye into the warmed fat and stir it. When the fat and lye are combined, a chemical reaction takes place. There is no lye or fat left—they are combined to make something called soap.
 
Store bought lye is known as Sodium Hydroxide since it has more salt than does homemade lye, which is called Potassium Hydroxide. Sodium Hydroxide makes a much harder soap than Potassium Hydroxide. To make a harder soap out of homemade lye, add ½ tsp. of table salt for each pound of fat.
 
Tallow (beef fat), lard (pork fat) or vegetable oils can be used as the base for soap. These fats are called triglycerides. When the triglyceride is treated with lye, it rapidly forms the ester bond and releases glycerol (glycerin), the natural byproduct of saponification. Most homemade soap contains glycerin, which is why it’s so good for the skin; many commercial operations remove it for other applications.
 
 
Making the Lye
Lye making requires hardwood ash. Hardwoods include any fruit or nut trees and any of the following:  Alder, Apple, Ash, Aspen , Beech, Birch, Cherry, Cottonwood, Dogwood, Elm, Gum, Hickory , Locust, Maple, Oak, Olive, Pear, Poplar, Rosewood, Walnut, or Willow . Softwoods are to be avoided for this function: Cedar, Spruce, Pine, Fir, Hemlock, or Cypress .
 
In a wooden barrel or hollow tree, drill some holes in the very bottom, then set it up on a stand to allow room below for a pot to catch the lye water. Some people make a barrel with a removable plug which they remove after letting the water sit in the ash.  Under the stand, set a wooden or glass pot to catch the drip.
 
In the barrel, put first a layer of gravel, then a layer of straw or dried grass. Fill up the barrel with hardwood ash. When you are ready to make the lye, pour rainwater or other soft water through the ash. The minerals in hard water will interfere with the chemical reaction between the lye and the fat. The water may take up to a few days to drain through. The spent ashes can be composted or added to the garden.
 
In a specified purpose soap-making pot such as cast iron, boil the lye until a fresh, in-shell egg will float on top, with about half of the egg still above the surface of the lye. If it’s too high, add more water, if it won’t float, it needs to cook down a lot more or else be poured through a new batch of ashes. The egg will need to be destroyed after use. Another test of the lye strength is to dip a bird feather in it, and if it dissolves, the lye is strong enough. Don’t test it with your finger; if it’s strong enough, it will eat off the skin.
 
Rendering The Fat
After the animal (beef or pork) is butchered, take the fat and skin that you set aside and fill a heavy bottomed pot. Pork is the preferred fat for soapmaking. It’s best to render it outside so as to not stink up the house. We have used a homemade propane burner on legs, with a funnel to channel the air to make the flame hotter. Something similar could be made to use with wood heat. Simmer the fat in the pot, then ladle the liquid fat out of the cooking pot. We killed a 400 lb. hog and got about 10 gallons of rendered fat.
 
Making Soap—The Cold Process
If using commercially produced lye, it’s possible to use a cold process, where you warm the fat and dissolve the lye in water, then add the lye water to the fat and put in a blender and mix it, then pour into a mold. The emulsification starts when it “traces” with a spoon dragged over the rippled mixture.  It has to set for 6 weeks in the mold to be properly mixed.
 
1 lb. Commercial Lye soap recipe
¼ c. commercially produced lye
¾ c. soft water
2 c. (1 lb.) fat
 
6 lb. Commercial Lye soap recipe
13 oz commercially produced lye
1 ½ pt. soft water
12 c. (6 lb.) fat
 
Instructions: Suit up in safety goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Heat the water to 110°F. Add the lye to the water. Stir well, making sure you don’t breathe in the fumes. Set the mixture aside to cool, preferably outside or in a well ventilated area.
 
Melt all the oils together in a lye tolerant pan. Allow them to cool to approximately 110°F or within 5° of the lye water.
 
Add the lye water to the melted oils, never the oil to the lye water. Stir vigorously until “trace” occurs. This can be done in a blender if you so desire. If you are stirring by hand, it may take an hour or more for it to trace.
 
Pour the traced soap mixture into your molds. Cover. Cut after 3-7 days. Allow to sit for a full 6 weeks to cure and finish the saponification process.
 
 
Making Soap—The Cooked Process
It isn’t recommended to use homemade lye with the cold process. The cooked-down lye water is added to the fat and then mixed as it cooks. The reactive time is shorter, since the mixing is done in the pot instead of setting in the mold. It still needs to set for four weeks or so to harden.
 
1 lb. Homemade Lye soap recipe
¾ c. lye water
½ tsp. salt
2 c. fat
 
6 lb. Homemade Lye soap recipe
4 ½ c. lye water
1 Tbsp. salt
12 c. (6 lb.) fat
 
The amount of lye will vary, depending on its strength. This is a starting measurement. The old timers would mix it up and see how well it set. If it was still watery, they’d add more lye and cook it some more. If it set up too hard, they’d add more water, because they didn’t want the soap to crack.
 
Mix the lye water, salt and fat in the pot. They need to be about the same temperature. The mixture is then heated and stirred until the emulsification (trace) happens. The heating and stirring enables adjustment of the amount of fat or lye, but nothing should be added until it is well heated. Pour into the mold. Cover. Cut after 3-7 days. Allow to harden 4-6 weeks.
 
Additives
Essential oils can be added to the fats before the lye is added. You can choose your own combination. The amount of essential oils needs to be part of the total amount of fat, so the soap isn’t made soft from too much oil. Botanicals, herbs, oatmeal, citrus peels, or any other desired additives can be added after the soap traces, and then it can be poured into the mold.
 
Molds
No metal should be used as a soap mold. It’s best to use a flexible material such as plastic, for ease of removal. I mostly search thrift stores for old plastic storage boxes. The old-timers made wooden molds with removable bottoms. Or you can line a glass mold with plastic wrap before pouring in the soap.
 
Once you’ve used homemade lye soap, you’ll never go back to the store bought stuff. It sounds like a lot of work, but it’s so much better than anything found on a store shelf.

Alternative Energy Sources For Emergencies

Alternative Energy Sources For Emergencies, by Smiledr

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Being in preparedness mode opens your eyes to a number of factors, not just Beans, Bullets and Band-Aids. As a battalion coordinator for the Los Angeles Fire Department's CERT program, I was asked to give a presentation on Alternative Energy sources for an emergency situation. My research into this was very enlightening, and I found a number of great ideas. This does not encompass everything available, but it is fairly thorough.

So, why Alternative Energy? In an emergency, such as a major earthquake, there can be a loss of power, gas and water. If it is a short-term problem e.g. a couple of days, then no big deal. But what if it is two weeks, or even longer before gas, electrical and water services are restored? Being prepared for such a scenario is just one more area that will make our lives, as well as our families lives easier in the event of such an emergency

There are three areas of Alternative Energy that we need to be concerned with in an emergency: Heat, Cooking and Electricity. The first, heat, means staying warm in your home or shelter and is a huge priority. Once you get cold, survival can become extremely difficult.   Wearing warm clothes, wearing layers, and being prepared for rain, are the very basics. Have blankets and well-made sleeping bags for nighttime when the temperatures drop. (Wiggy’s makes a Flexible Temperature Range Sleep System (FTRSS) which is similar to what the the U.S. military uses.)

Fireplaces- These are designed more for show, and traditional open masonry fireplaces should not be considered heating devices. Traditional fireplaces draw in as much as 300 cubic feet per minute have heated room air for combustion, and then send it straight up the chimney. Although some fireplace designs seek to address these issues with dedicated air supplies, glass doors, and heat recovery systems, fireplaces are still energy losers. When burning a fire, you should turn your heat down or off and open a window near the fireplace. 

Fireplace Inserts - Only high-efficiency fireplace inserts have proven effective in increasing the heating efficiency of older fireplaces. Essentially, the inserts function like woodstoves, fitting into the masonry fireplace or on its hearth, and use the existing chimney.  A well-fitted fireplace insert can function nearly as efficiently as a woodstove.  Studies have shown that proper installation of fireplace inserts is very important.  Inserts should be as airtight as possible. The more airtight it is, the easier it is to control the fire and the heat output.

Wood Stoves and Pellet Stoves - Wood stoves are the most common appliance for burning wood. New catalytic stoves and inserts have advertised efficiencies of 70%–80%.  Advanced combustion woodstoves provide a lot of heat but only work efficiently when the fire burns at full throttle. Also known as secondary burn stoves, they can reach temperatures of 1,100°F—hot enough to burn combustible gases   These stoves have several components that help them burn combustible gases, as well as particulates, before they can exit the chimney. Components include a metal channel that heats secondary air and feeds it into the stove above the fire. This heated oxygen helps burn the volatile gases above the flames without slowing down combustion. While many older stoves only have an air source below the wood, the secondary air source in advanced combustion stoves offers oxygen to the volatile gases escaping above the fire. With enough oxygen, the heated gases burn as well.

Pellet Burning Stoves - Pellet fuel appliances burn small, 3/8–inch (100–254 millimeter [mm])-long pellets that look like rabbit feed. The pellets are made from compacted sawdust, wood chips, bark, agricultural crop waste, waste paper, and other organic materials. Some models can also burn nutshells, corn kernels, and small wood chips. They are more convenient to operate and have much higher combustion and heating efficiencies than ordinary wood stoves or fireplaces. However, they do require a supply of pellets, and electricity.  A pellet stove is often cheaper to install than a cordwood-burning heater. Many can be direct-vented and do not need an expensive chimney or flue. As a result, the installed cost of the entire system may be less than that of a conventional wood stove. Pellet fuel appliances are available as freestanding stoves or fireplace inserts. Freestanding units resemble conventional cordwood heaters in that they generally heat a single room well, but not adjacent rooms unless you use a fan to force the warm air into those other spaces. There are also fireplace inserts that fit into existing fireplaces. Because they require electricity for their pellet conveyers and for their fans, pellet stoves are NOT a good choice for disaster survival unless you have a fairly capable alternative energy system with a battery bank and have the dry storage space for a large stockpile of pellets.

Space Heaters - There are 3 basic types of space Heaters:
Electric Space Heaters, Propane (or natural gas) Space Heaters and Kerosene Space Heaters.
Electric Space Heaters are the most commonly seen by most of us. They do a pretty good job at heating up a room.  The problem is that you have to have back up electricity of some type to make them run. They are good for the short term if you have a back up system, but can be draining on back up batteries. Next are the Gas or Propane Space Heaters.  They run on Propane or White Gas and don’t require any electricity. They will run on your barbeque propane tank, or other sources of natural or propane gas. These heaters have to be properly vented, and can be very dangerous used indoors without proper venting.    The last type of Space heater is the Kerosene Space Heater. It uses a wick that soaks up kerosene (only K-1 kerosene) from a refillable tank.
These heaters have double the heating capacity of an electric heater -- ideal for heating large areas. You should look for a model with an automatic shut-off feature

Space Heater Safety - When using space heaters, it's important to be aware of the risks involved and how to prevent accidents. Here are some guidelines to follow to maximize your safety:  Select a space heater with a guard around the heating area to keep children, pets and clothing away from the heat source. Keep all flammable liquids away from the heater. Place the heater at least three feet away from bedding, furniture, curtains, or anything else that could fall on the heater and cause a fire. Never leave the heater unattended. Look for a heater that has been tested and certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory such as Underwriter's Laboratory. This way you can be sure that specific safety standards have been met.  If you use a heater that burns kerosene, LP, natural gas or wood, make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector installed on every floor of your house.  When purchasing natural gas or LP heaters, look for a model with an oxygen depletion sensor feature. These sensors will automatically shut the heater down when it detects the air is low on oxygen.

Cooking - Alternative methods to cook food and sterilize water may become necessary.
In the event of a major disaster or other Emergency, there may not be availability of gas or electric for cooking addition, due to possible water supply contamination, it may be necessary to boil water for drinking and possibly laundry.

There are a number of possible solutions to this problem. We will start with the simplest, and work from there.

Soda Can Stove - A beverage-can stove (or pop-can stove) is a homemade, ultra-light portable stove. The simple design is made entirely from cans (typically soft drink or beer cans) and burns alcohol, typically denatured. Countless variations on the basic design exist.  A ring of holes is pierced into the top with a pin. Parts are glued with high temperature epoxy or sealed with thermal foil tape. The total height is less than two inches (50 mm), though dimensions can be increased to hold more fuel or decreased to take up even less space.  This can be made by yourself, or purchased online for very cheap.  Another Alcohol Stove Option is the Vargo Titanium Alcohol stove which comes with a built-in pot stand. Note that these must be operated outdoors or in a very-well ventilated area!

Propane or White Gas Stoves - These are lightweight camping stoves that run on propane, butane or white gas.  They can be found online or at most backpacking and camping stores such as REI, Adventure 16 or even Sports Chalet or Sports Authority. These types of stoves rely on canisters of gas to work. My Favorite Mini Stove is The Jetboil, It is an ultra compact 1 liter unit that can quickly heat water for dehydrated or freeze-dried meals. The JetBoil Personal Cooking System (PCS) weighs about a pound.  It lights with the click of a button. It can bring two cups of water to a boil within two minutes (at sea level). Jetboil also makes the larger Group Jetboil system. This is sized for small groups of 2 to 3 and has a 1.5 liter fuel capacity.

Volcano II Collapsible Stove - This is a Tri-Fuel Stove that can use Charcoal, Wood or Propane for cooking. It is a very versatile cooking system: You can grill right on the stove or use a skillet or pot or even a Dutch oven. You can cook a meal with as few as 12 Charcoal Briquettes. A 20 lb bag of charcoal will cook 1 hot meal per day for several months. Overall, a really great, compact system. Note that these too must be operated outdoors or in a very-well ventilated area!

The Solar oven - For those who are very patient with a solar oven, if the sun is shining, you can cook.  Solar cooking is clean, it keeps the heat out of your kitchen, and it uses a free source of energy...the sun.  With solar cooking, you can’t start dinner at 5 pm because you’ve lost your source of fuel. Your best cooking hours are during midday. You may want to do what our ancestors did; have breakfast in the morning, a big meal in the afternoon and a light snack before bed. See SunOven.com for more information

Electricity - Keeping appliances going, lighting at night, Radio and television for information. If the grid goes down during an emergency, It could last an hour, 24 hours or weeks.
Power may come back on then go off again, as in a rolling brown out scenario.
It is important to have a number of alternatives for electrical needs.
You need to evaluate what it is you simply cannot do without that uses electricity, and plan accordingly.

Lighting - There are a number of options for your lighting needs.
The simplest solution to lighting issues is the use of candles. 120 hour emergency candles are a great start. There are also liquid candles, propane lanterns designed for camping and Kerosene lanterns.  Be sure to take appropriate precautions to avoid fires.

Flashlights and Batteries - Multiple flashlights are a good idea. LEDs will last much longer than traditional filament bulbs, and draw less current per lumen. If you have any lights with filaments bulbs, then sure to have plenty of spare bulbs. There are also LED lanterns available which are very convenient.
It is also a good idea to have a head lantern, this will allow you to work with both hands, so you don’t have to hold a flashlight.  Loads of batteries are a must.

Rechargeable Batteries - After much research I recommend the following: The Sanyo Eneloop battery comes fully charged up upon purchase and even after hundreds of charge-discharge cycles; it will retain 85% charged up capacity after 12 months. This means that you can charge up these batteries, put them away in your drawer or cupboard and in a year’s time when an emergency occurs, you can whip them out and they will still be charged up to 85% capacity. As well as this, Sanyo claim 1,000 recharges are possible before deterioration and the Eneloop is renowned for its long life even when consistently used in high drain devices such as digital cameras and transmitters.

Battery Charger
The ultimate small battery charger is the La Crosse Technology Battery Charger is a “smart” charger. It has sophisticated monitoring circuitry that controls the charging process, and it is also capable of “renewing” batteries by running full controlled discharge-recharge cycles. The charger shows battery voltage and charge status on its digital display.
It has four separate charge channels so you can charge one, two three or four batteries at a time – even on individual charge programs. This allows you to test one battery while charging the others. The package deal comes with four AA and four AAA batteries, four battery adapters (which convert AA sized battery to C and D sizes) and a carry case.
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Generators - Before you buy a generator, you need to figure out how much wattage you really need. You also need to decide where you are going to run the generator; it has to be in an open area. Having done some research on this I can give a couple recommendations. For a large generator, I'd suggest the Powerland Portable Generator.  It has 10,000 Watt Surge/8,000 Watt Continuous duty capability.  It is mounted on a steel frame with four point isolated motor mounts and has and oversize a muffler to reduce engine noise. These have a typical small power panel with a "low oil" warning light. They have a key start switch voltmeter circuit breaker and power outlets. Like most other generators, it has an idle control that holds a constant RPM.

On the smaller, quieter side is the Honeywell HW2000i Generator. This generator uses an inverter, which keeps voltage consistent and reduces the risk of damage to electronics such as computers and televisions.  It's great for emergency scenarios because it's relatively small, lightweight (58 pounds) and quiet. Two AC outlets and one DC outlet are included. But if you don't need to power electronics, you can get about twice as much power for the same price with a standard (non-inverter) generator.

Gas Generator Problems - Gasoline is not a fuel that professionals ever choose to use on emergency generators.  Hospitals and other large facilities "never" install gasoline powered emergency generators.  They always use natural gas or diesel.  Gasoline has a very limited shelf life and will actually cause engine failure.  Worst of all when power outages occur due to ice storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and all other disasters, the first commodity to be hoarded is gasoline.  The hurricanes that hit Florida were sad proof of that.  Propane, and especially natural gas, were more plentiful and just the ticket to keep the lights on and the crews working.    Unfortunately, as some have learned the hard way, if not used often enough, gasoline will gum up the carburetor and will render an engine on the emergency generator useless. If you have invested in an emergency generator, make sure that it runs when you need it the most.  Modify your emergency generator to run on propane or natural gas or even keep the gasoline option if you like and have the option to run all three fuels on the same engine

How to build the tri-fuel generator - Buy a Coleman Powermate Emergency Generator - (6,875 Watts Peak) or a similar generator.  Then buy a Low Pressure Tri-Fuel Type C Kit priced for most engine brands up to 12 h.p. These cost $187. They are available from Propane-Generators.com. Propane and natural gas can save you time, money and aggravation.  This do-it-yourself change over kit allows you to run your gasoline emergency generator on propane (LP Gas), natural gas, or all three. 
Propane and natural gas are truly backup fuels for a backup emergency generator.  Your engine will last longer, start better in cold weather and even start next year when you go to use it in an emergency.  The best part is, with one of these do-it-yourself kits you can change your engine from gasoline to propane or natural gas all by yourself.

Why use propane or natural gas to power my generator?
If you have propane available you know you can store propane for years because it does not gum up, or go bad like gasoline does.  You can use the 100# (24 gallon) cylinders, little barbeque grill type 20# cylinders, which is equivalent to 5 gallons of gasoline, or big tanks like 250, 500 and 1,000-gallon ASME tanks. If you have natural gas available you would certainly agree that it is probably the most dependable fuel on earth and virtually an unlimited supply.   It does not gum up or go stale like gasoline. 

Solar Panels - Photovoltaic panels with battery banks, charge controllers and inverters are available from a number of vendors. [JWR Adds: Be careful to size your system to match your power needs and be sure to do some thorough comparison pricing. Unless it you are buying a specialized transportable PV system, the bottom line is the cost per watt. There is at least one vendor that heavily advertises nationally using the phrase "Solar Backup Generator" that sells packaged systems with a very high price, per watt. The good news is that there are many reputable vendors out there that offer high quality equipment at competitive pricing. Some of these vendors advertise on SurvivalBlog.)]

As you can see, there are a lot of options out there. I haven’t covered everything, such as DC appliances, propane refrigerators, or making your own Bio diesel fuel. With a little research, you can set up a back up system for all of your energy needs.