My adventures in homesteading and self-sufficiency have been really fun for me most of the time. I was excited to try to make homemade soap from scratch just like homesteaders did long ago. I mean, soap is a necessity for survival long term. You eat on dishes, and you need to clean them with soap. Your clothes need cleaned, you need soap. You take a bath, yep – you need soap. It is a basic necessity and I decided to try to figure out the process.
To make homemade soap you need lye. What is lye you ask? Lye is an alkaline solution made from wood ash that will totally burn your skin if you get any on you. But when combined with a fat substance like lard or tallow you will get homemade soap through a chemical reaction.
I have already made homemade soap using lye that I purchased from the store and I love it. LOVE it people…I have none left from my first batch and need to make some more.
Pioneers from long ago made their own homemade lye using wood ash and rain water to leach the lye out of it. Here is an old article clip from a book about making soap from lye. It’s so interesting.
From researching online for a few days I read that I needed some river rocks, straw, wood ash, a barrel and rain water.
But it couldn’t be just any wood ash. It needed to be wood ash from a hard wood type of tree.
Problem is, I live in the city.
I have one baby apple tree in my yard and I wasn’t planning on chopping it down for this experiment. And you cannot just go down to the grocery store and buy the wood bundles they sell there because at least in our area they are all pine, which is not a hard wood. A hard wood would be oak, maple, apple, cherry etc.
I searched on craigslist and saw people selling firewood bundles but everyone I called only had soft wood types for sale. We do have orchards around my area and a guy from my church said he would bring me some. But then he moved away and I never received it. Drats.
It was not looking good for me.
Then this past June I was able to visit my parents in Missouri. They live on 30 acres full of trees. And guess what? They were oak and maple trees…woo hoo! So I asked my Dad if he would gather some branches and make me some ash to take back to Washington.
So he did. He loves me I tell ya. We burned a whole wheelbarrow full of wood. And it was awesome, a great night for a bonfire. This was the highlight of making lye for me. Spending time with my papa around a fire.
The next morning the branches were all burned down to a fine white ash as you can see in this picture. I bagged it up in a gallon sized bag. I was hoping I could get it onto the plane home without them thinking I was carrying drugs or something. But as it went through the scanners and checks, nothing happened at all. So for future reference – you can bring wood ash aboard a plane. I know you will all be relieved to know that.
When I got home I got really busy with homesteading and gardening tasks, and didn’t get around to making lye until a few weeks ago.
My first step was to drill a small hole into a plastic bin. Apparently you should check to see if your plastic bin is strong enough to keep the lye by pouring boiling water in it to see if it ruins or melts it real bad. I didn’t do this…I guess I am a risk taker. That or just lazy. Yeah, probably lazy.
Next I added a cork to the small hole.
Then I took it outside to start filling the lye container with rocks and straw.
First layer was some river rocks.
Second layer I added 6 inches of straw.
Then I sprinkled my wood ash on top of the straw.
To make it easy later to get the lye out of the container, I put my bin on top of some logs.
Then I poured the water over the ash. I didn’t have rain water..I live in the desert and there wasn’t any rain for the past month so I bought a few gallons of distilled water.
Poured it over until the water came out the hole – which was pretty much instantly. Then I plugged up the hole with the cork.
I allowed it to sit there for 3 days. After 3 days you should have lye.
The above picture is how it looked before the 3 days. And this picture is how it looked after the 3 days.
I opened the cork to release the liquid into a bowl.
And then plugged the cork back in, using gloves of course.
Next it was testing time. Time to see if my lye is strong enough to make soap with.
You can test with a chicken feather – if it dissolves then your lye is ready.
Or you can drop an egg in there and see if it floats.
My egg did not float. My feather did not dissolve.
So I poured the liquid back in and waited 3 more days.
Still the same result. I waited a few more days again. Same thing. Waited 7 days. Nothin.
I failed at making lye.
I probably needed more ash or something. I have no idea of why it didn’t work. Maybe it’s because I used distilled water instead of rain water. Not sure. Either way I was really frustrated.
I decided to just give up. I didn’t want to deal with trying to find more ash and real rainwater. It’s just too easy to go an buy some lye from the hardware store instead. I almost didn’t even post this because who really wants to read about failure? I seem to have a whole lot of failures, but it’s what keeps me appreciating when I have successes I suppose.
You can bet that if there was a zombie apocolyspe or something I would totally be trying this again in the wild. But for now I will be buying lye at the store for $3.99. Maybe I will even buy a few extras to store now that I know how hard it is to make.
I hope you enjoyed this post on how NOT to make homemade lye. Let me know if you have ever successfully made lye yourself (and tell me what you think I did wrong?)
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Lori Mulligan Davis says
This blog post is a great example of how posting a “fail” can benefit all when helpful commenters share excellent solutions. I learned a great deal from your attempt and the shared experience of your well-meaning commenters. Thank you.
Mitch Comestein says
When I was a kid I would get an empty Maxwell house can, poke a small hole in the bottom with a nail, and fill it with packed wood ashes till about 1″ from top of can. Then I would add hot water and let it leach out the bottom hole into a cup. Put the water in the top, let it soak in, add more throughout the day until you get about a cup of lye. Then we would get that lye and put it on worms and watch them sizzle. So there you go, another test to see if your wood ash lye is strong enough.
Ann Murray says
i tried to make a candle out of old used wesson olive oil any hwo i cut twenty fet fo yarn i needed one hundered percent cotten any hwo after putting the yarn in the bottle i used an empty brown budweiser beer bottle sone one threw on the ground thenafter rincing out the bottel and letting it dry i ahd to hunt around till i found some beer bottle caps with out the bottle boo who cry weep any hwo i managed to bring three bottle tops home that fit on the bottel top nicely and i used a nail and a hammer and stuck a hole through the bottle cap oh kay arrest me please thanks for stabbing the poor defence less bottle cap any hwp i put my yarn throught the bottle cap and put the rest fo teh yarn in the bottle then i held one inch of yarn above the top of the bottle cap and put the cap on the bottle i lit the yarn and it lasted twenty seconds then the flame went out so i tried it again and still another twenty seconds it went ooout again so i poured the oil back in the empty biggest tomato can o could find and put teh can in the refridgerator and i then i put enough dawn dish liquid soap in the bottle just enough to cover the bottom then i put in the water i used cold water and left one inch from the top fo the bottle threm o shook the bottle with my hand over the top and soaap on my hands and still holding the pooor bottle i turned it up side down and still making sure the water stayed in the bottle i shook the poor bottle again any how i rinced out the bottle with cold water and let it dry then i took my soapy hands and rinced out teh yarn i used by bubbing the yarn between my hands while i rinces the yarn offf in cold water any hwo i can still use my yarn and the bottle the bottle will be filled with different marbles i can buy at all stores with the word quote dollar unquote in teh name like dollar ocean and dollar tree and gollar general and family dollar the yarn will gat added back to the scan and used as garland for my five foot tall fake christmas tree
John says
Thank you all for your explanations.
Could anybody tell me the essential information: WHAT ARE THE ASH / WATER PROPORTIONS if I want to let the ashes sit in a container a scoop the lye off after some time.
Thanks.
El says
This homemade lye experiment may not have worked for you, but I have learned so much from your write-up and the comments. Sometimes fails can be more informative than reading about the correct way to do a thing. I thank you for posting this!
Nathan says
You did not make “lye” because you have been given incomplete information. Potassium Hydroxide (KOH), the type of “lye” is impossible to produce from wood ash without the addition of Calcium Oxide (CaO), also known as “quicklime” The recipe you referenced even mentions using quicklime but the author states that using quicklime is “helpful” when in fact it is necessary. What you are producing from soaking the wood ash is varying amounts of Potassium Carbonate and Calcium Carbonate. When these salts are used to make soap you essentially only end up with soap scum. Even if you boil off excess water you will at best have “pearl ash” which is still ineffective at producing soap. Try your method again adding some quicklime to your wood ash solution and you should have a better chance at success! Also grab a cheap pH measuring device. You should be looking for a pH of around 13. Good luck and I hope this helps!
Wikipedia reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_hydroxide#Manufacture
Mystic dave says
Nathan,
Have you ever made soap from wood ash? I have and did not use calcium hydroxide or quick lime. Works for me. So had she not used so much straw and had more wood ash it might have been different. If you read this Kerrie maybe dad can pack up a big old box of wood ash and send it UPS. This time soak the ashes in water and decant off the liquid. Boil the liquid down to increase the concentration until you float your egg and have at it. Might make a soft soap but it will be soap.
Michael says
Now I’m not 100% sure about if it really matters or not, but I think that the lye solution is not supposed to be put into a metal object until your combinding them to make your soap.
If that is of any help.?
Jesse says
I believe lye can be contained in all metals besides aluminum, don’t quote me on that though. I know lye does react with aluminum though so you should never ever use aluminum for the extraction process (unless you want a caustic mess on your hands).
Kevin says
Not near enough ash! All this adding stuff is far from correct! You need far more ash. I got 1-3/4 its. of finished lye from 4 gallons of packed ash. No additives necessary. There are 2 ways to get your lye. If your egg sinks, boil it down in a well vented area until the egg floats. Otherwise, leech your ashes with smaller amounts of water. If your egg floats too much, add more water through the ash. If your egg floats with about a quarter size exposure, you are right on. If it sinks, you’ll have to boil it down. Simple as that!
Honestly, do you think these settlers/frontiers people were chemists? They used wood ash and water. When you make the soap, unless you want liquid or very soft soap, add salt to help harden it better. Also use a lard/tallow as they have a harder base vs.oils that are certain to become more liquid. This isn’t rocket science.
No offense, but I find it totally baffling that this generation actually thinks it is more intelligent than our distant ancestors. This is a prime example. Did you know how edible pine trees are? How many vitamins and minerals are in them? How about deer poop as a great firestarter? I’d feel sorry for all these brilliant “educated” generation if real hard times fell!
Karrie says
It would be so cool to learn and know all these things for sure and I find it an exciting journey!
Janus says
Why do you have to badger the “young generation” when trying to explain something that really is about education? Maybe the older generations really dropped the ball because they created the mess we’re in, with over populated cities. If more people had the opportunity to live in the rural country on a farm or in another country outside the United States, I think they would learn these types of things just like our relatives and ancestors. Maybe the older generations should have protected and passed on these skills to everybody instead of just for the few.
Jim Moodie says
I am always amazed by the exceptionalist who believes that the frontiers man was a special breed, quick learning super fixer and problem solver.
Not a lost herd up failed immigrants who fell on hard times and had to live of the land aka the main story line of the old movies.
There was always an educated woman well read who could say, your filthy if we want to survive here we need to live like the ASIANS build latrines and make some Babylonian soap.
John says
Hi, Kevin!
Thank you for your comment. Could you tell me how much water you used for 4 gallons of packed ash to get your lye?
Thanks.
HomesteadGranny says
Oh, for Pete’s sake, she’s trying, you old curmudgeon. Try to teach the younger generations without scolding them.
Not every family specializes in soap making, Kevin. I don’t understand being rude and then saying “no offense.” It was intended to be offensive, so just own your words. As much as you complain about other generations, I am baffled at your generation’s lack of skill in etiquette! Never would that attitude have been acceptable for a man speaking to an unknown woman in my day!
Kerrie was perfectly gracious in her response, but I am just as much of a curmudgeon as you, so I will say: You were rude. Knock it off. Be a gentleman!
Now, Miss Kerrie, I enjoyed reading this as I did not grow up making lye, either. However, soap making was done in some areas with the addition of some salt of you wanted a harder soap I know. I am reading up on everything to give it a try with my daughters and I am grateful for you posting your experience. Thank you. I will follow your blog now!
Karrie says
🙂
J says
You didn’t have enough ash. Did you sift the wood ash to remove carbon and any other chunks?
Ryan says
You failed at making lye because what you made is referred to as “lye-water”. You need to concentrate it. Ten cups of Ash, to two gallons of water makes lye water that should be boiled down to 3/4 of a cup. That’s lye. I don’t know if you measured any of your ingredients, but there you have it.
Roopa Rani Manchal says
Exactly,need to boil lye water to get concentrate of lye
Jimmy says
Thanks fo sharing. You could have boiled it down to release some water then re-test it
Steven says
Tiffany is right. The ashes don’t need to be extracted through flowing water; you can simmer them together in a non-aluminum pot, then let the ashes settle out. Collect the clearing lye water on top. When you try to float your egg, use only an egg that was recently laid. As they age, eggs produce gasses inside the shell that skews the buoyancy. If the egg doesn’t float, simmer the lye water, driving off some water and concentrating the lye, until the egg floats so that a piece of shell the size of a quarter is visible above the liquid.
Karrie says
So interesting!!!! Thanks!
Tiffany says
You had lye in that bucket. You just needed to boil off the excess water in order to increase potency. Be careful with the boiling, the fumes are toxic. 2/3 to 3/4 off the water should be boiled off. The YouTube video I used is: here
perceneij says
Hi, great story! I think you should have soaked your ashes before filtering them. The potash needs to get out, if you filter it straight away it does not have time to leech.
Hope you have solved it by now!
Andrew says
Interesting read I must say. I use red oak and mesquite in my forge and needless to say it works great for pounding out a nice rebar knife or two cause of the intense heat. But I had found myself with a lot of ash and nothing to do with it. I’m glad I stumbled across this, it’s hit and miss with the rainstorms here in Texas so I keep a few gallons of distilled water on hand for leaching purposes. Gonna try to make a micro batch like yours, assuming I get the math right, it might be kinda fun to add homemade soaps to my jewelry and blacksmithing gig. If I discover a breakthrough I’ll be sure to let ya know first! 🙂
The Woman says
I grew up in a remote area of northern Canada. I hunt and garden, all for a year’s supply of food, including saving seeds so that I’m independent of stores. I’ve just started to make my own soap and learn how to sew (a very useful skill that I unfortunately never developed before now). For the area where I live, I can can tell you what plants you can eat and which ones will kill you. I might not survive a hypothetical apocalypse, but you as sure as heck wouldn’t with that attitude.
The Man says
Next time just get any man to do it for you thrust me it will be correctly finish
Jesse says
Man some of y’all just don’t know when to shut the fuck up… I’m guessing your wife left you and now you’re having masculinity issues and bitter at the whole female race because of it? Poor guy. Cheer up, plenty of fish in the sea.
“The Man” lmaoooo fuck outta here😂 please tell me this comment is ironic…
Amy says
Go embroider an apron.
hunchoz says
its true, thats why she had to go to her dad for the ash. you women wouldnt suvrive a week in the forest alone.
Lynn Barksdale says
This dialogue is too freakin’ funny! The skill I REALLY wish I had was the one-eyebrow-raised/smirk combo.
HomesteadGranny says
…Except it was a woman’s job historically.
You young men are a disgrace.
Tim says
Yes, you needed more wood ash. You can skip all the straw and rocks and just put some pinholes in the bottom of you container. For small batches I’ve used yogurt containers; nice because you can stack them. I’m just making a big batch now using a cooler with a drain hole, but it was full of wood ash; No rocks or straw, and no ash comes out the hole. Just brown liquid.
Merrick says
Ah, I was wondering how you could possibly have produced such a fail, too dilute! Fear not, you succeeded, but just with a bit of extra water! You can also make distilled water at home, or purified water via simpler methods (filtering, say through carbon). Add water sparingly and this process should run very well, don’t be discouraged, it can be worth it to save that hard earned money! Thank you for posting this, as even a fail can be quite informative, and successes tend to be the only thing posted more often than not. Learn from mistakes they say! Excellent post, thank you for spending time on it!!! :]
Karrie says
🙂 Ha ha! Thanks Merrick!
Lisa says
Thanks for sharing! In this day and age of internet and information it’s fun to come across someone who had a similar experience. 20 years ago, I also attempted to make Lye. All I knew was that it came from ashes. I was a poor collage student at the time and did NOT research anything and decided to gather some ashes from the fire place, put them into a jug I had cut the top off of, then added my fats. I hang my head in shame! I made the weirdest greasy, ashy, grey, goopy stuff with water pockets throughout it. I couldn’t use it, it was in no way soap. Obviously, I left it in my mom’s garage for her to deal with. So at least YOUR attempt came somewhere closer than my pathetic attempt. Cheers! 🙂
Tsu Nimh says
My neighbors used to make lye for removing hair from hides …. You need a lot of ashes – several bushels of them dampened and firmly packed into a barrel, with a shallow depression formed in the packed ashes. Then you slowly pour water into the depression and let it saturate and run through the ashes … a few cups at a time until you see it start to trickle out. Stop pouring and collect the first batch.
Repeat with more water when the first batch stops draining out …. test strength ans you can pour a weak batch back through the ashes … but just once. That’s your last bit of lye extractionfor that barrel.
You had too much filter, too much water, loose ashes, and not enough ashes … it’s not a process that works with small quantitiesl
Karrie says
Ahhhh, that’s why it didn’t work!!! Thanks!
Katie says
I realize this is an old post, but I just discovered your blog, and I just loved this! A lot of bloggers only post about their successes and it can seem as if they believe they are experts on every subject. To me, blogs should be more about people sharing their own experiences mostly for the sake of sharing and taking part in a wider community of ideas. Anyway, I’m sure your lye-making experiment must have been incredibly frustrating, but not many people would have gone to so much trouble to attempt to make lye! I know it has never crossed my mind! It certainly makes for an awesome and entertaining story, though. I mean, it prompted me to comment on it three years later! I’m not much of a homesteader- just a stay-at-home mom right now slowly incorporating more make-it-from-scratch ideas into my life- but I love reading about this stuff and hope to do more of it in the future. Please keep up the good work and keep sharing!
Karrie says
Thanks Katie!
Jonathan says
Also if you want sodium hydroxide for making hard soap just add some salt to the potassium hydroxide that you made