Homemade Lye
Lye, fat and water are the three basic ingredients that combine to make soap. Lye dissolves protein and oily deposits, lending itself to cleaning applications in the home as well as being one of the main ingredients in making soap. Lye is often used as an oven cleaner component. Lye can strip paint finishes, but will leave wood grain raised. Lye dissolves protein and oil — meaning it can degrade soap and hair — making it useful as a drain cleaner.
Chemically, commercial lye and homemade lye are different. Potassium hydroxide is the lye produced from wood ash. Lye manufactured for retail is called sodium hydroxide. These products require different measures for the same application. The measurements differ depending on which type of lye you are using in a recipe.
Hardwoods such as oak and maple or fruit trees like apple are the best sources for ash to produce a good quality lye. Avoid using wood from pine trees or evergreens. A consuming fire with lots of air should be used to produce thin, white papery ash free of charcoal chunks.
You will need enough ashes to fill a lye-safe, waterproof container (non-metal) to within three to four inches of the top rim. Ash containers may be large (wooden barrels) or small (5 gallon buckets).
Two containers (not metal) will be required. The runoff of lye water will be held in one container while the other will be filled with ashes. At the base of the ash container drill a small hole. To stop the hole Use a non metal object such as a cork, wooden tooth pick, or a small dowel.
A layer of small pea gravel should be placed in the bottom of the ash bucket. Grass, hay or straw should then be added and packed 4 inches thick. Pressing down firmly, fill the rest of the bucket with your wood ashes. Be sure to stop 3 or four inches below the top.
Collect 5 or more gallons of soft water. Water which is soft has few metals and minerals. You can get soft water using special filters, from lava rock sources like granite or from peat or sandstone. Another alternative is to distill the water you have. A simpler method, however, is to just collect rainwater.
Secure your ash bucket in a place where it won’t be knocked over accidentally. The drainage can be caught in a glass jar, wooden bucket, or an enamel coated pan. Don’t use metal or the lye could burn a hole in it. Place this container in such a way as to minimize any splashing.
Lye can be blinding if it touches the eye. Swallowing lye can lead to death. Potassium hydroxide (lye) is caustic and can burn anything that it touches, reacting especially to fats and oil on skin. Fats and oils combine with lye in such a way that salts are created which cause scars, permanent injury and burns. Note that lye burns may not hurt right away because the burn may be so severe as to have damaged the nerves (pain receptors) in the skin.
Safety precautions should be undertaken before beginning. Check to be sure the space where you are working is well ventilated. Have contact information for emergency services and poison control on hand. Cover your skin with clothing to protect yourself. Don’t expose your arms and legs by wearing short sleeves or shorts. Protect your eyes with safety glasses and your hands with rubber gloves. Keep vinegar nearby in order to neutralize any skin burns. Do NOT wash with water following contact with this substance as this will merely exacerbate the corrosive affect.
Create a recessed spot in the surface of the ash using a dowel or other wooden rod. Heat 1 gallon of soft water to boiling. Carefully pour this into the ash bucket. When the water and ash combine, you will notice some boiling, splashing and spewing. When this action calms, slowly add another gallon of water to the ash bucket. If the level of the ashes sinks, add more ash to the bucket. Continue to add water until the ashes are covered. Place a well-fitting lid on the bucket.
Remove the stopper from the hole at the bottom of the ash bucket and allow the runoff to drip into your catch container. This can take a whole day.
On the second and third day, pour the water that has runoff of the ashes back through again. This will add to the strength of your lye.
A variation of this method is to leave the bucket sitting without draining it. Seal the bucket and leave it for three days in a place where it will not be disturbed. Make sure it is in an area where it can’t get spilled. Drain the ash container when three days have passed.
The runoff is potassium hydroxide (lye) water. A fresh intact egg placed into your lye can test its strength. If your lye solution is the right potency, the egg will float exposing a nickel or quarter sized portion of its shell above the surface. This equals an area of 2 to 2 1/2 centimeters in diameter. If the egg sinks, the lye water is too weak for soap making. Dilute your lye solution with more rainwater should the egg bob on top of the surfaceindicating that your solution is too strong. Don’t use the egg for any purpose; dispose of it after this use.
To strengthen weak lye water, heat it to evaporate some of the water. Enamel finished pots have a protective coating that covers the metal, making them safe to use for this purpose, though they may not be utilized again for food preparation. Be careful when heating lye as it can be scorched. You’ve reached the proper potency when a chicken feather held to the heated lye solution begins dissolving. Set the pan of lye water aside to cool.
To avoid splashing later, don’t fill storage jars more than two thirds full of lye water. Keep in a cool, dark place in tightly sealed containers, away from curious children.
Dig a hole in an out of the way area to dispose of the spent ashes. Allow this to cool thoroughly before re-filling the hole.
If you wish to dry your lye into potash crystals, place the water into a lye-safe container. Glass is a good choice for this application. Leave the container uncovered in the sun until the water evaporates. Potash requires the same safety precautions in storage as outlined for the liquid form.
This and other skills are discussed in the new book, The Vision by Debi Pearl, the compelling new novel from international best-selling author who also co-wrote To Train Up A Child and the Good and Evil comic.
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