Kerosene Soap (Lye)

mtbowhunter · Mar 10, 2010

Hi! I'm new to the soap making forum. I just got a recipe from my great grandmother that dates back to the 1920's. It is very similar to the mechanics kerosene soap recipes I have seen online. The only problem I have is that it calls for one bottle of lye.

As far as fats that I was planning on using in this recipe, I was planning on using deer tallow, safflower oil, and coconut oils for my fat.

The original recipe is as follows:

1 can of lye
½ cup of kerosene
½ cup borax
½ cup sugar
5 pints washed, melted grease
2 pints water

This was taken from a newspaper clipping in Huntington, WV at around 1920-1930.

Does anyone know how kerosene reacts to lye and what kind of numbers I should use?

Does anyone know of any calculator online that would give lye amounts for soaps that have kerosene in them?

What would the purpose of sugar be in the soap?

Any ideas would be very handy. I'm planning on using this soap primarily for laundry but possibly as a hand soap too.

Thanks!!!

Cheers,

Joe Gill
Missoula, MT

dagmar88 · Mar 10, 2010

Hi Joe,
This topic might be of help:

http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/postin ... e&p=106689

MikeInPdx said:
I agree with the pumice as the best option.

Another option for really greasy hands is to add about 1.6 oz kerosene (YES kerosene) ppo. Mix it in with your melted oils and then work up as usual.

It really boosts cleaning on oily stuff. Sandy Maine uses it in her Mechanics Special soap, and I use it in stain sticks to get soaping oils out.....works like a sonofagun!

(Mike has a lot of info on laundry soaps too!)

The kerosine does not saponify, so you don't need a special soap calculator.
If you need any help with a recipe, just post it on this forum. We're all glad to help :wink:
You could use sugar at one tablespoon per pound of oils; to make your soap a bit more bubbly.
Depends on if you're going to use it to wash your laundry by hand or in the machine...

mtbowhunter · Mar 10, 2010

Thanks Dagmar!! I appreciate the help!

I would have never guessed that sugar made soap more bubbly. Does the bubbliness help with the lather?

I will be washing my clothes with an older mechanical washing machine. I'll probably temper my use of sugar this batch.

I'm looking forward to making my first batch of soap.

Thanks again!

Joe

ewenique · Mar 10, 2010

It would be a good idea to convert the recipe to ounces and plug it into www.Soapcalc.net to get the lye amount.

80 oz of deer tallow would use 11 oz of lye at 0% superfat. You can put in the correct amounts of the tallow and other oils you plan to use to get the exact amount of lye, but it probably won't be more than 11 oz.

ChrissyB · Mar 10, 2010

And I would definitely keep the temps cool, although I think Mike does say that in his kero soap recipe. And don't work near a gas stove. :shock:

Lindy · Mar 11, 2010

Mike has been making a stain stick with kerosene these days too which he and several others swear by. I haven't had a chance to try making it yet.....