Lye from Pot Ashes...Anybody Tried it?

[DWinMadison]

I was checking out some YouTube videos about the process for turning wood ashes into lye. It looks pretty stinkin' easy, and I just happen to have used my fire pit the past couple of evenings. Hmmmm:idea: Anybody have any experience with this you'd like to share? If I never post again, you can assume it didn't go well.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Lots of people have.................but then you have to use the old methods of soap making, too - there is no easy way to work out how strong your base is, so no calculation of how much to add, which means you have to go very old school all the way through.

 

[DWinMadison]

Could you pH test the solution?

 

[LunaSkye]

Could you pH test the solution?

I have never used this method, but I can figure that a pH test will not do much. You may end up making two batches that both read the same pH while one batch contains a bit more lye. That little bit really can make a difference. On top of that, pH testing will only gauge how basic the lye is, it will not tell you how much lye is actually in the the solution.

If you are still interested in making your own lye, I'd suggest making a laundry soap and incorporating some borax to neutralize (hopefully) the remaining lye. However, that may fail as well because you still need to know how much lye is in the solution in order to figure how much borax to add.


edit:
I'll apologize if I came off rudely with the latter paragraph (it was not my intention). I just remembered that your mother was doing missionary work in another country. You would have to research the old way of soap making as TEG suggested. In addition, the lye made may end up being similar to a soap made with KOH. KOH is sometimes referred to as potash which is what you are asking about making the lye from and tends to make a soft soap (from what I gathered). Will that cause any problems?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=32717

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_ashlye.html

If you really want to do it, there is a lot of information out there. As for what sort of soap you'll have at the end of it, that is a different matter entirely! Might well be fun and an interesting project, but then the end results themselves might not be worth it.

 

[DWinMadison]

edit:
I'll apologize if I came off rudely with the latter paragraph (it was not my intention). I just remembered that your mother was doing missionary work in another country. You would have to research the old way of soap making as TEG suggested. In addition, the lye made may end up being similar to a soap made with KOH. KOH is sometimes referred to as potash which is what you are asking about making the lye from and tends to make a soft soap (from what I gathered). Will that cause any problems?

No apology necessary. I appreciate the feedback. I'd hate to burn myself or anyone else, and I certainly don't want to waste expensive oils for a substandard end product. Then again, I certainly have water and ashed, so it might be a fun experiment. I shall ponder it further. :think:

 

[LunaSkye]

No apology necessary. I appreciate the feedback. I'd hate to burn myself or anyone else, and I certainly don't want to waste expensive oils for a substandard end product. Then again, I certainly have water and ashed, so it might be a fun experiment. I shall ponder it further. :think:

My inner corn oil is too cheap to miss (my common sense was temporarily disregarded for this).

 

[DWinMadison]

For the record...found this on journeytoforever.org. This is for KOH not NaOH

To test the strength of the lye you need a saturated solution of salt. Dissolve chemical-free salt in a pint of water until no more salt will dissolve. Take a stick and put a small weight on the end of it and float it in a pint of the salty water. The weight will sink to the bottom, while the top of the stick will float. Make a mark on the stick where it reaches the water line. Then float the stick and weight in a pint of lye. The mark on the stick will probably be above the water mark of the lye. If so, stir in some more rainwater until the mark on the stick is in exactly the same place it was in the salt water. You now have the correct distillation of lye for making soap.

 

[Lindy]

What you are making with wood ash and water is Potash (KOH). You will need to salt out the soap to pull it together enough to mould. The way they used to do it is they had a box that was lined with absorbent material to soak up the liquid so the soap can set up. I understand that if you don't salt it out then you end up with liquid soap. I don't know that for sure of course as I haven't done it. I do know for sure (my grandmother was the source) is that if an egg floated in the solution at the center of the egg, the lye was ready.