Making Homemade Soap

Making homemade soap is becoming a lost art. I'll admit it's much easier to buy the soaps you need but it's still a good idea to learn how to make your own soap just in case you ever needed to. Claudia and I were very glad to learn the process of making soap from a lady named Jan who was visiting from Montana. Jan raised 10 children on a farm and taught them to make everything from scratch. Here is Jan's laundry soap recipe:

You will need:
*large stainless steel or ceramic pot (like the black canning one) Do not use an aluminum one! (The lye will eat through it)
*1 can lye (about 14oz)
*3 qt cold water
*2 qt melted lard (fat from an animal or vegetable fat)
*2 T. Borax
*fragrance (optional)(essential oils work best)
*1 cheap shower curtain or a 4' x 4' or larger piece of plastic
*gloves (to wear while your making the soap)
*vinegar (this is just in case you get lye on you, vinegar will neutralize it)
*electric beater or stick blender

Warning: Do this outside or in a well ventilated place. Keep your vinegar close by just in case.

Directions: Dissolve the lye into 3qt of water. Stir constantly until all the lye is mixed in. Be extremely careful at this point. When mixed with water, lye can reach temperatures of 250F or higher. Let cool for about 10 minutes then add the warm melted Lard and Borax. Use an electric beater or stick blender to mix the ingredients until it reaches the "trace point". ("trace point" - the point at which the mixture thickens to a pudding like consistency and the water and grease no longer separate.) Turn off your blender periodically and let the mixture rest to see if you have reached the trace point. This can take up to an hour depending on the time of year you make it. The best time to make soap is in the summer because the heat will help to speed things up. Once it reaches the trace point, the soap is done. At this point you can add your fragrance. Pour out the mixture on to the shower curtain as thin as you can get it. Spreading it thin helps to speed up the drying process. Let the soap set in a hot dry place until it's completely dry and you can crumble it into pieces (about 2 days). At this point you will grate it into fine pieces to be used as laundry soap. A food processor works great for this. Store it in a container and you're finally done!

Note: Lye is very dangerous, don't work with it while kids are around! Learn more about lye before you make anything with it. I don't want to scare you, just be careful.

-Here are some great demos from u-tube on how to make bar soap. The possibilities are endless. This could become a fun hobby/craft project.
Part 1, Part 2

-Shanda