Toothpick One

Making Lye

Lye, fat and water are the three basic ingredients that combine to make soap. In addition to use in soap recipes, lye can be used to clean containers where oil or protein-based deposits have adhered. It is a common ingredient in oven cleaners. Lye can strip paint finishes, but will leave wood grain raised. Because it has the ability to dissolve hair and soap, lye is an effective drain cleaner.

Chemically, commercial lye and homemade lye are different. The chemical name for lye made with wood ash is called potassium hydroxide. The commercially available lye crystals are sodium hydroxide. These two different chemicals cannot be substituted in equal measure. 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. Evergreens and pine trees are not suitable woods for ash for this purpose. A consuming fire with lots of air should be used to produce thin, white papery ash free of charcoal chunks.

Enough ash will be needed such that a waterproof, non-metal container can be filled to a level 3 to 4 inches below the top. The size of this container may vary from five gallons to barrel-sized.

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. This hole should be small enough that it can be stopped with a non-metal object like a small cork, toothpick or dowel.

Layer the bottom of the ash container with river gravel. Top this with a four inch layer of packed hay, grass or straw. Stopping three or four inches below the top edge of the bucket, pack the remaining space with ash.

Collect 5 or more gallons of soft water. Water which is soft has few metals and minerals. Sources of soft water include water that is specially filtered, from sandstone, peat or lava rock (granite, for example). You could also use distilled water. Rainwater is a natural source of soft water.

Put your ash container in a secure location away from high traffic areas or places that children or animals might bump, or knock it over. The container you will use to catch the runoff can be glass or even an enamel surfaced 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 may cause blindness. If swallowed it can be fatal. It is possible for lye to sear all sorts of surfaces, in particular fats and oils on the skin. This reaction creates salts which can cause severe chemical burns, permanent injury or scarring. A lack of pain may indicate that the burn is so severe as to have caused damage to nerve endings.

It is necessary to take safety precautions before you begin the process. Check to be sure the space where you are working is well ventilated. Have contact information for emergency services and poison control on hand. Dress appropriately. Wear rubber gloves (the big yellow kind), long sleeves, have your legs covered and wear safety goggles. Keep vinegar nearby because its application will help neutralize lye burns. Washing with water worsens the effect of burns to the skin caused by lye.

Use a wooden handle or rod to press a small hole into the packed ash. Boil one of the gallons of your soft water. Carefully pour this into the ash bucket. The ash and water will spit, spew and bubble. Add another gallon of water to the ash container when the bubbling diminishes. You may need to add more ash to the bucket as the level of ash settles. Repeat this process until the ashes in the container are covered with water. Place a well-fitting lid on the bucket.

Unstop the drain hole you drilled into the ash container and allow the liquid to runoff into the other container. A full day may be required for this.

Take the runoff from your ash bucket and pour it through again on day two and day three. This will add to the strength of your lye.

Another option is to leave the container of ash and water sitting. Cover the container and allow the water to sit for about 3 days. You don’t want the bucket to be spilled accidentally so choose a storage location carefully. Drain the ash container when three days have passed.

The resulting liquid is lye water (potassium hydroxide). A fresh intact egg placed into your lye can test its strength. It should float on top with a nickel-sized or quarter-sized area exposed above the surface (2 cm to 2.5 cm 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.

If the lye water is too weak, heat it to reduce the amount of liquid. Enamel finished pans are safe for this as long as they are never again utilized in cooking foods. Watch that you don’t burn the lye when you heat the solution. The solution is strong enough when a chicken feather touched to the heating lye starts to dissolve. Remove the lye water from the heat to cool.

To avoid splashing later, don’t fill storage jars more than two thirds full of lye water. Close jars firmly and store them in an unlit, cool area where curious children haven’t any access.

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. Left in the sun, uncovered, the water will evaporate and crystals will form. 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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