How Do You Make Old Fashioned Lye & Lard Soap?
For those accustomed to sudsy bath gels with exotic scents, a cleaning product made from ingredients as harsh and unpleasant as lye and lard may be difficult to fathom. Lye and lard were the main ingredients in the soaps used by early colonial Americans. The first soap products may have existed as early as 2800 B.C. and probably used similar ingredients. While lye and lard are not as readily available today as they once were, this old-fashioned soap recipe can still be made with careful preparations. Fill an enamel or heat-resistant glass container with three cups of water. Put on protective clothing, gloves and goggles. Pour 12 oz. of lye into the water very slowly. Stir with a heat-resistant wooden or plastic utensil to dissolve the lye in the water. Do not lean over the container or inhale the fumes. The water and lye will become extremely hot. Monitor the temperature of the lye with a glass candy thermometer. Let the lye cool to 110 degrees. Heat 3 lbs. lard in a non-aluminum sauce
