How to Make Lye Soap With Lard

All natural soaps made with lye and lard make wonderful gifts.

Making lye soap is one of the oldest home-making arts. In Colonial days, soap-making could take days. These days, thanks to the availability of both lye and lard, we can cut the process to a few hours, though the soap still needs time to cure. Here's how to make your own lye soap with lard.

Things You'll Need

• 12 oz lye
• 21 1/2 oz cold water
• 5 lbs 7 1/3 oz lard Equipment
• Plastic dish pan
• Non-reactive pot to melt lard
• wooden spoon
• soap molds or wooden box
• thermometer Safety Equipment
• rubber gloves
• goggles
• 10% solution vinegar and water

Instructions

1. Prepare soap molds for use. You can use almost any non-reactive container as a mold. One easy soap mold is a cardboard shoe box lined with a plastic garbage bag.

2. Put on gloves and goggles. Normally, safety advice would be in the warnings section, but this is a vital step when you are working with lye. Lye is extremely caustic. It will burn your skin and can damage your eyes permanently. Wear gloves and goggles at all times when working with lye.

3. Pour ice cold water into plastic dish pan. Work in a well-ventilated area to avoid breathing in fumes from the lye.

4. Slowly add lye to the cold water, stirring constantly and slowly with the wooden spoon. If any of the lye splatters on you, wash it off immediately with lots of cold water. The lye will react chemically with the water and begin to heat it. Cover and set aside till it reaches 85 F.

5. Melt lard in non-reactive pan or bowl. Cool lard to about 95 F.

6. Carefully pour the lye water into the lard in a thin, continuous stream, stirring constantly with wooden spoon in a slow S-motion. Continue to stir until soap thickens to the consistency of pudding. The soap is ready to pour when a drop of soap dropped onto the surface of the soap does not sink into the rest of the mixture. This can take up to 45 minutes.

7. Pour soap mixture into prepared molds. Treat the soap mixture just as carefully as you did the lye water, and clean up any drips with a sponge soaked in 10% vinegar solution.

8. After the soap has cured for 3-5 hours, you can use a butter knife to cut it into bars or slices. Do not remove it from the box or the molds.

9. Let the soap cure in the box for about a week before removing it. Wrap the bars in muslin and store in a cool place to cure for another 3-4 weeks before using it.

Tips & Warnings

• Try using candy molds to make pretty guest soaps in different shapes.

• Add food coloring to soap mixture after the lye has been added.

• Scent homemade soap with essential oils added while you stir, or store muslin wrapped soap bars with a cloth soaked in essential oils.

• Always wear safety equipment when working with lye.

• Keep vinegar and water handy to neutralize lye splashes on your skin.

• Flush eyes immediately with cold running water if any lye splatters in them.

Resources

• Buy silicone to make your own soap molds
• Safety tips for making soaps