How to Make Soap From Potash
Most homemade soap recipes that aren't of the melt and pour variety you find in soap-making kits available at craft and hobby stores require potash, a potassium-rich alkaline substance made from wood ash. The form of potash most suitable for soap making is lye, which is sodium or potassium hydroxide. Although it is caustic in nature, as long as you work carefully, you will have no trouble making soap with potash. You will need several weeks to complete the soap-making process, but most of the hands-on work takes only a couple of hours.
Things You'll Need
- Accurate kitchen scale
- Water
- Protective gloves
- Lye crystals
- Heat-proof glass container
- Containers for holding measured ingredients
- Wooden spoon
- Stainless steel pot
- Rendered beef tallow
- Olive oil
- Coconut oil
- Thermometer
- Parchment paper
- Soap mold
- Soap cutter
Instructions
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1
Weigh out 32 oz. of icy cold water, and place it in a heat-proof glass container.
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2
Measure out 12 oz. of lye crystals, and slowly sprinkle them into the liquid. Stir the liquid with a wooden spoon as you add the lye crystals to keep them from forming clumps. The water will heat up rapidly as you add lye; wear gloves and do not directly touch the lye as you complete this step.
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3
Weigh out 44 oz. of beef tallow and place it in a stainless steel pot. Warm the pot on the stove top to melt the tallow. When your tallow is melted, add 20 oz. of olive oil and 20 oz. of coconut oil to the pot. Mix the fats and oils with a wooden spoon and turn off the stove.
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4
Allow the lye and water solution to come to about 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Also allow the fats and oils to come to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. You can immerse the lye and water container in a cold water bath to speed cooling.
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5
Line a soap mold with parchment paper while your liquids and fats come to the correct temperature.
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6
Quickly add the lye solution into the fats and oils when everything has a temperature of about 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir the contents of the pot with a wooden spoon as you pour in the lye solution.
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7
Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the soap begins to trace. At trace, you should be able to draw a line across the top of the soap. Stir for just a few moments more to ensure your soap has not reached a false trace.
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8
Pour the soap into the mold and smooth the surface with your wooden spoon. Allow the soap to harden in the mold.
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9
Cut the soap into bars with a soap cutter once it's hardened. Allow the bars to cure for about six weeks.
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Tips & Warnings
If you want to create your own soap recipe with potash, you must determine the correct amount of lye, liquid and oil or fat to use. Enter the fats or oils and the kind of liquid you intend to use into a lye calculator to determine the correct amount of lye.
When you're mixing the lye into liquid, work in a well-ventilated area and turn your head away from the container to avoid breathing in the toxic fumes.
