Lard soap and Crisco soap are LOW BUBBLING soaps, which make them especially good for laundry and scrubbing yicky stuff around the house. Additionally, they are CHEAP AS ALL GET-OUT to make. They’re the only soaps I’ve found that can beat Ivory on price.
1. Melt one pound of lard or veggie shortening in a sauce pan over med-low.
2. While the fat melts, put 6oz of water in a pitcher, sprinkle in 2 oz of lye, and gently swirl to dissolve. (According to this lye calculator, one pound of either requires the same lye and water.)
3. Allow melted fat and lye water to cool for a minute or two–till you can touch the sides of the containers without burning the snot out of yourself.
4. Pour the lye water into the sauce pan and blend with an immersion blender to “trace,” which means till it’s thick enough that you can kind of see where you’ve been and drips stay visible on the surface for a second or two. (This will take a while for the lard.)
4.b. This is the time to put in any scent you like.
5. Pour into mold.
6. Let it sit a day or two, then peel off the can, and slice it for curing.
7. Cure for a few weeks and then grate a bar for this recipe.
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Can you expound on how the ping-pong table seems to be the linchpin of your soapmaking. . .
You make this look so-o-o-o easy. I know I am going to have to get over this, but the thought of working with lye scares me.
So far I have been safe, because I have not found a local source for it.
I just love the way you show and tell your projects!
I have been thinking about soap making and since I see how easy it can be, I may just give it a try soon.
Thanks
Pam
I’m so glad it looked easy, ladies. I’ve found so many of the online tutorial to be SO complicated.
And anajz, lye isn’t as bad as it sounds. I mean it’s BAD, but it’s not like rat poison. It’s real easy to clean up and neutralize.
I love your homemaking skills and ingenuity with the pringles can.
Weird question: can I use rendered bacon fat, or am I bound for a clean, but bacon scented home?
Sure you can use rendered bacon fat. That’s how your grandma did it. And it won’t smell like much of anything after it cures.
But, you have to prepare the fat so that you don’t have a bunch of yuck in it.
Kathy Miller explains here how to wash the fat, to remove rancidity and whatnot.
Then, you’re ready to go!
It is not just anywhere that you can get a recipe for homemade soap that warns you not to touch it or burn the snot out of your hand. Gotta love a down-t0-earth gal like yourself. Real women so ROCK! Love your site…
Yes, ma’am!!