What are cheaper alternatives for making lye at home?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around alternative methods for making lye at home, particularly focusing on cheaper options compared to commercially available sodium hydroxide. Participants explore the use of wood ash and rainwater, as well as the potential use of snow as a water source for lye production, with an emphasis on the implications for soap making.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests a method of making lye by boiling wood ash in rainwater and straining it, questioning its effectiveness for soap making.
  • Another participant notes that this method, referred to as "dripping lye," is historically accurate and mentions that hardwoods yield the best lye.
  • A participant inquires whether city snow can be used as a water source, raising concerns about potential contaminants.
  • Concerns are raised about the cleanliness of city snow, with one participant sharing an experience of finding dirt and debris in melted snow.
  • There is a suggestion to consider using demineralized water as a cleaner alternative for lye production.
  • A participant humorously advises against using contaminated snow water, specifically mentioning a cigarette butt found in the melted snow.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express various viewpoints on the methods and materials for making lye, with no consensus reached on the best approach or the effectiveness of using snow as a water source.

Contextual Notes

Participants discuss the concentration of lye solutions and the historical context of soap making, but details on the exact concentration needed for effective soap production remain unresolved.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in homemade soap production, alternative lye-making methods, and those exploring cost-effective solutions for chemical processes.

Mr_Bojingles
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Not everybody has access to Sodium hydroxide lye and not everyone can afford brewing barrels and all the other **** they tell you to get for making woodash lye so I was wondering what the cheaper alternatives are.

I found this method where he just adds the ash to a pot of rain water and boils it for a while then strains it through a cloth to make a liquid lye solution.
http://www.stevesartstuff.co.uk/making_lye.htm

I was wondering if that liquid lye would be strong enough to use for making soap. Obviously considering you need more potassium hydroxide than sodium hydroxide and the fact this potassium hydroxide is diluted with water youd have to use a load of this stuff but would it work?

Could you produce the same quality soap as that made with Sodium hydroxide or powder potassium hydroxide?
 
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That is exactly how soap used to be made. There is a discussion in one of the early Foxfire series of books. The process you described was called "dripping lye". (sometimes spelled "drippin' ")

Hardwoods make the best lye, I've heard.
 
Cool. Then I am going to get started. Would snow work as well as rain water? I am talking city snow so it wouldn't be the cleanest.
 
What might city snow it be contaminated with? Ash? Soot?
Consider your total process...

If you use a lot of water, you will make a very dilute solution of lye. You can still make soap out of it if you are willing to boil down the water until it is fairly concentrated. The details of how concentrated to make the lye are discussed in the Foxfire book I mentioned.
 
Well for example I filled a bucket with the cleanest looking snow I could see and when I looked in the bucket yesterday after it had melted there was all dirt at the bottom and a cigarette butt floating in it.

Im going to have to come up with a better way of getting water. I might just buy demineralized water in the pharmacy.
 
Absolutely avoid the cigarette butt tea!
 

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