Foraged food is the ultimate low cost food. www.youtube.com/ruraleconomist
Foraged food is the ultimate low cost food. www.youtube.com/ruraleconomist
List of Bryant RedHawk's Epic Soil Series Threads We love visitors, that's why we live in a secluded cabin deep in the woods. "Buzzard's Roost (Asnikiye Heca) Farm." Promoting permaculture to save our planet.
Jackie
~ Be the change!
Jackie Frobese wrote:Bryant,
How did you test the strength of the lye you made?
I too am interested in making lye form wood ash for soap making, and as was previously mentioned all of the soap making recipes I find are very specific about the strength of the lye. It would be quite helpful to know how to test that.
Thank you
Jackie Frobese wrote:Bryant,
How did you test the strength of the lye you made?
I too am interested in making lye form wood ash for soap making, and as was previously mentioned all of the soap making recipes I find are very specific about the strength of the lye. It would be quite helpful to know how to test that.
Thank you
List of Bryant RedHawk's Epic Soil Series Threads We love visitors, that's why we live in a secluded cabin deep in the woods. "Buzzard's Roost (Asnikiye Heca) Farm." Promoting permaculture to save our planet.
Bryant RedHawk wrote:I like Greg's method. I use a slightly slanted wood trough with a small hole and wood "straw" that ends over a heavy plastic pail. I fill the trough with the ashes and set up a hose to drip water into the upper end. I have a piece of old cotton T-shirt covering the down hill hole inside.
Once you get the pail full, you have your lye, just strain it as Greg mentioned. Lye made this way is a very powerful caustic, don't get it splashed on you, it will eat clothing and skin. My last batch came out at 10 molar (Most strong acids are 12 molar, so the lye will be very strong).
"The only thing...more expensive than education is ignorance."~Ben Franklin
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." ~ Plato
“It’s said war—war never changes. Men do, through the roads they walk. And this road—has reached its end.”
Jordan Holland wrote:Carla, you can take the leachate from wood ashes and boil off the water until it is any concentration you want, even dry.
"The only thing...more expensive than education is ignorance."~Ben Franklin
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." ~ Plato
Carla Burke wrote:
Will it crystallize on its own, or is there another step? Not that it actually matters, I suppose, since the dry lye gets weighed, anyway. I'm going to need a safe wash to boil it down, outside. Well! Looks like I'll be needing to build a rocket stove, with some extra height on the burner platform, since the though of exploding lye is a bit unsettling, lol.
“It’s said war—war never changes. Men do, through the roads they walk. And this road—has reached its end.”
"The only thing...more expensive than education is ignorance."~Ben Franklin
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." ~ Plato
Alicia Donathan wrote:Jordan, that 's really interesting. Thanks for the heads up re: potassium hydroxide vs. potassium carbonate. The household lye I have been using is sodium hydroxide, however. I'm not at all sure how the KOH works. I had an impression KOH was used more for liquid soaps (rather than bar). Good to know.
“It’s said war—war never changes. Men do, through the roads they walk. And this road—has reached its end.”
Jordan Holland wrote:
Carla Burke wrote:
Here's a good article about "wood ash lye" soap: https://classicbells.com/soap/woodAshLye.asp#:~:text=Wood-ash%20lye%20is%20a%20solution%20of%20mostly%20potassium,which%20means%20it%20will%20be%20a%20soft%20paste.
Thank you Jordan this WAS a helpful article and has saved me a lot of trial and error
The LORD tends the land and waters it;
makes it rich and good. (Psalm 65)
Work smarter, not harder.
Do the next thing next. That's a pretty good rule. Read the tiny ad, that's a pretty good rule, too.
Learn Permaculture through a little hard work
https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp
|