Make Your Own Soap
Soap-making is a homestead craft I had long wanted to try, despite my unfounded perception that it was difficult and dangerous. My ancestors made soap during the Depression using primitive methods — hardwood ashes and rainwater to make lye; fat rendered to make lard — and no one died, went blind, or was burned (though a bar occasionally got stuffed into my mother’s mouth when words came out that shouldn’t have). The old-fashioned method of hand-stirring — sometimes for hours — combined with the unpredictable strength of lye made from ashes resulted in soap that was highly variable and sometimes harsh on the skin of the person using it.
Modern methods and conveniences have taken just about all of these unpleasantries out of the equation. Though I’m usually a big fan of old-timey methods, I’m not quite so excited when chemical reactions are involved.
When I got serious about soap-making, I turned to a friend who had been doing it for years and requested a hands-on demonstration. Sandra Johnson, a librarian in Baldwin City, Kansas, knows the craft inside and out. She happily agreed and sent me away with the supplies for one of her foolproof soaps and instructions to get the “only book I’d ever need,” by Anne L. Watson.
