Lye Soap Was Made at Home

By Elton Camp (This is another in the series of true stories of life in the rural South during the early 20th Century.) People in rural Alabama never considered buying factory produced soap. Even if it happened to be available locally, such a purchase would be a waste of money as well as subjecting the family to community ridicule as lazy and puttin on airs. Lye soap was used on washday, for dishes and for personal hygiene. Farm families made it themselves. It was entirely a natural product, free from the perfumes and oils found in many present-day bars of soap. Only two ingredients went into it: lard and lye. Lard was rendered and saved for the purpose at hog killing. Lye came from the ashes of wood stoves. The family dumped the cool ashes into a wooden bin outside and saved them for soap making. Nobody seemed to be bothered by the fact that tobacco chewers and snuff dippers often spit into the fire. Bins gittin purty full, Milas remarked. Mirandey, best git th soap a goin. He issued the decree and then moved on to other matters. The onerous task was her responsibility. . Mamie. Bertha. Yu girls holp. I need t larn yu howt make soap anyways. One o these days yall will b gettin hitched. The girls had helped their mother with the process before, but repetition honed their skills. A time would come when theyd no longer have her guidance. The three poured bucket after bucket of water into the ashbin. When the liquid lye appeared, they siphoned it to mix with lard. B careful wif th lye, Miranda cautioned. If hit gits on yore skin, hit can cause a burn lest yu wash hit rite off. They combined the two ingredients in the wash pot over an open fire. The right concentration of the caustic lye was critical. Too much and the soap burned the skin. Too little and it would never harden. I heered thet ef yu drap a aig in, an jest th tip shows, yu got hit right, Mamie speculated. Miranda made no reply to the old wives tale. She knew by long practice when the ratio was correct. It was needless to waste an egg. Keep th far a goin an keep stirrin wif th paddle. Tell Albert I sed fer him t keep yu n wood.

The girls swung the wooden paddle back and forth and around in circles, watching as soap bubbles began to form on the top of the mixture. A slow chemical reaction was taking place that split the neutral fat of the lard so it could react with the lye from the ashes to form soap. The technical term is saponification, but rural people neither knew nor cared about such details. Only the end result interested them. The girls arms and hands ached from the hard stirring. When the paddle stood straight up, the soap was ready to be poured into metal pans where it would dry and harden. How longs hit gonna take? Albert inquired. Wes runnin short on soap ez tis. Yu girls hurryt up. The process couldnt be rushed. Two to four weeks were required, depending on conditions. If a family ran out of soap, a neighbor usually had some to barter. When the soap was ready, Miranda cut it into small bars for use. It was brown and, when dry, a bit crumbly. The soap emitted a pungent odor that could have been nauseating hadnt she long ago become accustomed to it. The pot could be cleaned safely only after it had cooled. If water was poured into a hot pot, it might crack and be ruined. Since it already contained soap, water and a good scrubbing were all that were needed. Dry th inside real good n then coat hit wif som lard so hit wont rust, Miranda said. A properly cared for wash pot would last indefinitely even with frequent use.

Re-creating the soap-making process