Home-made Soap

Taken from "Off the Mountain Lake Range." I can remember Grandma Jungas making this soap out in the back porch area. This soap could take the stains out of anything---and maybe dissolve the fabric too! The soft water must have come from the cistern they had somewhere---probably in the basement of the hardware store. I remember the cistern water always smelled funny. -Jo

Ingredients:

• 1 can lye
• 1 quart cold water
• 5 lbs. melted fat
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons borax
• 1/4 cup ammonia
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup soft water

Instructions:

1. Mix lye and water and let cool about 7 hours.
2. Mix together the sugar, borax, ammonia, salt and soft water.
3. Stir this into the cooled lye.
4. Add this mixture then to 5 lbs. cool clean melted fat. Stir as you pour.
5. Pour into a mold when consistency is like honey. Cover.
6. Mark into squares and cut before it is too hard.
7. Mold may be wood or cardboard box lined with dish towel or part of old sheet. Use wooden spoon for stirring.
8. Citronella may be added.