THRIVING after the FALL

The Library · Document 76 · FEASTING · Storage and preservation

Historical Pioneer Lye Extraction

Its printed title: Chemical Resourcefulness on the American Frontier: The Extraction and Analysis of Potash Lye in Pioneer Soap-Making

How households on the American frontier made lye from wood ash for soap in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It follows the year's round of autumn fat, winter ash and spring soap-making, draws on Martha Ballard's diary and the household manuals of Lydia Maria Child and Catharine Beecher, tables hardwoods against softwoods, and explains the old egg test for lye strength and why a stale egg misleads. The measures are American: pounds, pails and a quarter coin. The densities dropped out in extraction.

Open the PDF 15 pages · 369 KB

Number
76
Book
FEASTING after the FALL
Shelf
Storage and preservation
File
76 Historical Pioneer Lye Extraction.pdf
Pages
15
Works cited
54

Used in

In the Workshop

The bar soap

The rows that check it

  • 4 confirmed
  • 0 marked for safety
  • T39 confirmed Wood ash ~⅓ potash by weight (variable; often 10–30 % K2CO3); hardwood far richer than softwood; pine/spruce ash gives weak tarry lye; beech ash ~1 % of wood weight; Ch 1's 7.5 t …
  • T40 confirmed Leaching barrel: hole 5 cm above base, stones/sticks/straw, rainwater not well water (lime kills lye), 1 bucket ash → ¼ bucket lye, run again or boil down; 2–5 % slaked lime …
  • T41 confirmed Egg test: fresh egg floats with a coin-sized patch = strong enough for soap; old egg floats in anything; feather dissolves in hot lye; for the wash the lye should be weaker (egg …
  • T42 confirmed Soft soap: 1 kg tallow to 200 g potash (Ch 9) or 3–4 l egg-floating lye; tallow at 40–45 °C, lye in a stream, stir to trace, self-heating, 2–3 h to translucent jelly; potassium …

In the Index

Fire and fuel Soap, lye and the wash Wood, willow and the cask Safety

Its works cited 54

As the document lists them, unchecked. Sorted here by their addresses only, which says where a claim comes from, not whether it holds.

  • 14 journals, universities and public bodies
  • 4 books, archives and patents
  • 3 document-sharing sites
  • 2 encyclopaedias
  • 8 forums, video and social sites
  • 8 blogs
  • 15 other web pages
Show all 54
  1. An Ancient Cleanser: Soap Production and Use in Antiquity researchgate.net/publication/282650616_An_Anci…
  2. Soap Making from Rendered Fat and Lye | Nored Farms Homestead homestead.noredfarms.com/soap-making-guide
  3. Ancient Soap Making Secrets: Lost Techniques from Early Civilizations seattlesundries.com/blogs/news/ancient-soap-ma…
  4. Intimate Soap Production Research | PDF | Soap | Sodium Hydroxide scribd.com/document/921887235/Homemade-Intimat…
  5. (PDF) Ancient and Contemporary Industries Based on Alkali and researchgate.net/publication/355320429_Ancient…
  6. Wood ash lye | Soapy Stuff - Classic Bells classicbells.com/soap/woodAshLye.asp
  7. Spring was soap-making time in early West Virginia wvexplorer.com/spring-soap-making-time-west-vi…
  8. Making lye from wood ash - Journey to Forever journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_ashlye.html
  9. How Do You Turn Wood Ash into Soap Lye? A Woodworker's Guide woodworkscience.com/extract-lye-wood-ash/
  10. Making Water Pure: A History of Water Softening from Potash to Tide scholarshare.temple.edu/server/api/core/bitstr…
  11. From Betty Crocker to Feminist Food Studies - UMass ScholarWorks scholarworks.umass.edu/server/api/core/bitstre…
  12. The Liberation of Cake npr.brightspotcdn.com/a1/45/fe10b21742cda4b9a8…
  13. A Treatise on Domestic Economy: For the Use of Young Ladies at books.google.mw/books?id=zb3gAAAAMAAJ&source=g…
  14. The American Frugal Housewife - Project Gutenberg gutenberg.org/cache/epub/13493/pg13493-images.…
  15. By Amelia Simmons, American Cookery Books mori.bz.it/gastronomia/Simmons%20-American%20c…
  16. The Oxford Handbook of History and Material Culture dokumen.pub/the-oxford-handbook-of-history-and…
  17. gutenberg.org/files/21829/21829-h/21829-h.htm
  18. Lye Then & Now - A Look at Traditional vs. Modern Soap-Making thehealthyporcupine.com/blog/lye-then-amp-now-…
  19. Making Lye from Wood Ash for Soap | PDF - Scribd scribd.com/document/629512794/How-to-Make-Lye-…
  20. 10 Best Hardwoods for Traditional Ash Lye Production soaplegacy.com/best-wood-for-lye-ash/
  21. Potash industry - Lenntech lenntech.com/chemistry/potash-industry.htm
  22. (PDF) Investigation into the Physicochemical Property of Lye researchgate.net/publication/359090277_Investi…
  23. Making the Lye | Anth 392 Medieval Laundry - WordPress.com anth392medievallaundry.wordpress.com/2013/06/0…
  24. 3 Ancient Lye-Making Methods From Colonial Times - soaplegacy.com soaplegacy.com/historical-soap-making-process-…
  25. Soap making stone - Westport Historical Society wpthistory.org/handy-house/archaeology/soap-ma…
  26. How to NOT make Homemade Lye - Happy Money Saver happymoneysaver.com/make-homemade-lye/comment-…
  27. Make Your Own Lye : 8 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables instructables.com/Make-your-own-lye-1/
  28. Hopkins Potash & Pearl Ash Calcining Process - Classic Patents classic-patents.com/patents/us-x1-hopkins-potash
  29. Of Potash and Lye - A Booke of Secretes bookeofsecretes.blogspot.com/2016/08/of-potash…
  30. Lye from Ashes (frugality forum at permies) permies.com/t/73338/Lye-Ashes
  31. Making soap the REALLY old fashioned way | Soapmaking Forum soapmakingforum.com/threads/making-soap-the-re…
  32. Potassium Hydroxide (KOH): Uses, Grades & Safety Guide alliancechemical.com/blogs/articles/potassium-…
  33. Caveman to Chemist Projects: Lime and Lye cavemanchemistry.com/oldcave/projects/lime/ind…
  34. Potassium hydroxide - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_hydroxide
  35. How can potassium hydroxide be prepared from available chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/144876/h…
  36. The first U.S. patent was signed by President George Washington lifesciencehistory.com/the-first-u-s-patent-wa…
  37. Samuel Hopkins Historical Marker - Explore PA History explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php%3FmarkerId=1-…
  38. What the First Three Patents Say About Early America smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-its-first-t…
  39. Samuel Hopkins (inventor) - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hopkins_(inventor
  40. Correcting the Record on America's First Patent Holder - Judicature judicature.duke.edu/articles/patent-confusion-…
  41. 31st July 1790: The first U.S. patent was awarded to Samuel Hopkins youtube.com/watch?v=gd9CEXsaO2w
  42. Woodash “lyewater” and tallow soap. : r/soapmaking - Reddit reddit.com/r/soapmaking/comments/1i8lffw/wooda…
  43. Wood ash lye challenge - Soapmaking Forum soapmakingforum.com/threads/wood-ash-lye-chall…
  44. A fresh laid egge - the Egg Float Test explained - A Booke of Secretes bookeofsecretes.blogspot.com/2017/01/a-fresh-l…
  45. Measuring lye water strength by floating an egg summerdale.science/2024/03/05/measuring-lye-wa…
  46. Historical Lye Making, Part 2 - The Homestead Laboratory homesteadlaboratory.blogspot.com/2014/02/histo…
  47. Processing poultry feathers into keratin hydrolysate through alkaline researchgate.net/publication/44612698_Processi…
  48. Giving Broiler Feathers a Good Fate. Optimization of Chemical pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12177636/
  49. (PDF) Sulfitolysis and Alkaline Extraction of Feather Keratin researchgate.net/publication/397508538_Sulfito…
  50. Valorization of Livestock Keratin Waste: Application in Agricultural pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9180014/
  51. Keratinolytic Fungi for Poultry Feather Waste Valorization - MDPI mdpi.com/2079-9276/15/3/46
  52. Alkali Enzymatic Extraction of Keratin Protein from Chicken Feather researchgate.net/publication/337856604_Alkali_…
  53. Homemade vs. Commercial Lye - Soap & Candle Forums soapmakingforum.com/threads/homemade-vs-commer…
  54. Models and mechanisms of Hofmeister effects in electrolyte pubs.rsc.org/cs/article/43/21/7358/434621/Mode…