Soap.Making.Breckinridge.HISTORY-OtherFrom: KyArchives [Archives@genrecords.org]
Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 8:14 AM
To: Ky-Footsteps
Subject: Soap.Making.Breckinridge.HISTORY-Other


Soap Making  
Breckinridge County KyArchives History Other 
Book Title: A Glimpse Of The Past 
Soap was a must in every cleaning operation and its making was an experience 
every farm family faced each year.  When the fires began to burn at the 
beginning of winter, plans for soap making were begun.  A woden hopper was 
constructed upon a slanted platform.  The ash hopper was from three to five 
feet in height, wide at the top, slanting to the platform at the bottom.  The 
bin and base were made of clapboard lapping over each joint to prevent 
leaking.  Dry, clean ashes, taken from the fireplace or stove, were dumped into 
the hopper and covered so as to keep dry until soap making time.  When the bin 
was full and the housewife was ready, water was poured over the dry ashes 
gradually, until the liquid, called lye, began to seep into a trough located at 
the lowest point under the edge of the platform.  By adding enough water to 
keep the liquid seeping into the trough, the housewife kept the lye to the 
required strength.  It takes grease and lye to make soap, and in anticipation 
of such, the housewife saved all waste fats, meats and grease from slaughtered 
animals and left overs from the kitchen.  When enough lye was ready for the 
boiling kettle, the required amount of fats were added, and the cooking began.  
It was boiled until a jelly like substance was formed.  This was soap.  It was 
stored in stone jars to be used as needed.  It was used for every cleaning job; 
baths, laundry, floors and delicate fabrics received the same cleaning 
treatment, Lye Soap.  Lye would make soap as long as it would cut the down off 
a feather.  After that, it was used to take husk off corn for making hominy. 
Mixing soft fats and lye made another type of soap.  The mixture was left until 
it hardened, after which, it could be cut into bars.  This did not cut dirt and 
grime as easily as the type mentioned above. 


Recipe for Lye Soap 
Use five pounds of grease, one box of Red Devil lye, three tablespoons of 
borax, two tablespoons of sugar, one tablespoon of salt, one-fourth cup of 
ammonia and one-half cup of boiling water. 
Mix the lye in a ban with a quart of hot water and stir until the lye is 
dissolved.  Let it cool, and add the lukewarm, dussolved grease.  Mix the borax 
with a half-cup of boiling water, and add it along with the other ingredients.  
When all the ingredients are dissolved and well mixed, pour the solution into 
flat, shallow pans to harden into soap.  When hard, the soap can be cut into 
bars for use. 
In the early 1900s, a good supply of homemade soap could always be found around 
the farm.  It was powerful soap and used only for washing clothes. 





Submitted by: Dana Brown 
http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00005.html#0001067 



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