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It is spring in the Ozarks! The wild flowers
are beginning to come up in the creek bottoms,
and the moon is in the right sign. It is
time for lye soap making. Behind each cabin
is an ash hopper. All of the kids who were
of the right age had the chore of cleaning
the wood stove and fire place of its ashes
and, dumping them in the old V-shaped ash
hopper all through the winter. By spring
the ashes were rotten and ready for soap-making.
The very early pioneers, before saw mills,
made ash troughs from hollowed out logs with
holes in the bottom for the lye water to
run through.
Most people preferred hardwood ashes for
it is said, "That lye was not good if
the wood was burnt for it was not good."
Some old-timers say it is impossible to make
lye from ashes of cherry wood. Some folks
believe that if a twig from a cherry tree,
or even a single chip got into the fire by
mistake, it would ruin a whole hopper full
of good ashes.
Today is the day for making soap, and no
one particularly looked forward to it, except
where it was a community project and all
of the neighbors made it a social event.
The men and boys would take the top off the
hopper and make furrows in the ashes with
a hoe. Buckets of water were poured over
the ashes until pure lye ran out the trough
underneath. This yellow lye would run down
into the drip pan at the base of the trough.
Enough lye water would be gathered and diluted
until an egg would float just below its top,
or a chicken feather would start to dissolve
in the lye water. If the egg popped up too
far, a bit more soft water would be added,
like a cup at a time. Continue to add water
and stir the lye water until the egg floats
with just its head sticking out.
In the meantime all of the women were cooking
all the leftover scraps of fat meat and stale
grease in a big iron kettle. Now there is
an old story, though probably not true, that
some of the pioneers didn't particularly
care for possum or coon meat, so the men
would keep the hides and give the meat to
their wives for the soap kettle. Now most
folks just wouldn't cater to wasting that
good meat in the soap pot. No sir, possum
is some mighty good eating. Mostly hog fat,
which is lard, or beef fat, which is tallow,
was used for soap making. Tallow also makes
good candles.
Once the lye water and lard was ready they
were mixed together in the big iron kettle
and cooked until the mixture was thick. Some
folks say as thick as thickenin' gravy, while
others say as thick as cold molasses. If
the soap was poured while it was still jellylike,
it was called soft soap; hence the expression,
"Don't let 'em soft soap you."
The thicker soap was poured into a pan or
tray and allowed to cool for about twenty-four
hours before cutting into small bars. Some
of the more enterprising women would pour
their soap into empty wooden matchboxes to
give them a neat "store-bought"
shape. Most folks let their soap dry for
about six weeks, because as Grandpa Isaac
used to say, "Fresh-made soap takes
the skin offn your body."
Everyone used to agree that lye soap would
eat up everything except the inside of the
old iron kettle it was made in. It was -
and still is - used as a cure for skin diseases,
chiggers, insect bites, cleaning floors,
clothes, kids and even as a secret fish bait
formula.
Most hill people will give you their favorite
receipts and beliefs for making soap. Nearly
all of the old-timers think that soap will
not "make" unless it is stirred
by a member of the family-"a strange
hand 'skeers' the soap," as the old
saying goes. It is a highly held belief by
some that soap cooked in March thickens quicker
and is superior to that made at any
other season. There is no unanimity about
when to cook soap. So it is said that, "In
the dark of the moon soap biles high around
the edges an' low in the middle," but
"in the light of the moon it spatters
up high in the middle of the kettle."
Soap made in the increase of the moon is
lighter in color; that made in the dark of
the moon is considerably darker. One old
woman says, "You can make good soap
when the moon's a-fullin', or you can make
it right on the full, but don't never try
to make soap when the moon's a-wainin', or
it won't be no good at all." However,
some folks believed that soap won't thicken
unless it's made in the dark of the moon.
While others say it won't thicken anyway
"if stirred by a lazy person."
Some believe that only one person should
stir the soap - never different people.
But no matter what advice you may get about
soap making, most all of the old timers agree
that lye soap made the old fashioned way
"Will take the hide off'n ye."
The old time recipe used at the Ozark Folk
Center produces a nutrual Ph balance, of
"7," this is because of the accurate
measuring of sodium hydroxcide (lye) for
a specific amount of lard. Isn't science
wonderful.
Home made soap has the benefits of glycerin,
which has been removed from most commercial
soaps. Glycerin is a sweetener, preservative
and skin emoilient which is a very soothing
agent. Glycerin is "hygroscopic"
which means that it absorbs water from the
air. Its commercial value when used in other
products is more profitable than leaving
it in soap, so most commercial soap factories
use a process to separate it from the soap
and sell it separately.
Go to: Soap Making ~ Its History or How To Make Your Own Soap
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