Anyone made soap from wood ash?

[Bster13]

Is it easy enough to do to use a significant amount of wood ash we generate from heating our home?

Is it a cost effective vs. buying soap?

Any experiences welcome. Thx.

 

[BrotherBart]

Never tried it. I usually use soap to get wood ash off of me.

 

[Hearth Mistress]

I've made soap as demonstrations at 18th century re enactments and I personally don't recommend it. I hate using Lye or making lye from ash and the smell of melting lard or other animal fat gets gross after awhile. I'm an avid fan of Mother Earth News and have this article (published before I was born) in my archives but have never done it exactly this way.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/home...ap-from-ashes-zmaz72jfzfre.aspx#axzz2h5sOh4ci

There may be recipes on line to make other ways but at least this will give you an idea of the work involved.

A 3 pk of Ivory is about $2, that's way better IMHO

Good Luck!

 

[Bster13]

Yeah, the only other reason to make it myself other than financial would be animal testing. Thanks for the info!