Leaching Hardwood Ash For Lye

[bnorth12]

Have any of you made your own lye by leaching hardwood ash? When its cold enough we heat the house with a wood burning stove, and the two primary woods we burn are oak and mesquite. I am pretty sure both will work well for producing lye. The process seems easy enough and I have to do something with the ash, leaching most of the lye out of the ash before putting the remained on the garden will also avoid lowering the garden PH more than it should be.

 

[Redbeard]

We do, but we use it for soap making. Good note on the garden!

 

[Patchouli]

Have any of you made your own lye by leaching hardwood ash? When its cold enough we heat the house with a wood burning stove, and the two primary woods we burn are oak and mesquite. I am pretty sure both will work well for producing lye. The process seems easy enough and I have to do something with the ash, leaching most of the lye out of the ash before putting the remained on the garden will also avoid lowering the garden PH more than it should be.

You go ahead. We'll watch from over here.

 

[Dani]

That is something I have been wanting to do for soap making. I'm going to have to break down and just go ahead and do it some day soon after the holidays when life slows down. I got enough lard in my freezer right now. We also burn a lot of oak in the wood stove to heat up the house but I have been putting it into the garden too.

 

[Elgar]

I have in the past but had problems getting the right concentration. I never made much soap so decided it was better for me to just use the commercial stuff. But I would think if someone made a lot of soap and had the time to experiment, it would work great.

 

[Redbeard]

I have in the past but had problems getting the right concentration. I never made much soap so decided it was better for me to just use the commercial stuff. But I would think if someone made a lot of soap and had the time to experiment, it would work great.

How did you do it? Did you use tap or rain water? And for the purpose of the thread i would like to add wood ash lye is potassium hydroxide lye witch is better for making liquid soap. For hard soap you want sodium hydroxide lye witch is and can be made from baking soda. There are several different ways to make wood ash lye my preferred method is leaching because i can control the ph of the lye better, ie getting to be strong enough.

 

[Dani]

My plan was leaching with collected rain water, but can well water be OK to use if we don't get the amount of rain water?

 

[Redbeard]

My plan was leaching with collected rain water, but can well water be OK to use if we don't get the amount of rain water?

Sure if your water is very soft. Rain water is usually soft so it works great. If you use hard water your soap won't lather.

 

[Elgar]

I followed the directions from an old Mother Earth News magazine. It's been over 30 years, but as I remember I used a large bucket with pebbles and straw in the bottom as a filter, put in the ashes and rain water and let it drip through. For the actual soap making I used a concentrated mixture of the lye water along with tallow. Redbeard's comment above explains why it was probably the failure it was as I was expecting to make a bar soap.

 

[Redbeard]

I followed the directions from an old Mother Earth News magazine. It's been over 30 years, but as I remember I used a large bucket with pebbles and straw in the bottom as a filter, put in the ashes and rain water and let it drip through. For the actual soap making I used a concentrated mixture of the lye water along with tallow. Redbeard's comment above explains why it was probably the failure it was as I was expecting to make a bar soap.

Thats how i do it too. If it isn't strong enough i run it through again. Ya different types of lye that's the part most instructions don't tell you. You can add salt to the ash based lye to firm it up for bar soap. It makes a crude sodium hydroxide lye, kinda.

 

[Dani]

I love that i can get instructions on the how to's in books, but as Redbeard said, they do tend to leave some things out. I would like I to see someone do it, but I don't know anyone around here that makes their own, at least yet. That way I can ask question. I am happy I can here though . I have self taught myself a lot through trial and error. . . that's just how it goes. If your determined enough, you will make it happen, is my motto.

 

[Redbeard]

I love that i can get instructions on the how to's in books, but as Redbeard said, they do tend to leave some things out. I would like I to see someone do it, but I don't know anyone around here that makes their own, at least yet. That way I can ask question. I am happy I can here though . I have self taught myself a lot through trial and error. . . that's just how it goes. If your determined enough, you will make it happen, is my motto.

If you do the leaching method it isn't that hard. A little ph testing strip and you know where it is and if you should give it another run or not. Im positive you can do it! Just be careful and safe and you will be fine.

 

[SheepDog]

To make a good strong lye use the white ash only and it doesn't matter what kind of wood you burned. the white wood ash is then soaked in distilled water and filtered through a media that is not affected by the lye. Any reaction during the process reduces the strength of your lye. I use plastic buckets with small holes - I use a #12 drill for the holes centered in the bottom of the bucket. Then a 2" layer of pea gravel, a 1 to 2 inch layer of ground up plastic and top it off with another layer of sand.
Pour your soaked white ashes into the filter bucket - be careful because the liquid can cause burns on your skin and clothing. Once you filter it take the lye water and boil it in a dedicated cast iron or stainless steel pot - don't use aluminum because it will react and melt the pot- and boil it until it is 1/3 the volume. Filter this through a coffee filter - the paper kind - at least twice with clean filters each time.
You now have a concentrated lye solution that has to be added to water to get the right specific gravity for soap making. It should be about the same specific gravity as a saturated saline solution - boil water while adding salt until no more salt will dissolve - You can use a hydrometer or make your own by using a short piece (5 or 6" long) of plastic closed at one end and add lead shot or other weight in the bottom until it will float upright in the salt solution. Mark the level where the salt water hits the tube. When your specific gravity is correct it will float at the same level. (it's a good idea to close both ends when the tube is ready and marked for use) Always pour the lye mixture into water - never pour water into the lye - pour the lye slowly into the water until the hydrometer is at the right level and you have the right solution for soap making.

Adding anything other than water to the ash mixture will either cause reactions (wasting your lye) or dilute the strength of the lye. I use the full strength lye to make batteries and have learned to make it for that purpose. What you are working with is Sodium Hydroxide, Lye, and it is a very corrosive chemical. Wear eye and face protection and good, chemical resistant gloves. If any splashes on you or your clothing rinse it immediately in water for 20 minutes. It may not save the clothes but it will keep you from having a hole in your body. You don't feel it burn but you need to treat it right away. By the time you feel it you will have a hole into the muscle tissue or all the way to the bone.
Be Safe!

 

[Redbeard]

To make a good strong lye use the white ash only and it doesn't matter what kind of wood you burned. the white wood ash is then soaked in distilled water and filtered through a media that is not affected by the lye. Any reaction during the process reduces the strength of your lye. I use plastic buckets with small holes - I use a #12 drill for the holes centered in the bottom of the bucket. Then a 2" layer of pea gravel, a 1 to 2 inch layer of ground up plastic and top it off with another layer of sand.
Pour your soaked white ashes into the filter bucket - be careful because the liquid can cause burns on your skin and clothing. Once you filter it take the lye water and boil it in a dedicated cast iron or stainless steel pot - don't use aluminum because it will react and melt the pot- and boil it until it is 1/3 the volume. Filter this through a coffee filter - the paper kind - at least twice with clean filters each time.
You now have a concentrated lye solution that has to be added to water to get the right specific gravity for soap making. It should be about the same specific gravity as a saturated saline solution - boil water while adding salt until no more salt will dissolve - You can use a hydrometer or make your own by using a short piece (5 or 6" long) of plastic closed at one end and add lead shot or other weight in the bottom until it will float upright in the salt solution. Mark the level where the salt water hits the tube. When your specific gravity is correct it will float at the same level. (it's a good idea to close both ends when the tube is ready and marked for use) Always pour the lye mixture into water - never pour water into the lye - pour the lye slowly into the water until the hydrometer is at the right level and you have the right solution for soap making.

Adding anything other than water to the ash mixture will either cause reactions (wasting your lye) or dilute the strength of the lye. I use the full strength lye to make batteries and have learned to make it for that purpose. What you are working with is Sodium Hydroxide, Lye, and it is a very corrosive chemical. Wear eye and face protection and good, chemical resistant gloves. If any splashes on you or your clothing rinse it immediately in water for 20 minutes. It may not save the clothes but it will keep you from having a hole in your body. You don't feel it burn but you need to treat it right away. By the time you feel it you will have a hole into the muscle tissue or all the way to the bone.
Be Safe!

Nice! Correct me if im wrong on this but the initial lye you make is potassium hydroxide lye then when you add the salt it is sodium hydroxide lye. Just checking to make sure im not spreading mis-information. And lye will eat some types of plastic so one might want to be sure to use the right grade containers. I believe grade 5 plastic is lye safe?

 

[SheepDog]

Redbeard, you can make sodium hydroxide out of salt and water at pure, full strength, but only through electrolysis. Adding salt to the lye from wood ash will give you questionable results. I would have to get my organic chemistry books out to see what the reaction would be. Salt water is slightly acidic and lye is a strong base - the combination usually makes a reaction (heat) leaving neutral salts in the process. In this case the sodium and potassium are chemically very close (both metals) and I am unsure of the residual salts. Maybe it would just exchange metals and leave potassium chlorate??? (not really a neutral salt as it is an active oxidizer) I don't know off hand.