lye soap
Initially lye soap didn’t have ready made ingredients available and everything in the composition came from the household . Lye came from the wood ashes collected from stoves, while lard, another elementary ingredient necessary for soap making was collected and saved after hogs were killed as a source food, every fall. Lye has very powerful caustic properties which is why its use has been banned from common use because of the health hazards it comports. Yet, quality lye soap uses a carefully an established amount of lye that remains harmless due to the low concentration in the soap content as such.
Lye soap results from mixing lye and lard over an intense heat source; the process needs continuous stirring, and it could extend over several hours. When the boiling process is over, the lye soap is poured into metal, wood, glass or plastic molds where it is left to dry and harden. This remaining part of the process could take up to a month. Afterwards, you can use the lye soap extensively, and it is according to the household needs that one chooses to cut larger or smaller soap bars.
Nowadays few people still make lye soap at home because of the painstaking process. You can nevertheless find it with soap manufacturers that sell their products in specialty bath shops or on Internet sites. The classic lard-based recipe of the lye soap is often substituted by the variant with vegetable oils and fragrances included that not only clean but also soothe the skin. Aloe, jojoba and coconu oils and extracts make just a few examples of the lard replacements available with many skin care products.
Lye soap has other advantages besides the good cleaning properties. Thus, it is well known that the use of lye soap reduces the itching caused by insect bites, not to mention the positive skin effects it has in the treatment of dermatological conditions like athlete’s foot, dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis and even acne. Last but not least, many people still appreciate lye soap a lot and prefer it for clothes bleaching and stain removal. In this form it is often more advantageous and less dangerous than other rather harmful bleaching agents that not only ruin fabrics but also attack skin.