Homemade Survival Soap

[ezio.jr]

Equipment:
Stainless steel stock pot
half gallon glass jar
rubber spatula or long handled wooden spoon
scale that will weigh up to 38 ounces
thermometer, meat or candy is fine
mold with cover, I recommend a heavy plastic mold the size of a large shoe box if you intend to make soap only occasionally. I use industrial plastic sheet of freezer paper two large towels or a blanket

***safety glasses
***rubber gloves


Ingredients:

12 oz lye (Red Devil, found beside Draino, do not use Draino)
32 oz water (My well water is hard so I buy it)
24 oz coconut oil (health food store)
24 oz olive oil (do not use virgin, the less pure the better)
38 oz vegetable oil (Crisco solid, not liquid oil)

4 oz fragrance/essential oil if desired botanicals if desired ie: 8 oz pulverized oatmeal or 4 oz cornmeal or 2 oz dried herbs/flowers

Dissolve lye in water. This is best done under an exhaust fan or outdoor. Stand back and avoid fumes. Set aside to cool. In the stainless steel stock pot melt the Crisco and coconut oil. Add the olive oil and allow to cool.

Grease your soap mold now. Some soap makers prefer silicone spray but my purpose in making my own soap is to avoid using things like that. I use Crisco. Fit the freezer paper into the bottom and two sides of the mold to make removing the soap easier. Grease the paper.

When both the oils and lye mixtures have cooled to 90* you are ready to blend. You can speed cooling by using a sink of cool water and setting the mixtures in to cool. If one cools too much you can warm it in a sink of warm water.

You need to have 10-40 minutes of uninterrupted time now. Slowly pour the water/lye mixture into the oils. You'll quickly see a reaction. Stir in a consistent manner. Don't beat as you would eggs but stir quickly enough to keep the mixture in constant motion. If you're creating bubbles in the mixture you are going too fast. Continue to stir until the soap "traces." You'll feel a slight difference in consistency as the soap begins to saponify. When tracing has occurred you'll be able to drizzle a small amount of soap back onto the top of the soap in the pan and it will leave a trace before sinking back into the rest of the mixture. After a batch or two you'll recognize when tracing has occurred by the feel of the soap while stirring.

If you want to add botanicals/grains to your soap now is the time to do it. Remove one cup of soap (doesn't need to be exactly a cup, whatever it takes to mix with the botanical/grains) and stir in with whatever you're adding in a separate bowl. Oatmeal makes a nice complexion soap, corn meal adds texture to scrub dirty hands. As soon as it's mixed pour it back into the pan and stir. If you're going to add essential or fragrance oil pour it in slowly now. Continue to stir until well mixed then pour into prepared mold. Cover mold, wrap it in towels or blanket to keep warm and leave it undisturbed for 18 hours. No peaking! The soap will rise to approximately 160* and then cool down. Don't uncover until it's cooled.

Allow soap to sit in the uncovered mold for 12 hours. Loosen sides and turn over onto a clean sideboard. You should cut your bars from the large mold within three days. You can cut it at any time but three days seems to be a good window. The soap doesn't become difficult to cut and
smaller bars cure faster. Allow to cure 3-6 weeks before using.

[hunter63]

Hunter63 saying Hey and Welcome....
There is an intro section to say hello to the group at:
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions

Thanks for posting the soap make reciping.....but I don't get the "survival" part?

[kyratshooter]

Don't see the survival connection with all the essential oils and store bough ingredients.

Now if you were using 20 pounds of mutton tallow or bacon grease and leaching your wood ashes to make the lye I could see a relevance.

As long as you are going to Kroger for virgin olive oil, Crisco and Red Devil Lye you might as well cruse over to the soap isle and pick up a few bars. In fact, the soap is cheaper than the ingredients to make it.

[edr730]

When I run out of soap I'll make another bar. The OP has a better receipe than mine for various reasons, but I keep mine easy and simple and it works good for me. I take a normal ceramic (not glass) coffee cup, put 2 TB water, 1 TBS of red devil lye (without the metal flakes in it), 5.33 TBS of coconut oil then put it on the woodstove while I get ready for work. Every once in a while I'll stir it with a stick. Sometimes I'll use a silver spoon and that puts a little silver in it. Don't ask me if it's a good idea or not, but I sometimes do it. Sometimes I put a tsp of salt, sugar or soda or a combination of those things in it. When it starts to get thick I might add some perfume or peppermint oil or whatever, then put it under the stove for a couple days and use a knife around the edges to remove it. After a week or two it's better, but I often use it right away, but the lye in it is still pretty strong at that point and it gets your hands very clean. It's easy, but finding the pure lye without the metal in it gets harder all the time. I've made it with the ashes, but it's just harder and you have to wait for the lye water to clear up or the bars will be dark yellow or brown.

[hunter63]

I like Ivory for the wilderness....
It does float, but will float down stream, unless you drill a hole in it.....
Then add paracord for "tactical soap on a rope"....

[Rick]

So how long does your paracord have to be? I'm thinking 200 feet wouldn't be very handy.

[crashdive123]

Survival soap is a very important aspect of first dates, living in close proximity to other and the prison version which of course has a rope attached to it.

[tundrabadger]

"don't use drano".

Words to live by.

[randyt]

When I run out of soap I'll make another bar. The OP has a better receipe than mine for various reasons, but I keep mine easy and simple and it works good for me. I take a normal ceramic (not glass) coffee cup, put 2 TB water, 1 TBS of red devil lye (without the metal flakes in it), 5.33 TBS of coconut oil then put it on the woodstove while I get ready for work. Every once in a while I'll stir it with a stick. Sometimes I'll use a silver spoon and that puts a little silver in it. Don't ask me if it's a good idea or not, but I sometimes do it. Sometimes I put a tsp of salt, sugar or soda or a combination of those things in it. When it starts to get thick I might add some perfume or peppermint oil or whatever, then put it under the stove for a couple days and use a knife around the edges to remove it. After a week or two it's better, but I often use it right away, but the lye in it is still pretty strong at that point and it gets your hands very clean. It's easy, but finding the pure lye without the metal in it gets harder all the time. I've made it with the ashes, but it's just harder and you have to wait for the lye water to clear up or the bars will be dark yellow or brown.

there's a place called alpena supply that can order lye in for you. May have to take 50 lbs but if you know other folk that want some it wouldn't be a bad way to go.

[Rick]

I think we've hit upon a new by line. "Don't use drano". I can think of at least 2000 situations (maybe more if I put my mind to it) in which that would be really good advice.

Make certain your fluid levels are topped off before embarking on a trip. Don't use drano.
Wash a wound with mild soap, dry and apply a bandage. Don't use drano.
When making a bacon sammich don't use drano.

You thought I was going to list out the entire 2000 didn't you?

[edr730]

Randy, I'll stop over there and see what they have. 50 lbs is too much for me though. Ace in some places carried Red Devil lye. Maybe Ace in Ossineke when I go by there.
I have made some big bars of soap from todays Draino. I used it to wash my hands and a few other things. But, I don't know much about that dye and metal in it, so I just don't trust it's safety.

[kyratshooter]

All this for a product that costs $2 per month in finished form?

Hardly worth the effort, which is why they started making the commercial product I believe.

[ezio.jr]

Hi Guys! thanks for the replies, you all are right about the "survival" part, the reason is that I like to call it like that because it's homemade, I don't know why, haha, I am changign the title

[ezio.jr]

lol, I can't change it. Well, I'll try to keep posting great content! hope you like it

[1stimestar]

I use lye in my outhouse but I don't use draino!

[WalkingTree]

Yea, btw...apart from just homemade soap, what are some ways to clean your hands 'primitively' *, after butchering a rabbit for example? * (When you don't have any soap or sanitizer, and just wilderness resources)

Without using draino.

[sojournertam]

I worked in Somalia during those "Black Hawk Down" days and then some under some fairly primitive conditions. When we didn't have soap we used wood ash (per the WHO) and it did do the trick. Ash is your true "survival soap". One can also use the roots of yucca in N. America and soap bark in S. America.

[edr730]

You can wash with just weak lye water. Ashes and water= lye. The charcoal floats so you just strain or toss that off. You can make it stronger by adding enough ashes and drip the water off or you can evaporate it. You can clear it up by setting it aside for a couple weeks until it becomes as clear as water. You can put the ashes in a cloth or bags and scrub with it. You can also use a bag such as that to make hominy as did my great grandmother. Or if you make it so strong that you can't put your hands into it, you make soap by adding grease and heating it. Lye is oven cleaner, or drain cleaner. Draino today has some chips of metal and dye added to the lye.

[hunter63]

When I run out of soap I'll make another bar. The OP has a better receipe than mine for various reasons, but I keep mine easy and simple and it works good for me. I take a normal ceramic (not glass) coffee cup, put 2 TB water, 1 TBS of red devil lye (without the metal flakes in it), 5.33 TBS of coconut oil then put it on the woodstove while I get ready for work. Every once in a while I'll stir it with a stick. Sometimes I'll use a silver spoon and that puts a little silver in it. Don't ask me if it's a good idea or not, but I sometimes do it. Sometimes I put a tsp of salt, sugar or soda or a combination of those things in it. When it starts to get thick I might add some perfume or peppermint oil or whatever, then put it under the stove for a couple days and use a knife around the edges to remove it. After a week or two it's better, but I often use it right away, but the lye in it is still pretty strong at that point and it gets your hands very clean. It's easy, but finding the pure lye without the metal in it gets harder all the time. I've made it with the ashes, but it's just harder and you have to wait for the lye water to clear up or the bars will be dark yellow or brown.

Actually I have seen this recipe before, some where....thanks for posting....sounds do able.

[edr730]

I didn't think anyone but me made one bar at a time. This is just my own combination by trail and error. I did get the original receipe and changed the oz to tablespoons and divided it until I had about one bar. Then I changed it a bit when it wasn't just right. Soap making purists only talk in ounces and never in measurements. The other ingredients I had read about and I just guessed at those. If you do add sugar for more suds, you should add it after the soap thickens or it will carmelize some and yellow the soap. It's easy but different oils can change the amounts of the other ingredients. I've even let it half finished and reheated it to finish it the next day. Although it does get half solid and you have to remix it. Remember not to use glass. I've never broke ceramic coffee cups with heat, but I've broke lots of glass containers with anything to do with heat or fire.