Lye Soap - Grandma's Ole Timey Lye Soap-Lye Soap, Homemade Lye Soap

Lye Soap - Grandma's Ole Timey Lye Soap

Old-fashioned Lye Soap

Lye Soap, made with lye and lard and nuthin' else, not even any of that sweet smellin' stuff that's in all the other soaps we sell. Our customers have taught us well - there's nothing quite like this lye soap recipe for stopping the spread of poison ivy or oak, or taking tough stains out of clothes, especially salvaging antique linens.

This handmade lye soap recipe is an Appalachian tradition, with its historical use including the elimination of head and body lice, bed bugs, mites, as well as general household and floor cleaning. There was a time when Lye Soap was the only source of basic hygiene available. Lye soap was generally made once a year, coinciding with Autumn Harvest and the killing of hogs in preparation for Winter.

In making this handmade soap we experience the same variations in pork fat (lard) that our Appalachian cousins did, caused by the diet, age, region, breed and processing of the, well, the 'donor' for lack of another way to put it. There's a difference between the body fat of a hog raised on corn and commercial grains, and one raised on 'slop', and sometimes this soap will be a little soft and beige in color, and other times white and powdery.

The variance in color and texture is a result of the natural materials it's made from: it's not something we can control, nor do we try to. Lye soap is a part of Appalachian history, and we make it the historical way. For those of you have regaled us with 'fond memories' of childhood, remembering soap so strong 'it practically took your skin off,' well, THIS ONE'S FOR YOU!!! We make our Lye Soap in the tradition of Fels Naptha Soap.

Lye Soap comes in a big 6-7 ounce chunk you can grate for laundry or whatever your little heart desires. Our Lye Soap is handcut and there will be rough and uneven edges due to the unpredictable texture of the natural fat - it will not have smooth edges like our vegetable oil soaps.

Details

Ingredients: Lard, Sodium Hydroxide or Lye, Mountain Spring Water.

Soap Bar Size: Our soap bars are a minimum weight of 3 ounces. Our new 'Chunks' are more than twice that size, at least 7.5 ounces. Our Soap Logs are approximately ten inches long and two pounds in weight (29-35 ounces). For more detail about our soap size and dimensions, ingredients, or how we make our handmade soap,
click here to view our F.A.Q. page.

Price: $6.00

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Grandma's Lye Soap - Song Lyrics
Lyrics written by Johnny Standley and Art Thorsen
Do you remember Grandma's Lye Soap,
Good for everything in the home,
And the secret was in the scrubbing,
It wouldn't suds, and wouldn't foam,
Oh, let us sing right out (sing out!)
For Grandma's Lye Soap,
Sing it out, all over the place!
For pots and pans, and dirty dishes,
And for your hands,
And for your face!
Little Therman, and Brother Herman,
Had an aversion to washing their ears...
Grandma scrubbed them with her lye soap,
And they haven't heard a word in years!
Oh, let us sing right out (sing out!)
For Grandma's Lye Soap,
Sing it out, all over the place!
For pots and pans, and dirty dishes,
And for your hands,
And for your face!
Mrs. O'Malley, out in the valley,
Suffered from ulcers, I understand,
She swallowed a cake of Grandma's Lye Soap,
Has the cleanest ulcers in the land!
Oh, let us sing right out (sing out!)
For Grandma's Lye Soap,
Sing it out, all over the place!
For pots and pans, and dirty dishes,
And for your hands,
And for your face!

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