Making Lye Water (KOH) from Hardwood Ashes

A 7.5 minute tutorial on how to make potassium hydroxide (KOH) lye water from wood ashes using a 5 gallon bucket, small stones, sand, and straw. It can be used in soap making.
Website: primalwoods.com/
Blog: primalwoods.com/blog/
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Instagram: / primal_woods

[@QuantumPyrite_88.9]

Great video . Reminds me of making soap with my grandmother many years ago . She put ashes into a 12 gallon ceramic "croc" added hot water and that solution would sit for 2 days with occasional stirring . The solution was put into a wooden trough placed at a slight angle and the solution would slowly pass through a hole in the end of the trough and drip into a coffee can full of straw and sand . The filtered solution was collected in a large glass pickle jar . Jenka (her Apache name ) would suspend wool yarn down into the liquid lye solution which would absorb the solution . After about 2 days , the yarn was covered with pure K0H crystals which were scraped off with a wooden spoon and the yarn was placed in the glass jar to remove every bit of K0H . She made 2 types of soap - # 1 would remove skin & # 2 was made with the purest sheep tallow - yucca roots and lanolin . Very mild soap . Didn't mean to write a book . Thanks very much for your video Primal Woods and best wishes from Apache land N.M. -> Lefty Cat

[@AJRWilde]

wow that's fascinating!

[@doodlingsdoodlings6085]

Hope you do write a book. Thanks for sharing

[@sybelle_esta_no_telhado_ad5040]

Thank you for sharing! I've been very interested in soapmaking for a while now and the whole process(including the making of lye) fascinates me. What you've described here is lost knowledge to many! :)

[@PrimalWoods]

Love this comment. Thank you. Wool has lanolin in it, interestingly. I wonder what the chemistry is that causes the KOH to precipitate out of solution and collect on the yarn. I've saved this off for future research.

[@scottlund4562]

Fantastic comment, I enjoyed every chapter (jk) I have heard of boiling it down to get the crystals but I'd never thought of using the rock candy stick type method... I have to wonder if that would be and even more pure potassium hydroxide, thanks again I'm heading out to my shop to make some now

[@NeoFrontierTechnologies]

Nice video, it would be nice if you would show the end results and product testing...

[@perentee77]

This video so needs a part 2

[@ShavinMcCrotch]

Amazing. And straight lye is also paint stripper and oven cleaner, which are kind of pricey. Who knew it was all basically just ash tea? 😜

[@FelonyVideos]

If you go ahead and boil the liquid down to crystals (dry), the impurities separate during the cooking process, and then you can rehydrate the crystals and be confident that your lye concentration is spot on, because the crystals are pure anhydrous Potassium Hydroxide, just like the lye drain cleaner you get from the store (which you can also use). Just an FYI. Nice video! Thanks!

[@MissGenXr]

I would've liked to have seen an egg used ... part II is needed 🙏

[@littleBrownDwarf]

FYI measuring the pH is absolutely the most accurate way to measure the concentration of an acid or base in solution (depending on the precision of your instrument of course, but most digital pH meters should be fine). It's a direct measure of the number of OH ions per liter of solution. Specific gravity is likely to have a larger error because it strongly depends on temperature, and also the presence of particulate matter or other dissolved chemicals. Once you know the concentration of your KOH solution, you can use the saponification value of your chosen oil/fat to calculate the amount of the solution required.

[@PrimalWoods]

That's great information. Do you know of a source table for KOH concentration versus pH?

[@littleBrownDwarf]

Disclaimer- I've never made soap... yet! I'm just a guy who took a few chemistry classes back in college. To get from pH to the concentration of OH in solution, use this formula: [OH] = 10^(pH - 14). This will give you the number of moles of OH in each liter of lye solution. But what you really want is the amount of lye solution to add to a given amount of fat -- so use the saponification value of your chosen oil/fat, and the full formula would be (saponification value)/[10^(pH - 14) * 56.1]. (where 56.1 g/mol is the molar mass of KOH).

[@littleBrownDwarf]

For example, let's say you're using lard to make soap, which has a saponification value of 0.193, and you measure the pH of your lye solution to be 12.5. Following the formula, you'd get (0.193)/[10^(12.5 - 14)*56.1] = 0.109 liters of lye per gram of lard. This should be a pretty excellent starting point, there may be some other complexities to the process that would require you to add more or less lye under certain conditions, I have no idea... I'm also curious to find out what's in the lye solution besides KOH, and what effect that might have.

[@PrimalWoods]

littleBrownDwarf Thanks! I will give that a try and let you know how it works out.

[@littleBrownDwarf]

yes, let me know. I'm planning on making soap soon, when i build up enough ashes.

[@fredkester6130]

thanks very much. pH tells not all about the concentration. E.g. if I have demineralised water and then the pH changes to 12, the KOH concentration is 0,56 gram/ltr. (0,01 mol/ltr) I found somewhere a recipy (working !) for soap with caustic soda: 100 gr grease, 13 gr caustic and 35 gr H2O. Is like 9 mol/ltr. Such concentration cannot be measured with pH (out of range). So density is better !

[@rickcoona8368]

I would sift out the "clinkers" bits of charcoal anf other unburned material hopefully it all worked out for you a lot of folks forget the filtering of the solution.it's an important step, So remember: " If you are not part of the Solution, then you are part of the Precipitate!" --Rick

[@PrimalWoods]

Hi Rick, somehow this ended up in the comments "spam" folder. Thanks for the tip. The "clinkers," which actually make a clinking sound in my limited blacksmithing experience, I have not encountered in my ash; more like actual charcoal. Do you have a recommendation for filter media?

[@chicochick6520]

This process of making a lye reminds me during my younger days😀my grand parents used to set aside the ashes from NARRA tree , they used the dry narra woods as a firewoods for cooking , they even used the lye water to color and flavour LATIK a native filipino delecacy😛it taste so yuummy. Wood ashes can be use also to pots and pans as Cleanser just rub the dry ash to the part with a stain and Wash it with top water and you've gonna have sparkly like new stainless pots and pans.

[@PrimalWoods]

Thank you Chico chick for the information and tips!

[@02dondaa]

Chico chick hi, tanong ko lang pwede po ba ang dahon ng niyog sa pag gawa ng lihiya. sabi kc ng mga matatanda dito sa amin ay yun ang ginagamit nila.

[@smileymoji3417]

Ang mga puno ng niyog ay maraming masaya na puno ng niyog ay maraming masayang mga puno ng niyog

[@Ashley_Corliss]

Would love to see the end results! Love this content and followed

[@dmitryasadov9319]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@Farida-A.R.]

Amazing information, thanks for sharing.

[@phillip6083]

Lye has several uses. It can be used to process foods like corn to hominy. Shredded aluminum foil added to lye makes hydrogen gas which can be used in balloons. I believe it will etch iron and steel so it can be used to clean neglected iron cook ware ond ovens.

[@Fashionpoint1997]

i watched your round 2, but can't find more followup.. did you manage to get enough to make soap ? pls update... i want to make own coconut soap too with hardwood ash.. thanks.

[@adaptableamy4744]

Bar soap requires Sodium Hydroxide and liquid soap like shampoo is made with Potassium hydroxide. This may be confusing for those new to soap making.

[@overratedprogrammer]

I don't think this is true

[@anonymous-mj8wb]

Bar soap you buy from companies in the store use scents and cheaper chemicals as you mentioned because pure animal fat is to expensive in large quantities. Real soap made at home is purely animal fat/ tallow. And lye. You can add things like scents to your desire. But at the very basic level it’s only animal fat/ tallow and lye.

[@walkersonneville5036]

Thanks for the great video!😄

[@taimank]

Thanks for the video very informative

[@PrimalWoods]

You are quite welcome.

[@Melodyloveshorses1]

Yes. The fat neutralizes the lye. But wear gloves & eye protection- it burns!

[@FantasyReader321]

Actually vinegar, something acid would be a better neutralizer

[@charlesroberts6490]

I know used to work with concentrated sodium Hydroxide . Sulfuric acid , hydrochloride acid , caustic soda beads saw some bad burns

[@myname3960]

Add some Corn after and boom: Nixtamalization. Great vid.

[@LifeWorkPurpose]

Haha! That is why I am here! Have you done it?

[@joshbevill1770]

I wanna see y'all do a sope making video to match this one

[@rosskstar]

One lady on here just boils her ashes & water - gets quite base in a hurry.

[@PrimalWoods]

That's one way of doing it. Unpredictable, but works at least some of the time in getting all the way to soap.

[@sassysales4288]

i sift mine and boil it down till its powdery

[@gdotldotewbank]

Good video John! I have been thinking of doing the same thing to make lye for nixtamalization of corn (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization) and think the method you are using would be great. A couple questions: Did you run the ash through a screen to get the larger bits out? Thinking the char could be added to compost or used as fire starter once the heating season begins. Also, does the single nail provide adequate drainage? Thanks again, Sam

[@PrimalWoods]

Thanks Sam! I did not run the ash through a screen. I dumped it out of the bags I had been collecting it in, directly into the 5 gallon bucket. The single nail works fine so long as you are not in a hurry. A larger hole though I'm afraid, might also allow much of the sand-filter to leave the bucket.

[@PrimalWoods]

I was just reading at your link, "The Nahuatl word is a compound of nextli "ashes" and tamalli "unformed corn dough, tamal." We have the ash part down! Did they use the "slaked lime" in combination with KOH (potassium hydroxide), or was it either or, I wonder.

[@chucknichols9194]

Can you give a link to were you got your hydrometer?

[@persischrist2478]

Straw can be of any plant and has to be dry or green?

[@rodney73991]

thanks lot. this going so much easer then barrow that i was think of doing. my version going have a. screen hold ash off bottom some concrete blocks hold screen up. how strong is lye in your version. could use as drain cleaner? sand and stone saw other vedioes make a water filter. why use charcoal get clean drink water. were use ash get something burn skin off? home made charcoal is part burned wood and ash complete burn what difference?

[@PrimalWoods]

Hi Rodney. Thanks for watching and commenting! This "cold process" yields lye water that will float an egg; between 8-10% lye. It is not strong enough to clean drains. The lye water is then reduced by simmering to get to about 25% concentration, which is within normal bounds for soap-making; at that point the lye would irritate and possibly burn skin. Charcoal is very porous, which is to say it has a lot of surface area, and hence "bonding sites" for "volatile organic compounds," chlorine, sediment, etc. Here is a wikipedia article on the subject: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_filtering Everything I have read about soapmaking, indicates that you want fine ash, from wood burned completely at high temperature, not the charcoal bits. To this point I have not filtered out the charcoal, but I probably will this coming spring/early summer when I get back to soap-making.

[@looneycrow7978]

What you get from charcoal compared to ash?

[@danamennerich3282]

i made lye water from woodash from my woodstove and filtered it through a plastic container which had fine cracks in the bottom and i got almost a clear liquid and evaporated it down. as the liquid evaporated and crystals started to grow i made drain cleaner from it which un-clogged a drain and i made soap with deer fat. i continued evaporating until i had damp crystals never being able to really getting rid of all the moisture even baking the crystals in the oven at 350. can you tell me if the crystals i have are KOH or potassium carbonate? i've seen other videos and they seem to say i made potassium carbonate. is the liquid i condensed KOH? the liquid worked great as a drain cleaner and making soap. thanks - dana

[@PrimalWoods]

The liquid they used to refer to as lye water, and like you, I have read conflicting documentation on-line about whether it is KOH or potassium carbonate. That's probably not a huge issue, so long as you get what you want functionally, which it seems you have! I was able to make a nice "soap paste" from it, too, which they used directly as soap "back in the day." There's mention of such paste in the Laura Ingalls Wilder series. I am trying to get to a recipe, or formula, that I can repeat reliably, so I may try addind "slaked" lime, aka hydrated lime, to convert potassium carbonate to KOH. I'll put up video, and probably a blog post when I do. Congratulations!

[@danamennerich3282]

thanks!

[@danamennerich3282]

only using oak, hickory, cherry, ash and elm. thanks for the info!

[@joshbevill1770]

Y'all this was great

[@stitchenkitten]

As a soapmaker I'll mention this here too...no aluminum utensils, tools etc INCLUDING YOUR NAILS! Lye water and aluminum can cause poisonous fumes that can kill

[@ninamatthews8747]

Aww man, is there no part 2. I wanna see what happens.

[@Lily-vi5cy]

Do you have video on what to do next?

[@griffingibson4389]

in a real pinch could i use my pine ashes? or is it just not as effective?

[@ramnarayanan3366]

what s the measurements for making soap with ash

[@waveman0]

would not soft water be better? makes a better ash lye. I am trying to do this for fire making and I use the hot method.

[@wisconsinfarmer4742]

Good video. Nice to see doityourselfers cracking the code. Ph meters are for measuring more dilute solutions. The limit of usefulness for the pH meter is about a 5% solution of KOH. Higher concentrations will still read 14 all the way up to saturated solution, or read an error. Use the specific gravity method for a satisfactory product. A saturated KOH solution has more KOH in it than water. That is why a long soak, as indicated, is a good thing. One more point. The choice of water used is not so important. The impurities in any water source is less than a fraction of one percent of the impurities residing in a bucket of ashes. or the impurities in the rough filtration media.

[@PrimalWoods]

Specific gravity over-estimated the amount of alkalinity in the lye water by a factor of 2x. I'm now titrating and using a continous pH meter to establish exactly what is required to neutralize the base. It's a science project, LOL. Fact is, there is a lot of "stuff" in the lye water that isn't KOH, hence trouble with Sp. Gr.

[@philindeblanc]

odd how people use the term gravity when what you are measuring is actually density/buoyancy. Hello!! (not just you:-)

[@wisconsinfarmer4742]

@@philindeblanc you don't know what specific gravity is. your comment just looks like know-it-all hubris.

[@philindeblanc]

@@wisconsinfarmer4742 What I said is exactly what the device does to indicate saturation. You can beat what ever terms you want over your head, and that will not change facts.

[@wisconsinfarmer4742]

@@philindeblanc OK, but look up the term "specific gravity" and get back to me on it. You will find that it means density relative to distilled water at STP conditions.

[@hifive1515]

Can I use lime stone?

[@ianboard3555]

I think what you are really making is a potassium carbonate solution. If you want potassium hydroxide, you need to add something which will precipitate an insoluble carbonate - like calcium hydroxide.

[@PrimalWoods]

Ian, it is indeed a mixture of KOH, potassium carbonate and potassium bi-carbonate. Hydrated lime was used to make a conversion to KOH with a precipitate as you say. Are you a chemist?

[@ianboard3555]

@@PrimalWoods No, an electrical engineer. I should mention that this was a very interesting video. Making soap is something I've wanted to take a whack at for some time.

[@javlonbekburanboev6683]

Bro can I use coals ash

[@NightfallHomestead]

Intro music was legit!

[@benjamintafari7047]

When he said who'd have thunk it(thought of it), I was saying the same thing

[@juuiezify]

Can you reuse the sand for a new batch, after it dries from the old? I'm assuming reusing the rocks should be fine. Does it matter what kind of grass the hay is sourced from?

[@PrimalWoods]

Yes you can reuse the sand. Hay is simply another piece of the "filter," no specific source is required.

[@CorgiCorner]

@@PrimalWoods the hay probably helps with “cleanup” as well providing a barrier between the sand and ash so they do not mix 🤔

[@tinarocha2867]

I have a couple of questions. First do you reduce your lye water to crystals? Second do you have a soap recipe that you are willing to share using your home made lye? Thanks in advance. I loved your video!

[@PrimalWoods]

Hi Tina. I do not reduce the lye to crystals. I reduce it to 25% KOH, as measured by specific gravity. That is the same as 1 part lye (in the form of KOH crystals) to 3 parts water by weight, which is often called out in recipes. I am experimenting with recipes, and when I have one that is reproducible routinely, I will be writing a blog post about it at www.primalwoods.com/blog. That same recipe may not be reproducible for you; the challenge is the impurities, and how much impurity is present in the lye water, as this has a direct impact on the measurement of KOH concentration, and hence soap-making. The commercial makers say that their KOH crystals are "90-95% pure." It's likely that my process, or a process you might use, yields a less pure KOH, which impacts the necessary ratios of lye-to-water-to-fats in the soap recipe. I hope that that is clearer than mud. Thank you for watching and commenting.

[@RainAngel111]

Just wanted to add, there's no reason to reduce it to crystals unless you're storing it for later. If you can test the specific gravity and pH then you know how much you've got. In making soap you'd dissolve the crystals in water first anyways

[@iasimov5960]

The advantage of reducing the solution to crystals is that it can be purified through recrystallization and a precise amount of lye can be measured. A slight excess of fat would ensure all the lye was reacted. A basic soap recipe: 1 lb lye 2-1/2 pints water 7-1/2 lb fat

[@molynieux]

I don't understand how the filtration works. I would think you would want the materials stacked from smallest to largest - so, sand first (on the bottom), then straw on the sand, then stones on top of it all. This would trap the largest material higher up, then progressively smaller material as it works its way down. I don't see the point of having the stones under the sand. Also, what keeps the sand from running out through the hole? Don't you need some kind of cloth between the two? Can you point me to some web page that explains some of the details on a filter system like this? Thanks for the video!

[@PrimalWoods]

It works passably well. Of course the sand fills in around the pebbles, the pebbles have the effect really of taking up space, not filtering. There's no real problem with sand coming out of the hole; the lye water is coming out drip-by-drip. Having said that, there is sediment remaining in the lye water. I simply let that settle and then pour the lye water off the top. You can see an article I saw before conducting this experiment at www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/how-to-make-soap-from-ashes-zmaz72jfzfre

[@Knight_Astolfo]

Very cool channel here; time for a binge.

[@PrimalWoods]

Seraephus Thank you For the comment and for subscribing! Please let me know what I can do better. Or if there is something that you would like to see, but don't.

[@bencrawshaw1227]

I wanted to make some of this some ten years ago. I thought it might be useful in treating fungus that's killing of our ash and elm trees at the moment. My theory was that woodlands would occasionally produce there own lye after woodland fires, keeping certain types of fungus at bay. Some types of tree have evolved to germinate after woodland fires too. Anyone got any ideas .

[@PrimalWoods]

If I had to guess, I'd say the Emerald Ash Borer is the problem with the Ash trees, but of course I can't know for sure. There is a treatment which I can hook you up with if you want to save some Ash yard trees.

[@bencrawshaw1227]

@@PrimalWoods yeah that I wouldn't know what to do about there also a fungus killing then off too.

[@bencrawshaw1227]

@@PrimalWoods what for me interested was the fact that the woodland trust keeps chopping ash trees down because of fungal infections. This happened in woodlands close to where I'm living and I think it's there policy to do this. Such a shame.

[@persischrist2478]

The result video missing?🙁

[@paulbraga4460]

per chemical analysis of wood ash, there is so much more calcium that potassium in wood ash...i am really wondering if lye water has more calcium draining out than potassium hydroxide (KOH)? just wondering - perhaps you know...mygreathanks and blessings🙏

[@user-zf5rz2iy7o]

Product obtained here is potassium carbonate, not potassium hydroxide! To make hydroxide you need to treat potash solution with hydrated lime Ca(OH)2. And there is no need of 9 days steeping, but merely 10 min. Potassium carbonate can convert fats to soap, but needs prolonged boiling. Hydroxide is very fast, even at room temperature it needs few days to fully saponify fats.

[@andreuasencios3620]

Yeah just mix the ash with good quicklime or slaked lime then you can have some real lye.

[@naturesvoice1631]

brothers, make monoatomic gold/ormus/ormes with that lye......thank you for the video

[@cushionofair]

That's why I'm here !

[@asimi9004]

To make KOH you would have to react the potash(K2CO3) you just made with Quicklime(CaO) in presence of water

[@PrimalWoods]

Thanks asimi900. There is a lot of conflicting documentation on the internet to be sure, but in researching a reply to your comment, I came across this article. classicbells.com/soap/woodAshLye.html In part, this statement is made, "In a refinement known and used by many soap makers as early as the 1700s, the carbonate ley from ashes was not used directly to make soap. The wood-ash ley instead was mixed with water and slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2). The chemical reaction of the carbonate solution with the lime formed a purer, stronger ley that was a mixture of potassium hydroxide and some sodium hydroxide. The mixture also contained solid particles of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) that were unwanted by soap makers. These calcium carbonate particles were allowed to settle out of the ley solution and the resulting clear liquid ley was saved for soap making." Please give me the benefit of your thoughts.

[@asimi9004]

Primal Woods I just wanted to say, that what you have here is definetely not KOH but instead K2CO3.I once tried to make soap myself (with very little preparation) and I thought that I had KOH as well, but as I tested it with acid (In my case vinegar) it fizzed up a lot, so I knew it had to be potash. In a book I read I found out, that potash also has cleaning properties, because it also can react with fats, but rather weak. As I tried to make soap with it, it didnt seem to react with the oil I used, but it could be that I did something wrong, since I am not an expert

[@PrimalWoods]

I did successfully make soap paste with it, so it works, though it took me several failed attempts to get there.

[@offgridgecko]

Glad someone said it, even though this post is a year old, I did a blog post on this topic recently so it's on my mind. You did miss one thing, however. This is a mix of potassium and sodium carbonates, as well as several chlorides and some other stuff. It can be separated out into several different salts by evaporation based on their solubility, and then refine them from there. I need to do my vid on this one day, but I have a pretty large test batch to see what kind of yields I'm getting first.

[@PrimalWoods]

@@offgridgecko Can you liink please me to your blog post?

[@Zayskibop]

The solution works for KOH mushroom testing too?! Thanks for sharing

[@aig9672]

What do you mean by that?

Huh is lye better to drink or worse or bleach?

[@mauricereece4238]

would it be safe to use green heart wood to make lye?

[@PrimalWoods]

I don't see why not. Of course you have to burn it, and the idea is to burn it well. You want the ash to be as light gray as possible, with no "charcoal" bits.

[@yanidimitrov5456]

@Primal Woods how do you have gravity testing device if gravity doesn't exist in real life

[@RedDogForge]

isnt that water density device called a hydrometer?

[@ethanstrickland2039]

Do you need to do any other steps after this or can you use what you get for lye in making soap?

[@johnnewell1735]

"Back in the day" they would have made the lye in a big caldron over fire of course, and through heating they would have reduced it until and egg would float or it would dissolve a chicken feather (crude measures of the lye concentration), then they would have added their fats and continued to heat and stir to obtain soap. So the short answer in "no."

[@archerliang3253]

chicken fur will melt at 12.4+pH

[@AnimeShinigami13]

how do you know when your lye is ready? i have a 2.5 gallon bucket with a nice little layer of woodashes and water in it. I ran my finger through it and it itched and burned a bit

[@PrimalWoods]

The old fashioned way was to float a fresh egg in it. If there is a nickle to quarter-sized surface exposed, it was considered ready for soap-making. This is a crude measurement of the specific gravity of the lye-water.

[@ChristopherJones16]

or drop a feather into it and see if it dissolves

[@paulbraga4460]

btw, calcium will similarly affect the pH...

[@johndelong5574]

This is the stuff that helped petrify the giants during the great flood.

[@katrinamaeraiz7445]

hello. can this diy koh be used in biodiesel making?

[@PrimalWoods]

According to the wiki, "Any strong base capable of deprotonating the alcohol will do (e.g. NaOH, KOH, sodium methoxide, etc.)" So the answer seems to be "yes." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel_production

[@levimosby9967]

I think the answer some people are looking for is that too much lye, too high of a concentration, can be caustic. That’s why it’s important to know what you have.

[@kaybee8205]

straight up accidental asmr

[@goddesskristie]

Did you make soap with it?

[@PrimalWoods]

goddesskristie I am experimenting with the soap, specifically a simple lye + lard recipe. The challenge is in finding by experiment, what the level of impurities is in the lye. By specific gravity, I may thing the concentration is 25%, but impurities could impact that result to the tune of 5-10%, or more. Work continues. Thanks for commenting!

[@EconaelGaming]

@@PrimalWoods With hot saponification, you could reheat and add more lye, if the soap turned out overfatted.

[@preplife533]

we now have hydrometers, just test a auto one with a known solution then interpolate

[@ladiebugchikon4177]

My chickens dust bathe in wood ash. It is good for prevention of lice and mites. My question is about lye. Someone told me the chickens could get chemical burns from wet wood ash. Is this true?

[@PrimalWoods]

I doubt it very seriously. The north armerican Indians used to wash their hair with wood ashes, it forms a *very* mild lye solution when the hair is wetted. The water leaches the KOH out of the ashes, so the ash itself has less in it than before the rain in this example, took some of the potassium with it as it ran off. We do the same with our chickens, no issues.

[@wd9102]

So how many episodes we need to watch until we see the Lye? What is next after this intro?

[@herp_derpingson]

IRL Dr. Stone

[@mphstudent2704]

I've always heard you have to use rain water, is that true?

[@PrimalWoods]

MPH Student no it’s not true. Rain water actually has some dissolved gasses in it that can reduce the yield of KOH. You can use rain water, but it’s not necessary.

[@madtabby66]

No, but you should know your water. I wouldnt use my tap water.

[@StevenSchoolAlchemy]

Greetings

[@cosmiclady5618]

Does it have to be hard wood? Can I use cedar wood tree ash?

[@PrimalWoods]

It does not have to be a hardwood.

[@cosmiclady5618]

@@PrimalWoods Thank you soo much for your response! :)

[@offgridvince]

Where's part 2

[@harveyneilgonzales7581]

Is really after you soak the water on plain ash after few days you will cook it until you got the crystals

[@PrimalWoods]

I do not cook it until I get crystals. After you get crystals, in soap-making at least, all you are going to do is add water back to the crystals. In my limited experience, what you need to make soap-paste, also know as soft-soap, is about a 25% concentration of lye in the lye-water. In my opinion, cooking it down to crystals is a waste of energy. I will be conducting another experiment in lye-making soon.

[@harveyneilgonzales7581]

Primal Woods well thank you for your advice

[@rosskstar]

@@PrimalWoods I think the benefit of cooking down to get crystals is that you will burn off the carbon left in the water which equates to impurities. So your soap would be clearer.

[@michelleozuna4429]

Many of the replies you got know what you are doing. I do not. So I would of liked for you to mention what you were using to make lye. I saw you used rocks, sand and straw but i do not know what the items are. And I also would of like to explain what you were doing a little more.

[@PrimalWoods]

Michelle Ozuna Thank you for your comment. I have learned a lot from some of the commenters on this video. The rocks, sand and straw form the “filter,” the only ingredients in the lye-making are hardwood ashes and water. I post more frequently on Instagram primal_woods, Facebook primalwoods, and on my blog, primalwoods.com/traditional-soap-making-adventures/ You might want to keep an eye on those for more frequent updates. The most detailed is the blog. Thanks again.

[@harveyneilgonzales7581]

But can I just use only ash for creating lye

[@PrimalWoods]

Yes, you can use only ash, and water.

[@dperez3437]

Needs to show us how to extract the water.

[@charlesroberts6490]

Yrs ago cold winters were measured by how many babies you made

[@persischrist2478]

That ash charcoal?

[@PrimalWoods]

Ash as in the species? We have Ash, but also Sugar Maple, Oak, Beech etc., so it's a mixture. It is hardwood ashes, with some bits of charcoal, which can be removed with a simple hardware cloth "filter."

[@jacobbrizammito7187]

Eggs start to float as they age. So I am guessing the egg method uses a fairly fresh egg.

[@Somerled_Pox]

Try an egg in fresh water first to check their age

[@lettersquash]

Oh that's annoying - I thought I was about to learn how to use my wine hydrometer to more accurately measure the specific gravity of lye water from ash as I boil it down for soap making, and finally, after a few suggestions from the camera man, "one point two, three, four?", he says, "I don't know; I'll have to consult the tables."

[@PrimalWoods]

Everything you need to know is in the KOH Handbook, available free, at www.oxy.com/OurBusinesses/Chemicals/Products/Documents/CausticPotash/KOH-Handbook-2018-ed.pdf

[@AJRWilde]

great all I need is my own wood-burning fire then I can do this

[@PrimalWoods]

Or get the ash from someone else. Hardwood ashes are preferred.

[@jjk2one]

@@PrimalWoods The Amish will give it away but they burn everything with the wood.

[@ashleysutherland7157]

Then what? Where does it drain to? Is that a double bucket? Where’s part 2??

[@umasowndarajan1298]

How to make a ashes at home

[@PrimalWoods]

I think the answer to your question is burn wood and collect the ashes.

[@justawfulgamer7738]

It's called a hydrometer

[@regularking680]

What sand is that play sand But i am just telling that there are different kind of play sand

[@PrimalWoods]

garden variety sandbox sand from the big box store; nothing special

[@cathyanderson8197]

we just use ashes and water in an ice chest

[@sphaerashaney]

🙏

[@preplife533]

I take a bucket into the forest after burn and collect soils and ashes from burned hard wood trees

[@bobsatterfeild9801]

Everything I see on KZbin needs more volume.

[@philindeblanc]

I think you had weaker results as the ash you are using looks very light, and maybe from non "hardwood"?

[@matthewrussell9120]

Primal tarp

[@olusanyatodd4083]

Isnt lye NaOH?

[@PrimalWoods]

That is sodium hydroxide lye; lye made from wood ashes is potassium hydroxide lye, KOH.

[@jan-christerhasti6934]

Nice, but thst is KCO3, not KOH.

[@randialtman8407]

When working with ash and water it is wise to wear gloves

[@vinay4358]

instructions were not clear im leader of fight club now

[@therealwewin]

Chemistry class ruined the vibe of the video 😂

[@thaghozt215]

I remember hearing this is how some groups of humans hair became straighter because the springs where they washed their hair had lye in it from some place from above where they performed ritual sacrifices.

[@PrimalWoods]

I haven't read that, but I don't doubt it.

[@Nelle_LaLa]

African Americans use lye to straighten out our hair..

[@madtabby66]

That's Lamarkian evolution for you!

[@granderondeproductions3286]

I thought Lye was NaOH...

[@sophiakean-chong6692]

Why it turned perverted

i don't see how this filter works why not just sieve it and subsequently filter it, then add water

[@PrimalWoods]

Sieve what, the ash? Basically this filter works just like ground water is filtered on it's way to the auquifer, though not as well. Virtually all of the ash is retained in the bucket, while the KOH (and some other chemicals) together with most of the water pass through. The water is required to leach the KOH from the ash. The resulting lye water can be evaporated to yield lye crystals, but I have not found the need to expend that much energy. The lye water works for making soap paste without being further reduced.

[@rosskstar]

@@PrimalWoods So you haven't been able to make hard soap with this? I've heard adding salt can help.