Super Easy Soap: Making Soap with Lye and Lard

Making soap is a Homestead-101 kind of skill. Making soap with lye and lard and one secret ingredient ...... Our super easy soap secret? Cottonwood buds! You can make it without but it may smell a little piggy, no big deal but you know what they say "less piggy your soap the better".
Every wonder how to make soap? This isn't exactly a step by step but more of a motivational piece and should give you a feel for the process.
This is one of those really nice projects for the kids, pretty interesting and not just a make work project.
Make your own super easy soap? leave a comment and link your own soap making video.

[@lindachandler2293]

Hi y'all. I'm a 68 year old grandma, raised in Western Kentucky. I learned to make soap at the elbow of my grandma❤️ I was the stirrer back in the day. I'm going to tell you something that will make you smack yourself when you try a small test batch. You don't need a thermometer! You don't need to melt the lard; it just needs to be room temperature. They don't have to be with in 10 degrees of each other. I guess in trying to write down things in the most helpful way possible things just got lost in translation over the generations. Here is my small batch recipe to try for yourself. Use a scale and measure all 3 ingredients by weight to get your proportions right. Put 8 ounces room temperature lard into a bowl. Pour 1 ounce lye into 2 and1/2 ounces rain water and stir it only until it dissolves. Pour the still super hot lye water over your room temperature lard. It will come together just fine. Stir until trace. Pour into molds as usual. IF for some reason you have started your lye water and are interrupted and the lye water gets cold, no problem. In that case, when you do get where you can make the soap, warm the lard to just liquid, pour in your room temperature lye water and continue as normal. Easy as pie. No big deal. Try it and see. And my new favorite discovery just this year; I'm on grid and have a stick blender! Trace can happen in less than 5 minutes 😍I use it the day I cut it, it just dissolves faster; aging hardens it up. If it's got white stuff on it that burns you; you've used a tad too much lye. If it's really greasy soap; you used a bit too much lard. Simple. Loved watching this video. Y'all keep on doing your thing.

[@leannkennedy6568]

Thanks!👍

[@bunnygaffney2765]

what temp do you use when you put the buds in and how long do you let the buds cook?

[@lindachandler2293]

@@bunnygaffney2765 ?

[@bunnygaffney2765]

@@lindachandler2293 yes thats me...

[@indigowulf]

While you can use thermoreaction to melt your lard, they still needed to render it first like they did, or you'll get impurities. I really appreciate that they measured carefully and at least reminded viewers that you should cover your eyes lol.

[@deer-theotherredmeat2502]

Only these two guys can make watching a soap vid fun to watch......

[@leannkennedy6568]

Dave's deadpan faces and comedic comments and timing is priceless! Hahaha

[@Misunderstood78ca]

They remind me of guys I grew up with in Northern Ontario!

[@leannkennedy6568]

@@Misunderstood78ca You must have had a super fun time growing up!!

[@abcs3356]

Misunderstood78ca wait i didn’t grow up in Northern Ontario!

[@Bostadsfotografen]

he is true superstar! need his own channel! :)

[@frederickmoller]

@@abcs3356 I did, and still living there.

[@bonnied72]

One of my favorite things about your channel is the sarcasm. I mean I also love the family unity & the way you teach your kids, but humor is SO important too.

[@lynnmoore2664]

This family can make anything fun & interesting to watch & of coarse with the help of neighbor Dave. Great video

[@timmoore6055]

I remember about 1952 watching my mother make soap; and my grandmother used it in her washing machine.

[@MikeSiemens88]

Hard to miss your struggle looking for that caterpillar to butterfly transformation terminology (pork fat/lard/cottonwood buds to soap), so here it is, my $10 word contribution for the day... Metamorphosis!

[@frederickmoller]

That's what I was thinking too.

[@jwcinc12]

My mom used to have a rectangular cake of lye soap on the side of the utility sink. I bet it was 20 years old. She used it to pre-wash dirty diapers back in the day. Great video.

[@denisehaley9271]

making soap is incredibly relaxing, no matter which process you use.

[@yankey4]

THe Lord knows I needed this today. Thanks guys for sharing. What a true blessing. Now my wife will MAYBE let me sleep in the bed not in the goat pins. She keeps telling me to use this stuff called soap. Hehe. Love you guys. God Bless.

[@jorgequinones991]

Interesting video. Good and nice.

[@Homestead-ish]

I’m about to venture into making soap and I forgot you guys made this video. After watching so many stressful soap making videos this was a breath of fresh air lol

[@thewoodpost]

I have never thought of how soap was made awesome job

[@landonhall1451]

We have a new expression here at our house. "If Jeff can do it, you can do it.". So guess what. I ordered Lye, and bought 13 pounds of beef fat. we have a cottonwood tree but it's enormous and I'm not climbing that sucker. We'll use some essential oils instead. Had to buy the fat we didn't have a hog to butcher. If this doesn't work out, there'll be a new expression adopted, "It's Jeff's fault". You probably already have that expression. great video guys. you got the whole family involved.

[@Gridlessness]

Love it! "If Jeff can do it, you can do it!" Hahaha thats hilarious. Let us know how your soap turns out, we'd love to hear.

[@stephaniewilliams6697]

i still have over 200 pounds of soap i made. i collected used vegetable shortening in 2 gallon food grade plastic buckets from a Cassy's convenience store. they were happy to give me as much as i wanted! i melted the shortening in a crock pot and skimmed my melted shortening from the top so the impurities would gather on the bottom. i used food grade lye, and silicone cupcake molds for my soap molds.(do not use the red ones as the soap will be red). after 3 weeks i ran the soap cupcakes through a "salad shooter" to grind it up good. i had 15 of the 18 gallon totes full of soap flakes. that was 2008 and i still have 200 pounds left. some i put in a sock to bathe with and some more i made laundry soap from and gave away about 50 gallons.

[@ruben0227]

Another clean video!

[@fredfredrickson8892]

Looks like a yummy caramel fudge! Awesome stuff.

[@bennington7660]

I subscribed to this channel today and have been binge watching!! AMAZING!! I will never think about Bon Jovi again without wondering if they were making soap when the title of their album was thought of!!!! Soap so good you want to sing about it!!!

[@debduffy730]

Love the video.

[@MacWalther]

I just created a soap making wish list in Amazon for Prime Days. Thanks a lot!

[@skjelstad777]

Love it!!!

[@carriemorgan8248]

Y'all are great! Thanks for the video!

[@taozou9455]

孩子们太可爱了The kids are so lovely

[@CplSkiUSMC]

The COTTONwood buds are like adding the washcloth to the soap. It's genius!

[@Gridlessness]

And it smells like spring!

[@jenniferjackson8003]

Love this channel! Dave's hilarious!! 🤣And the girls are so awesome !! Great Channel to watch!

[@johnlucas4069]

Love this- it's as if David Attenborough, Jack Black, and the McKenzie Brothers all got busy :)

[@abaddon2479]

I really hope you guys keep on making videos. Dave is so funny.

[@grisseldog]

Beautiful Rose Great video guys I learned how to make soap Iv used lye soap one time when I was a youngen

[@jimf1964]

Fun video as always, and I'm amazed at how long the soap lasts! I do have to say to be a bit careful with the potassium hydroxide. I used to work in a lab, and we used a lot of sodium hydroxide. I think it's a bit stronger, and it depends on the purity of what your using, but the thing about it is that it is slimy, and that means it's quite hard to wash off. The other thing is, is that with strong acids, you feel it right away and know to wash it off, but with that stuff it can sit in your skin till it soaks in, and it's kinda too late to wash off. I'm sure what you have is far from lab grade, but still be wary. Especially in the eyes, because it is a bit hard to wash out. If you are using sodium hydroxide that you bought for this, then please be very careful with it. It actually is quite dangerous. I've had a burn or two.

[@grumred]

I kind of binge watched your videos today and it finally dawned on me who you two guys remind me of..The Smothers Brothers. Hilarious. Loved the soap video. I've made simple lye soap and love it. You commented that lard was one of the hardest things to clean..it's because soaps are made with fats and lard is a more dominant fat that whatever soap you are using. It will totally dissolve Dawn dish soap, but by the same token, lye soap makes a great grease cutter for cleaning greasy messes.

[@HOPEbus]

U n Dave together r hilarious, very cool soup idea , 👍🏽👍🏽 Love watching ur channel . We are Totally hooked 🤗

[@mikeyridesit2762]

kind of fascinating. looks like something I might have tried to eat.....

[@TheSanderbrinkFam]

I’ve never used lard.. gotta try this Thanks guys- loooove your videos. Make more 😉

[@Gridlessness]

We're trying! :)

[@Hannahcode1]

Smiling again. :)

[@hadhazidaniel]

I like the skillful magic tricks with your ring at the end. :D

[@emmaedwards1602]

Love it! Thanks for the entertainment :)

[@BlaBla-pf8mf]

Your soap looks yummy.

[@adriennebeck6650]

You can line rectangular molds with parchment paper to make the soap easy to remove. Odd shaped molds can be coated with vaseline or mineral oil. Since they are petroleum based, they won't absorb into the soap. Difficult molds can be popped in the freezer and the soap will shrink away from the sides.

[@harryhenderson334]

Great vid" GREAT Instruction" thank u friends !"

[@Lisa-pe4kq]

The first time I made soap I used bear lard, didn't end up using it because amazingly enough it made you smell like a bear imagine that?!

[@ka6148]

Lol

[@Gridlessness]

Did you use a scent? Our soap doesn't smell piggy...

[@Lisa-pe4kq]

@@Gridlessness It was several years ago, all we remember is the bear smell. We may have used a scent but it would have had a hard time competing.

[@lindachandler2293]

Grandma used fat that wasn't good enough for even putting on a cow hoof. Interesting smell.

[@beatrizdominguez1072]

😄😄😄

[@stepstepens3367]

Nice job! You made it look like loads of fun. Please follow up with a short video displaying your lard soap after cure time in a few weeks or months. Thanks

[@douglasmarch1655]

Great vid good job.

[@dwade2026]

Ive never used lye soap, but i did stay at a Holiday In Express once, they have nice soap!

[@bleedleaks]

You guys are awesome

[@Gridlessness]

Thanks!

[@gatorbyte5254]

Juicy lard sauce... I think your witty banter and corny jokes would qualify you to be nominated as the King of Dad Jokes.

[@northstarprepsteader]

Great video!! Thanks :)

[@SingleDadHomesteading]

Love it and so funny

[@SPUDHOME]

In early 1950s I was pre school, my parents made soap. I grantee they did not have scales to measure the amounts of fat, or lye. Nor the temperature accurately. By some strange coincidence it worked. I remover using the soap. It was quite harsh. Had no pretty smell. And was pure white. It worked as soap.

[@GerryLynch]

I LOVE THE VIDEO

[@cunninglinguist9853]

Well done.

[@monicarowles731]

Omg giant peanut butter cups!! Time for curing ;)

[@eddiealbritton2462]

Thanks good job 👍

[@tomast5498]

Thanks a lot for sharing like your videos a lot please keep making them very inspiring way of life

[@Gridlessness]

Doing our best!

[@theforestsfarm514]

That was an educational soap video. Thanks so much.

[@Gridlessness]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@adventure002006]

We will be making our own soap tomorrow, we use coconut oil with lye and add essential oils for scent and poppy seeds to add natural abrasive to aid the scrubbing, Great that you are using your own lard and scented with harvested cotton wood buds. Your in soap for another couple of years.

[@jessiel1425]

What can I say , you made soap an entertaining subject . Keep up the good work , always enjoy the videos . Thanks

[@Gridlessness]

Thanks Bob!

[@katiefriess3476]

Hey family! Love your channel and your parenting techniques. Just a thought maybe put down a sheet of parchment paper in the larger mold.😊

[@gonesideways6621]

Made lye soap with my Granny when I was a kid used rainwater caught in a barrel I can still see bleached white hammer handle she used to stir the lye with . Times were hard depression husband died of pneumonia leaving her to raise seven children they used this soap daily with no side effects.

[@jpallen719]

I love you all!

[@mapleviewfarm1]

You guys/gals can even make a soap video funny!

[@joanneganon7157]

Very nice💥.Now if you can get Dad to use it LMBO! JO JO IN VT 💕😄🇺🇸

[@B2Hives]

Making Bubble Brownies, ,, Mmmm Mmmm Good.

[@Robbobshiskabob]

😂🤣😂 cat at the end heard all that talk about bacon... Had to speak up

[@Gridlessness]

Bacon!! 😂

[@akhilrazzboro9793]

Happy family

[@countrymousesfarmhouse497]

Best soap making video ever. Lol. I made my first batch of soap recently, unscented goats milk. Every shower feels like a treat. Soooo worth it. We have sensitive skin and it is so great to make something myself that is so expensive to buy out of real ingredients. Your soap really looks like caramel. I don't think we have those trees/buds here so Im guessing the smell is like fresh greenery or is there a floral smell too? P. S. That a teeny amount of soap you use. There are 7 of us, we use it sparingly and use more than you. Hahahaha

[@Gridlessness]

The cottonwood buds almost smell like honey. It really is heavenly!

[@tuddsmithers7101]

Is that a magic ring you have it not only changes fingers it changes hands! Educational and entertaining good job guys!

[@bellwetherfields6476]

"You smell like normal." LOL Cute video!

[@mayakhan7185]

Like sugarcane molasses, molasses is made from sugarcane juice in our country Bangladesh 🇧🇩.

[@sarabarrett3304]

Love watching the family, my family is planning to do the same thing in Alaska, One question, what do you use for laundry soap?

[@johnnymac8680]

This is really interesting. I've never seen soap being made. I can get 6 bars for £1 in downtown Belfast.

[@toms6841]

Interesting use of cottonwood buds. Here in the northeast, our equivalent is balsam poplar. I LOVE the smell ... an organic spring scent for sure. I've picked buds in the recent past and made my own extractions. It has medicinal uses, but I never heard of it being used for making soap. Can you smell it in the bars or when washing with it? I'd be all over it if it imparts some of the scent to the skin. Love the natural scent. Jeff should try using it. :)

[@Gridlessness]

Hey Tom, yes the buds give the soap a beautiful smell!

[@oldestsurvivalist6928]

a hot towel underneath will help the soap release from the bottom.

[@deano.7533]

The word you were looking for was METAMORPHOSIS. Take care. sincerely, Dean O. :-I

[@bunnygaffney2765]

Do you use this soap on your hair also? i have so many sensitivities so i have had to order goat milk soap .but im thinking i need to make my own. I love this its so simple .I did plant calendula flowers for this reason so i can use that with the cottonwood buds ..

[@marksophy8574]

You guys are the best. The only thing i don't like about your vids is waiting for the next one. Keep them coming

[@Gridlessness]

Doin' our best!

[@jamesndarlene]

You know you can also use your left over fat drippings from beef, pork, chicken (just mix your fat drippings) then wash the fat....... and yes, you can wash your fat drippings. Then use it to make your soap as you normally would. So save your left over fat drippings when you cook and use it to make soap also. I have a video on that!

[@Gridlessness]

Wow, I had no idea!

[@letisiaw75]

You only have 1 set of eyes.. PROTECTIVE EYE GEAR.. Working for an Opthalmologist I've seen the damage lye can do to your skin and eyes. I'm also an Artisan soap maker. I love it and your family is involved. Very nice! Just use protective gear. Accidents happen when you least expect it. I DEFINITELY RESPECT THE PROCESS OF SOAP MAKING..

[@TXCowboy35]

I wonder if you line the pan with wax paper first if the soap would come out easier

[@amandadetwiller9149]

♥️♥️♥️

[@rauls7616]

Thanks for video Ay, you look like Tom cruise with a bit more bulk lol

[@monicarowles731]

Hahah we will check back with you tomorrow! Waiting on that trace can seem like ages! Great family project. Thanks for sharing. Whats them flowers yall put in there for? Fragrance?

[@kjmorley]

Monica Rowles They are Black Cottonwood (tree) buds, and they smell amazing!

[@kasetchaiwoot4232]

👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@jbcurdog72]

We use to make lye soap... but we used Hardwood ash for the lye,that's how the old timers made in the Appalachian mountains... we also rendered the hog fat and made cooking lard, and the fat that was left is called cracklings.

[@Gridlessness]

Yes! We also made cooking lard. It makes some fantastic pies and biscuits!

[@jbcurdog72]

@@Gridlessness yes it does! Really enjoy your all's videos! One of my favorite channels.

[@tammybushnell6920]

Great video! I’ve just found your channel. I assume this is your soap for body cleansing. Do you have a different soap for faces? Also, what do you use for washing dishes? Clothes? Thank you for sharing.

[@SugarCreekOffGrid]

You guys are so funny

[@fiberglassrb]

👍

[@SozoSeasonFreedom]

"Show me that you're smelling" 😂😂

[@TexasbyStorm]

Metamorphosis!

[@gregorythomas333]

If you get good enough at making it...you can create the Paper Street Soap Company :)

[@sallykalya9023]

What are those pods u put in the lard.Is it flowers and whats their purpose

[@annanoer5627]

Hi! Any ideas how to make dishwashing soap?

[@mikebeatstsb7030]

👍✅‼️💙

[@catalinababy6068]

Can i use coconut oil

[@betpatpatten3840]

How do you add milk? Use it with the lye? Then you would have Goatmilk soap! They say it is very good for the complexion! It also would sell very well over the internet!! (Extra income!!)

[@adriennebeck6650]

You use the milk instead of the water, but it has to be really cold or frozen. The heat from the chemical reaction between the lye and the milk will scorch the sugars in the milk.

[@donna_chan]

Bon jovi! @_@

[@ktimmons50]

What were the buds?

[@maneuschwander6394]

It is called ' Saponification' - The process of individual ingredients becoming soap! Homemade soap - must be cured and dried a minimum of 4 weeks - before using. I learned from an older lady - and taught classes at the community college. I have never seen the use of cottonwood buds - what is this adding to the soap? Color or scent? Thx!

[@betpatpatten3840]

M A Neuschwander Scent!

[@mildredarnold4052]

Only vinegar neutralizes the acid from lye

[@MusikCassette]

so do you make the lye yourself?

[@thebigfatnick]

water makes the burning worse...you need vinegar to neutralize the lye solution.