On Dec 1, 7:23*am, Hueyduck wrote:
Linda B in TN a écrit :

I grew up saving cooking oils for my grandmother to make soap and
still do the same myself.

-
I did it out of curiosity, and also beacause I used to deep fry things a
lot (I like deep fried green string beans: very surprising treat, full
of fiber and fat )
But I guess my grand mother is also an inspiration, because she had
lived through WW2 and always taught me not to waste soap nor food.

-Strain the oil through cheesecloth - a
couple of passes will usually leave you with nearly clear see through
oil and much of the scent gone.

-
I currently use 2 paper towel toosed in a funnel to filter the oil.
Would you say that a cheesecloth is more effective ?
(I'm asking because I might buy it if it is).
-
-We also add borax and baking soda to use them for laundry soaps. Borax whitens and cleans, baking soda
deodorizes.I use one to two cups of each for every 5 lbs of fat/oil.

-

I did try this soap for the laundry, but the clothes would'nt be smell free.
I might try the trick with the baking soda.
Also: even if the soap was melted before the laundry, it would make soap
stains on the laundry, sometimes. I was gonna try and use ¨Potassium
hydocyde instead of Sodium Hydroxyde, in order to make liquid soap, but
Potassium Hydroxyde is nota available anyware I looked for it. It must
be even too *dangerous, I guess

Huey

Sorry, got sidetracked and just getting back.

Don't know about the cheesecloth vs. other things, it is just what we
always used. My mother and grandmother had canisters (that came with
the canister sets back then) that said OIL. When you raised the lid
there was a strainer basket and we poured all oils from dinner into
the can, let it cool then put it in the fridge. When it was full it
was scraped into paper freezer boxes and tossed in the deep freeze
until we made soap. We would spend a week melting it all down and
straining it through a large metal colander lined with several layers
of cheesecloth. Still do it this way out of habit but doing less as I
get older. Plus I probably have enough soap to keep me going the rest
of my life LOL.

If your soap is leaving oil stains you have leftover oils - it has not
completely saponified all the oils and has too much superfat. You prob
need more lye in your formula. You could use a lye calculator to work
it out. The MMS calculator is the best:
http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php

In the old days people heated lard and oils then poured lye into the
pot until it seemed to start thickening. This is the reason I get
people at craft shows saying "is that LYE soap" (unaware that ALL soap
is lye soap) "my granny used to make that stuff and it would take the
hide off of 'ya". Yeah, she put in too much lye but today with lye
calculator's and digital scales we can make the perfect bar of soap.
And yes, I stirred soap in one of those big black pots while my
grandmother poured in the lye. We made it in the back yard and it took
the hide off LOL.

Definitely try the baking soda. We used that even with regular
detergents in the summer months in the deep South because it helped
with sweat odors in the old days of no a/c.

Hope this helps
Linda B in TN
PS the deep fried green beans actually sound tasty