Subject: Soap recipe

From: Frank Thompson <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 11 May 1995 14:21:33 -0400

Chris:
Good soap requires fats that are free from dirt, rancidity, lean meat, 
salt and other impurities. Butchers will give you tallow, :}.
BASIC SOAP FORMULA:
Makes 9 pounds of pure, hard, smooth soap suitable for toilet, laundry, 
or soap flakes.
	Cold water		2 1/2 pints
	Pure flake lye		13 ounce can 
		***caution*** lye is caustic
	Clean fat(tallow, lard) 6 pounds
Slowly pour lye into water in Pyrex, iron, or enamel vessel. Stir until 
lye is dissolved. Cool to 93 degrees F.
	Render tallow over low/medium heat. Careful not to burn. Strain 
out any impurities. Cool tallow to 125 degrees F. Pour lye solution into 
fat in a thin steady stream with slow, even stirring (slow means slow). 
Honey-like consistency is formed which becomes thick in 10 to 20 minutes.
	Pour mixture into wooden or pyrex square cake pan lined with clean 
cotton cloth wet in water and wrung nearly dry. Place in protecting pan. 
Cover with a board or cardboard, then with an old rug or blanket to 
retain heat while it's texturing out. Leave alone for 24 hours.
	Remove soap from mold by lifting ends of towel. Cut into bars by 
wrapping soap with a fine wire and pulling through. Dry by placing so air 
can circulate (not in draft or cold). Age for 10 to 14 days.
	You can of course, scent your soap with non-alcohol scents of 
your choice. Please acknowledge.

Franco @freenet.ufl.edu