MAKING LYE SOAP

My mother, Ollie May (Poston) Presley, made "Lye Soap" in an iron kettle in the yard.
She saved the grease from meat and meat skins she rendered over a time period.
This recipe was probably handed down from older generations

A PRESLEY recipe for Lye Soap 

Dissolve a can of lye in 2 1/2 pints of cold water.

Pour lye/cold water mixture into an iron kettle with 6 pounds of clean grease (consistency of honey) into an iron kettle placed over a medium hot fire in the yard.

Stir with a long handle wooden paddle until well mixed and beginning to thicken.

Remove kettle from fire; and pour into molds or shallow containers.

Let mixture set overnight.

Cut into squares.

Soap is very white and has a clean smell. Great for laundry, bathing and shampoo.

Submitted by Edith Presley Bastin