Making lye

[CrunchyMama]

I've read that lye is essentially wood ash soaked in water - is that so? And if so, wouldn't it be cheaper to make it instead of buying it? It seems like the handling would be similar, so if one is careful, it wouldn't matter much.

 

[wanderingherb]

Its actually an arduous task, and what you come out with is what you would use to make liquid soap. Potassium Hydroxide is different than sodium hydroxide
Lye from wood ash: Journey to Forever

 

[CrunchyMama]

Oh, thank you. I didn't realize there were different kinds of lye, I thought it was all the same. I'm actually glad to know it's an arduous task, because we have often dumped out our wood ashes and I wondered if they were dangerous if it rained, but I'm guessing they aren't based on the process described.