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I found some info I found a mention that the most important part of the candle is the wick. It makes sense. Experiments that I've done with alcohol over the years and trying to replace lantern wicks have gone nowhere. What may or may not have the greatest bearing on performance might lie in...

Last fall I found a four foot long, half inch diameter, broken off section of twined rope. It had been in water for a few years. It's so weak i can bust it by hand I think. Anyway, I hung it up next to the wood stove and basically forgot about it. For laughs I put a match to the end the...

Hard soap the natural way Find the fat from a sheep, goat or cow. You'll make good clear fat boiled down. Clean animal fat. Make your wood ash lye strong. Boil it to make it strong. Mix 3 parts good fat and 1 part oil. Example: 3 liters fat to 1 liter oil. Easy. Mix them. Heat to 120F. Make...

All you need are two five gallon plastic buckets. Drill a bunch of holes in the bottom of one. Put six inches of hay in it and press it down. Add ashes close to the top packing it down hard as you add. The other catches the lye. It's a beer makers trick. It's easy man. I make my own. Once you...

First hand knowledge The "first soaps" were made by accident. Grease from fire pits mingled with ash and crude soap was born. Romans made soap all day long. After a while the mystery is gone. Mother shows daughter and daughter to grand daughter until some inventor snatches the information away...

Birch is good Any hardwood tree is good. Birch is plenty hard. I got plenty. The very best for potassium are fruit trees e.g. apple, pear, plum if you can find some. I have found old writings that mention elm, beech and basswood as being better than others. The fact is that any every dry...

In the "good old days" they worked way too hard sometimes. Yes, run water through ashes and then boil it down to half a cup. Lets say you have two five gallon buckets. Drill a bunch of 1/8 inch holes in one and line the bottom with 6 inches of hay. push that down some. Pack that bad boy hard...

100% lard makes 100% soft soap. Goo. Tallow, will make it harden. More. It's a numbers game as to how much to add. You aren't going to get suds no matter how much or little salt you add.

Yes. It's the only way I know. I'm new to soap and this site. But, from fire pit to pour is how I'm still learning. So far so good in my first week. I could be wrong but few tell you very much instructionally. I'll try. You will need 3/4 cup of concentrated lye water per pound of fat...

Hi, I found your site when I Googled, "chicken fat to make soap". I can get all I want. Probably free. Anyway, I'm new here. But, I got interested in this craft in 1978 when I got handed the Foxfire Book. Over the last few day's I've scoured the net to see what I could find to actually do...

Hello all, I'm new to your site. I might even read the instructions from time to time. Feel free to call me Lou. If my connection doesn't drop out again I may post something about using chicken fat to make soap. That's how I found this in the first place...