Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Handmade History: Lye Soap

To make Ley. Provide a large tub, made of pine or ash, and set it on a form, so high, that a tub can stand under it. Make a hole, an inch in diameter, near the bottom, on one side. Lay bricks, inside, about this hole, and straw over them. To every seven bushels of ashes, add two gallons of unslacked lime, and throw in the ashes and lime in alternate layers...



From A Treatise on Domestic Economy by Catharine Esther Beecher, 1843

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