does lye occur natrually if so where would you find it??

Question

any other homesteading info is also useful

Answer 1

Lye, or sodium hydroxide, is much too reactive a chemical to occur naturally in an unaltered state.

Wood ash is extremely alkaline, and the usual "natural" source for lye-water used in soap making. American pioneers used water dripped through a trough of wood ash, which was then sufficiently alkaline to make soap when mixed with fat.

Please remember lye and lye-water can blind. The phrase "wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole" came from soap-making days, when the lye-containing pot was stirred with a very long "10-foot" pole.

- Emily T

Answer 2

In the old days they got it from the ashes of hard wood . They would dissolve the ashes in water and strain them to remove the pieces . To Concentrate it they would boil it . They measured the strength with a feather dipped into the liquid wait a minute and pull the feather through the fingers . If it were strong all the feather parts would pull foo the shaft.