51a - Making lye with ashes

By Steve Sparkes

Commercially made soap may have unwanted chemicals in it.

Making your own soap can be a rewarding experience that allows you to experiment with different ingredients for scent and texture. You control the process, so you can ensure that the only additives in your soap are ones you want. 

  

Making homemade soap involves using the same methods that have been used for generations. The two basic substances used are lye and tallow. Lye can be bought commercially, but for truly homemade soap, make your own from wood ashes. Commercial soap is sodium hydroxide while homemade lye is potassium hydroxide. 

 

The homemade lye is actually less harsh than the commercial alternative, making the resulting soap kinder on your skin. 

Things You'll Need

• Wood ash from hard wood
• Rain water
• Two plastic buckets

Instructions

  

Making the Lye

• Burn some wood to create the ashes you need to make lye. You need to use a hard wood like ash, beech or hickory. When the wood is burnt, collect the light, white-colored ashes. Disregard any blackened, charcoal remains.
• Drill an 1/8 inch hole in the bottom of the plastic bucket (green) about an inch off-center.
• Stop up the hole in the bottom of the bucket with an 1/8-inch nail.
• Elevate the bucket (green) above ground with, for example, two breeze blocks. Place the bucket so that there is space under the center for you to put the other plastic bucket (red) to collect the lye.
  
  
  

• Scoop spadefuls of cold ashes into the bucket (green), compacting the ash down after each spadeful. Fill the bucket to about a third of its capacity.
• Boil approximately half a bucket of water (rainwater preferably) and add some carefully to the ashes. There will be some hissing and popping at this stage so be sure to wear your protective clothes, gloves and goggles from now on.
• You are in the process of making a caustic substance, which can be dangerous. 
• Initially the water will not appear to be mixing with the ashes and will just sit on top. Leave it and come back later when you can add more water.
• Take the nail out from the bottom of the bucket and come back to check it every few hours. It could take hours or days for nearly a bowlful of lye to accumulate.
• When it has done, take it to the kitchen and boil it very carefully.
• Pour the boiled bowl of lye back into the top of the bucket. 
• This is how you strengthen your lye and repeat the process later on, if necessary.
• To check the strength of your lye put a chicken's egg into it. 

• Too weak - if it sinks,
• Too strong - if it floats too high,and you should add some pure water. 
• Just right - the egg will float with about the size of a modern dime showing above the surface of the lye.

• Leave your lye in the sun in a shallow container until it dries into crystals.

Read more: How to Make Soap From Ashes & Tallow | eHow.com  

http://www.ehow.com/how_7685308_make-soap-ashes-tallow.html#ixzz221iBOcQA

62 - Value chains from scratch

In general value chains do not exist in small communities, in the agricultural communities in remote areas of our country. And if a value chain exists it is most likely small, not very strong, and does not support the whole community.

There may be a small store where the farmer can buy seeds and fertilizer. And this store is probably the same one where the farmer sells its product. This store may provide some services but not all or not enough.

In small communities this creates a situation of dependency which is not good in the long run and is very vulnerable to price fluctuations.

If only a small community could produce more of the things that it needs then its dependency in the small store will be reduced and the community will be stronger because of that.

Let us look at an example. A farmer may sell beans to the store and buy seeds and fertilizer from the store and maybe this will be fine. But where will the community buy clothes, or cooking oil, or soap, or meat, or vegetables? Most likely from the same store which will only increase its dependency and its vulnerability to changes in prices and availability of any of the products.

 

But if someone plants peanuts and starts making cooking oil from these peanuts then the community will be less dependent on the store and someone will now have a new activity where money can be made. 

And if someone gets some of the cooking oil uses ash from the cooking fires and makes soap then that person now has another new money making activity and the community will become less dependent on the local store. That person can actually sell some of the soap to the store.

In this small example where someone plants peanuts for food but also for cooking oil which will be used for cooking but some will also be used to make soap. Three people now created a value chain to which we can add someone who will go once a week to the city market and sell some of the peanuts, the cooking oil and the soap that the community does not need for itself.   

There are many value chains in an agricultural community. Some we already use but some can be developed. The result will be beneficial to all in that hard working community.

Let us look at some more value chains in the upcoming blogs.