by
Paul
BenhaimTesting
the
Lye
Make a saturated solution of salt, i.e. dissolve enough salt in water
until no more will dissolve. Then attach a weight to a small stick
and drop into the salt solution. It will bob up. Mark the stick exactly
where the water line is.
Lye has the same specific gravity as salt solution, so this
stick can be used to check the consistency of the lye solution. It
will probably float with its mark above the surface of the liquid. If
so, add rain water very carefully, stirring continually, until the stick
floats to its mark. This indicates the correct strength of lye required
for soap making.
Mix in the fat. Any will do, but for hemp soap you will need
to use hemp oil. Now mix one pint of lye with 2lbs of the pure oil.
Simmer gently for three hours, stirring gently at 30 minute
intervals. Take off the heat and place into a hemp cloth lined
wooden mould. At this stage add perfumes such as hemp
essential oils, or hemp cake or coarsely ground seeds for their
exfoliating effect. Make sure the oils do not contain alcohol as this
ruins the soap. Carrot, beetroot or the hemp flower juice are
effective for colorings. After 24 hours, lift out the soap and cut into
cakes with a thing wire. Soap, like wine, matures. Do not use for at
least two weeks; leave it for six months if possible.
There is an Indian story about soap that explains the soap
is the dirt we buy which we introduce to the dirt we have. The two
dirts, happy to meet each other, gladly mix. They swim in the most
pleasurable of water, and at the perfect time the dhobi wholler
(washer) lifts the clothes of our true being free of both dirt and
soap. Spiritual texts and other words act as the soap that disturbs
our ‘clarity’. Then at some specific moment, the perfect time, all
words and texts will be dropped to leave us perfectly in tune.