This is a recipe that my grandmother used to make (as did her mother) and she always said it's good for an all purpose type soap, meaning laundry, housecleaning, etc.
Ingredients:
2 cans Lewis Lye, or any good lye
1 cup Borax (20 Mule Team Borax) dissolved in 12 cups water
Directions:
Let stand 1 hour. Measure the dishpan or other large container. Pour water (with dissolved lye and Borax) into:
Add 1 Tbsp. ammonia after stirring for a while, and stir constantly, for 10 minutes. Use standard measuring cup for grease and water. Should be getting stiff after 10 minutes stirring. Just before it stiffens, stir in contents of a box or Dreft.
In the process of making cold process soap, the oils should be approximately 100 degrees, and the lye/water mixture should be approximately 110 degrees. When you mix your lye and water, as it all mixes, the tempature will reach well over 200 degrees, make sure it is cooled off before you mix it with the oils. And please, use safety glasses when mixing the ingredients, this is very important for the safety of your eyes. I am an avid soapmaker and learned this trick by trial and error. Also, let this soap "age" for approximately 6 weeks before using so the lye becomes inactive. If used before this, the soap can cause caustic burns when it comes in contact with your skin. Good Luck!!
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