Homemade Lye Soap
by Stewart’s Crafts

Linda:

I ordered the soap for my face & I love it.  Like the feel of it.  I wanted to share one thing with you that we didn’t know.

We used it on a bad case of chiggers.  My husband & son are Real Estate Appraisers & often have to walk over vacant property.  We tried everything on the market for chiggers and could not get relief.  One night my husband asked about the lye soap so I said what have you got to lose.

Well, now as “Paul Harvey says” NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY!  It really worked & I have shared my soap & that is why I need more.

Thanks!

Stewart’s Crafts:

I’m writing to let you know why I am placing an order for your lye soap.  I thought it was interesting and would like to share a few excerpts from a newspaper article I came across earlier this year.

An old-fashioned lye soap was used in the garden in the early 1900’s as an effective elixir that nukes powdery mildew and blackspot, aphids, spider mites, mealy bugs, white fly, psyllids, and scale on most plants, including roses, perennials, vegetables and houseplants.  It wasn’t called “organic gardening,” it was just a cheap, tried-and-true common sense gardening aid.  Just splash the used dish and laundry water on plants with fungus and bug problems.

To make a small batch of soap spray, rub the bar against a cheese grater, then dissolve one heaping teaspoon of the soap flakes in one gallon of very hot tap water in an old plastic milk jug.  Let it sit a couple days, shaking the jug daily to dissolve lumps.  Pour the mixture into a spray bottle or your garden pump sprayer and spray affected plants every seven to ten days.  A bar of soap will make 16 gallons of a very safe and effective fungicide and insecticide that won’t harm the environment nor make your vegetables and flowers and herbs toxic.

How does it work?  The lye content of the soap (potassium hydroxide) alkalinizes the leaf surface, but powdery mildew and blackspot fungi need an acidic leaf cuticle to grown on.  This lye also supplies the plant nutrient potassium to the soil when it rinse off and is too weak to significantly raise the pH of your soil.  Aim the spray up at the leaves if you are after blackspot fungus on roses.  The fats in the soapy water help suffocate bad bugs by plugging up their breathing holes.

I have had trouble with fungus on my roses and I don’t want to use chemicals because of my pets.  This way of controlling insects also fascinated me and after a search on the web, I came across your site and your soap was the closest “old-fashioned lye soap” I could find.  I look forward to my order and while I am spraying the garden, I will use your soap to combat itchy, dry skin associated with our climate.

Sincerely,