How to make ash lye at home

Extremely effective for laundry and household cleaning. But also for making natural detergents and soaps.

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how to make ash lye
Ash lye is one of the oldest and most effective natural cleaners. It's easy to make at home by simply mixing water with ash, resulting in a highly effective preparation. washing clothes, degreasing surfaces, and even making soaps and detergents without chemical ingredients. 
 

Origini

The extraordinary qualities of ash lye were already known to the Babylonians and Sumerians, about three centuries before Christ, who used it as soap. The Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans did the same, who combined ash lye with fermented urine (which contains ammonia), the most used detergent for whitening fabrics in their laundries. Since the Middle Ages, ash lye has become the main household detergent, and was only displaced from the podium with the introduction, in the second half of the nineteenth century, of industrial products for household cleaning. 

How to prepare it

Today, ash lye is a good opportunity to save money, reduce environmental pollution (even at home), and avoid wasting a substance that usually simply becomes waste, even a rather bulky one.
  • To obtain it, you need to cook one kilo of ash and 5 litres of water for about 3 hours.
  • After letting the mixture rest, the ash it settles to the bottom.
  • At this point, scoop the water from the surface with a ladle, being careful not to disturb the bottom. Let it settle again, then repeat the process. Take a kitchen towel, tie it over a large pot, pour in the entire mixture, and let it drain on its own.
  •  Repeat the last operation until the water is clear.
  • After sifting the ash well, it should be poured into water, in a plastic bucket, in a ratio of 5 to 1: five glasses of water for one glass of ash.
  • At this point the ash must rest for about a week, and every two days the bucket must be shaken to allow the lye to thicken.
  • On the last day, use a ladle to scoop out the lye from the bottom and pour it into glass bottles.

How to use

Ash lye is a kind of natural “caustic soda”, and for this reason it has a very high cleaning value:

  • Add 100 ml to the detergent drawer of your washing machine. For hand washing, 50 ml is sufficient. Lye ash works especially well for white or light-colored clothes.
  • To wash floors, add 50 ml to the bucket of water.
  • To clean all washable surfaces, proceed as follows: fill a spray bottle half with lye and half with water and then add a few drops of essential oil of tea tree oil, It has a high disinfectant power.
  • Even dishes, simply using running water, can be washed with ash lye diluted in water.
  • With the lye ash paste you can clean and degrease pans (especially copper ones), passing it delicately and in small quantities on a sponge.
  • Finally, did you know that ash lye is also perfect for making excellent homemade soap? Find all the instructions here.

How long does it last and how is it stored?

Lye made from ash and water lasts for years and has no specific shelf life. To best preserve it, you need to distinguish between the liquid and solid versions. The liquid should be placed in a glass bottle and stored in a cool place. The solid should be stored in any plastic container, even those we use for food. 
 

Precautions to be taken

 

Lye ash is slightly caustic, Then use gloves If you handle it for a long time, it's not suitable for wool and silk garments, which are easily ruined by this natural material. Finally, if you feel it's too strong, simply dilute it with water.

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