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The following recipe comes from our huge collection of soapmaking recipes long before saponification calculators and may not make the best soap. They are here for historical purposes only.

Proceed at your own risk if you choose to attempt this recipe.

*Read precautions on lye can before using.

This unusual recipe comes from the Amish

Dissolve 1 can of pure lye* (12 oz can) into 8 pints of rain water. This mixture will get extremely hot while dissolving, so always use stainless steel, or heat resistant glass containers and keep your hands away from it.
Melt 14 lbs. of hog lard, cow tallow, or any scrap of unsalted grease.
When lye and grease are at the same temperature, slowly add the lye to the grease and stir with a wooden spoon.
When the lye and grease are completely mixed, and 1 cup kerosene, 2 cups chlorine bleach, and 2 cups Borax® as a softener. Stir slowly until all is mixed and dissolved. This takes about 1/2 hour of stirring time. When it starts to thicken, pour into prepared molds of glass, stainless or plastic lined, strong cardboard boxes. Two 8 x 13 pans should be sufficient. Keep at room temperature until the next day, then cut into rectangles and stack checkerboard style to cure. These should be ready to use in two weeks. The kerosene gives it a very Naphtha-like odor and scent really isn't needed. A cup or two of shaved soap dissolved into hot water per washload adjusted as needed. Soap scum can be managed with vinegar used in the rinse water. If you have hard water, use a commercial water-softening additive. Pure laundry soap is not a detergent and therefore does not suds well in hard water. Since this is a true soap rather than a synthetic detergent, fabrics come our of the wash soft and fluffy without the use of fabric softeners.