I haven't been following this thread with much attention, as I bought the huge jar of Orvus when a local farm supply store went out of business. I have enough Orvus to probably last my lifetime.
I don't know of any way to make oil soaps without using lye. I think testing the soap with a litmus-paper strip would be a good idea. Interesting article on making soap, which explains the chemical reaction between the oil and the lye: "Making Soap With James Hershberger, A Chemical Engineer" http://waltonfeed.com/old/soap/soapchem.html The biggest argument against using a soap (as opposed to a detergent) to clean textiles is the reaction between soap and hard water. I have extremely hard water, and soap reacts to form floating clumps of soap scum, which is a huge pain to try and remove from fabric. Lynn Carpenter in SW Michigan, USA alwen at i2k dot com http://lost-arts.blogspot.com/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
