How to Make Potash aka Caustic Potash (potassium hydroxide) from Wood Ash
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- Опубликовано: 11 фев 2021
- How to make caustic potash aka potash from hard wood ash and rain water. While learning about this process I discovered there is a widely shared MYTH that this process results in Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) however that is NOT the case, if it actually mostly Potassium Carbonate (K2C03) and Sodium Carbonate (NA2C03) and a bit of CA(OH)2. If you watch a YT channel and they say the resulting water (from wood ash and water leeching) is KOH they are just repeating what they 'think' they know...and that is wrong, ask yourself what else are they simply repeating and don't know!
Even thought this is not KOH it is still one way that our ancestors made soap from scratch using this potash solution and fat. I am working on making a good recipe for soap and have tried several with no good result. It is next to impossible to find a solid recipe online. I have tried 4 parts Lye solution to 1 part fat (no luck) and 3/8 cup lye to 1 cup fat (no joy) so I am still working on that...that said this video is on how to make the lye solution. Once I get the soap making down I will link to this video.
Source info on which lye solution is really in potash and not KOH: chemistry.stackexchange.com/q...
classicbells.com/soap/woodAsh...
cavemanchemistry.com/oldcave/...
thegreenergrassfarm.com/2015/...
Normally I just put my ash in a hole, then I usually line the edge of the hole with peas. That way, when a bear tries to eat the peas, I just kick it in the ash hole.
ok, that was funny! and I had an image of you lining a bunch of pea's around a hole into which you kicked ash! or a bear, whichever you prefer....fI like it!
My liquid soap recipe is as follows: 1 liter of glycerine from biodiesel makers. 500 ml of distilled water. 400 grams of KOH (Potassium Hydroxide). I have made this liquid soap for years and it is VERY good at removing oil and grease stains from clothing.
do you use purchased KOH or home made?
Good informational video , thanks for sharing , God bless !
Thanks for watching!
10:14
Well it's confirmed: I am officially a chemistry nerd. I was listening to your video well smoking some fish. My head snapped up so fast I'm surprised I didn't get whiplash when you said "potassium hydrochloride" 😅
Awesome video filled with useful information that's clear and concise, 10/10.
actually.... I guess it did trigger me a bit.... I'm bumping that up to an 11/10. Liked and subbed, still not sure if I'm gonna comment 😜
hi Jordan....I am a nerd myself...I love experiemnts using chemicals, gardening (I'm running a long experiment using urine as a replacement for nitrogen...and adding some hard woodash for Potassium and Phosphorus) always something different...tho most don't know they are learning science. ;)
Urine as a fertilizer.. how on earth have I never heard of that before? Cuz that is brilliant, I'd be willing to bet it works like a charm! I grew up tending the massive garden out at my mom's acreage, and the community was 95% older folks who seemingly knew everything, except using urine as fertilizer apparently... and the fact that I just started a business making organic/all natural gardening products really doesn't help my case 😅
Now I'm a firm believer in one hand washing the other, and your video help me out a ton. It only seems fair I should mention my urine based chemistry endeavors, which were mostly focused on making potassium nitrate. Figue since you've got "prepper" in your name you'd appreciate the knowledge more than most. Here's what I did:
First I mixed together some hard wood ash with urine and straw/hay and put it in a large sealed container. It took a few months to react (the shortest run was 5 months, the longest was 11), and I found that mixing it every 2 weeks really helped it along. The reaction has run its course once you see a crusty white-ish material start to form around the edges of the liquid. All ya gotta do after that is add just a little water and mix it up. Next I bought a great big sieve and filled it up with hard wood ash. I poured all the liquid though that, using the ash as a filter. All thats left is to put the liquid in to large flat pans and let all the liquid evaporate off. Once it's completely dry you'll have some fairly pure potassium nitrate, which is mighty handy stuff.... though technically I've not done anything "productive" with it. Most often I mix it with charcoal and sulfur (75%potassium nitrate, 15%charcoal, 10% sulfur is the magic ratio, and you want it to be the finest dust you can manage) to make some good-ol black powder.
And I know its obvious but I'll still mention that back powder is dangerous. It's not a high explosive (it doesn't detonate, it deflagrates), but you *SERIOUSLY* need to treat it with respect. That means hearing protection, safty glasses, and no smoking/ignition sources near by. Only combine the three powders when your outdoors and imminently before you intend to use it... and for the love of God make sure it's facing away from you well it's being mixed. I'd also recommend that you don't use a metal dish/stir rod (brass is okay, and a stir rod is 10000% necessary)... my second time doing this I was crushing&combining a small amount of the materials using a cast-iron pestle and mortar and it sparked. Thankfully I'd only just started working them together so there wasn't much of an explosion, but it easily could have killed me.
Thanks again for the video! Keep up the good work, stay saft, and I hope you find this info useful!
@@ltsgobrando I have heard of making saltpeter into gun powder...you are right Danger!!! When I worked I was in the medical field and that works as a great way to cauterize wounds too (WW1 and even WW2). I really need to try it myself tho I don't think I'll film it for various reasons all of which you know since you are smart. Now I'll know who to ask questions of. BTW Unviersity of Michigan is doing a lot of urine fertlizer work. Many articles posted, here is a short one for fun: news.umich.edu/a-3m-grant-to-turn-urine-into-food-crop-fertilizer/
@old school prepper Thanks for the link, I'll give it a read righr after dinner!
Also wanna say that you just blew my mind again. Although that's a little nugget of wisdom I hope I never use. Cauterizing wounds is pretty rough but to do it with saltpeter... so much ouch! And I absolutely agree that if you do make some then it should be an off camera project.
I'm 100% game to answer any questions you might have, but there's a condition! If you want to pick my brain for answers then it's only fair if I can do the same to you 😁
I'm also mention that I'm working on launching a RUclips channel, and it'll be somewhat similar to yours 😄. Well, technically it already exists: SpudNick is the channel name (ruclips.net/channel/UCFHVh3mqiMrHEPkETi1IjYw)...can you tell I'm excited?
You must stur/wisk/fold the solution (KOH+fat) vigerously until it thickens until you get a 'trace' solution ( thick enough to hold draw on with the spoon). Then add sents, and if you want a hard soap you can add a few tablespoons of salt, plenty of bees wax, and some honey then mold and leave somewhere cool to set.
hi Chris, I'm an experienced cold process and hot process soap maker...my issue isn't with the making of the soap, it's how to handle the caustic potash (instead of lye) and the ratio's of potash to fats...any ideas there?
@@OldSchoolPrepper Try reducing the fats you're using heat of course without burning is the trick. And up the level of potassium I'm thinking and some bi-carb soda.
Thank you for sharing. The only change that I've noticed since a year ago is that I've tested our rain water and it is extremely acidic. Test first.
great advice!
Did you testb the pH? If so what did you get?
@@SubvertTheState it was deep orange.
Very interesting. Im extremely lousy with chemistry so ill just smile and nod when you mention its not KOH but instead potassium carbonate. Regardless, im looking forward to seeing if you can make soap out of it. Thats some real pioneer skills
I shall maketh the damn soap but it might take a while
Good for dissolving unwanted bodies Martha. Great video
So many uses so little time
@@OldSchoolPrepper 🤣
Good information. Caustic soda is needed for cast iron repair
I've heard that before~
As the egg ages and decomposes it will start to float because of air gasses inside from decomposition. So don’t use an old egg.
agreed, I test my own chicken eggs using the float test if I'm unsure.
really good video
Thanks Jimbo! ☮
I believe “caustic soda” is sodium hydroxide and “caustic potash” is potassium hydroxide.
can you show me your source info so I can veryify? thanks
May have been something as lame as Wikipedia, but I only looked it up because of some previous vague knowledge I had. If nothing else, they are definitely different things. Potash can be made from fire ashes. Caustic soda is sodium hydroxide. I think it’s made by electrolyzing salt.
So to answer that, I would say it was school and a cursory internet search of a couple different sites I can’t remember.
This is in fact, true, "potash" is so named for the potassium, "soda" is the name given for "sodium hydroxide", this from high school chemistry more than fifty years ago. Either and both will make the nitrogen salts that are active in producing lye.
You are 100% correct. They do have the anomaly of being the most chemically similar hydroxides. But soda is sodium, and potash is potassium.
@@whendarknessfalls6969 makes sense, I'll have to include this info when I finally find a workable recipe...any suggestions?
Cool! Thank u for including us in ur experience!! Can't hardly wait for the soap video! Ur following doesn't represent ur knowledge. I short cut an earlier video about urea and just straight peed on my plants bases. Was an autoflower did great!! Possible pest benefits but I'm no scientist lol. Might just been me running em off beer peeing all the time lolz
my husband does the 'straight to the source" action on several of my trees and they are gorgeous!
WOW..Nice video 💖🔥😎👍New permanent friend here from Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 Cheers !
COOL! thanks for coming by~
Thank you so so much for your sharing! You have no idea how much your video helped me! First, I don't know how many times can I use the egg for testing. You solved my problem. Secondly, I thought every soap maker can this medieval soap in their first try, kinda easy to them. Now, you told me it's very okay, not a problem at all to not succeed for the first few times. I failed four times already and I'm still trying! PLEASE do share your experience and experiment when you get your soap done! I'll appreciate it very much, more than I can say! Once again, thank you🙏🙏🙏🙇🙇🙇
I have another bucket of ash soaked water that I let evaporate this time naturally (instead of boiling down) and plan to give it another try soon. I am an experienced scratch soap maker and am still trying to figure this one out....if you get any break thru's let me know too!
@@OldSchoolPrepper Yes, I will! I'm collecting ash now, which will take quite a while. Please do let me know about your future soap making uploads. Please be carefully when you start cooking the soap! I got my hand scalded because I tried to whisk the batter back when it separated, like I do in hot process. The hot batter just erupted when I put my whisk in, it shot up, scalded my hand! So, please be careful!
Very sciencey!
my head hurts dude.
The egg stands up on end because the older they get the more air gathers in the one end
The egg getting older will make it float
I raise chickens, my understanding is that it's not air, rather it's gas from the inside of the egg beginning to ferment and then rot. either way I know why it floats in WATER but eggs that are perfectly fresh will float in caustic soda if it's strong enough but I don't know why.
A hydrometer would have helped. You were basically measuring specific gravity or density of the solution.@@OldSchoolPrepper
Ad eggs age the air pocket grows and eventually the egg will float in water, indicating it is past its best use date. Also, when the egg stands on end in water, will be more easily peeled if boiled
yes, I have chickens and am really familiar with the float test...which is why using fresh eggs is key. That said I have a couple vids on a fool proof way to hardboil eggs making all super easy to peel..from old to fresh. ruclips.net/video/s4ygZJrmVzs/видео.html
Nice video. Did you ever make soap or try to concentrate this down to a powder? Thanks again~
I only tried that one time from woodash. I am an old hand at making soap from lye (cold or hot process) however this is definetly a winter project and I never have received a solid recipie, most people with a 'recipie" is actually giving me a liquid soap or lye soap recipie using purchased producct so, no joy.....have you tried it?
No, never tried 😂
@@OldSchoolPrepperYes, please post a soap recipe!
@@amanday3622 which type? hot or cold process? with store bought lye? that's the only way i've been successful so far
best just use potato skin , water melon skin or banana skin as potassium supplement
how does that work? cut into small piece and toss into the mixture? or will it just dissolve?
I just done my first experiment to make some myself doing my research I found that Kingsford charcoal is mostly hardwood charcoal... So I used the ashes from the bar b que
haha your soap is gonna smell like brats lmao. put some in it and make some beer in brat soap haha jk
how is the experiement going? do you have the vid on your channel? I'll go check it out.
@@OldSchoolPrepper no I didn't do a video..... It didn't go well. Think I tried to rush it.... But I did get a little bit. I'm going to watch some more videos see if I can't improve it more first then I'll make a good video
@@mazlosoutdooradventures8594 I apologize if my joke offended you in any way. i was just trying to have a laugh with you guys, but it might have seemed discouraging to say the least. that wasn't my intent and i should of included how actually that's a great idea. so i would like to know if you had any luck with that great idea as well, and I'm rooting for you. did you know you could make soap lye with baking soda and water as well? since your testing your theory I'm gonna try this method and see how it turns out.
This is very interesting, I want to see how the soap 🧼 comes out.
Coming soon! if i can figure it out...i keep trying and failing and i need to keep remaking the darn lye mixture to use more in the failed recipes! argh
@@OldSchoolPrepper one learns experimenting.
Soap? I thought we were making potash cakes
@@andrewprahst2529 The cakes are for the grandchildren the second they start cursing 🤬
@@MosaicHomestead I don't get it
Potash is potassium carbonate. Caustic soda is sodium hydroxide.
yup
Put some limestone in water and make a well saturated solution then put the solution in the lye solution and boil it for half hour after that let it settle for a night, next day filter the solution twice with filter paper and you will see that you have
a real potash KOH solution, but let me tell you that after boiling the
both solutions together don't shake that and get only liquid for filter
Process.❤❤❤ CT
After twice filteration you will get a clear solution, boil it's till end and at the end you will have crystals and that is potassium hydroxide KOH. Okay? ❤❤❤
I just want the potash for use as firtilizer! How do I water this stuff down for my green beans????
hi Matt, I actually use fresh human urine for fertilizer and use wood ash as the PK value (Potassium, Phosphorus). I put about a tablespoon of ash near the root of the plant and then use 1 part urine to 10 parts water into a watering can and then water in the ash. It works great...I'm on my 3rd year of experiemnts using this method: ruclips.net/video/2wp8DMnJc3U/видео.html
@@OldSchoolPrepper I've been using urine all season. But if I just soak ashes should I water that liquid down some more?
I am leary abiut using ashes directly because we already have alkaly soil here. I don't wanna push the PH too high.
Wouldnt using urine increase the amount of human prions you ingest?
1 part pot ash to .75 part lard are the proper proportions.
Finally! some with a real recipe! we'll try it for sure.
3 lye to 1 oil or tallow need salt to harden and must cook for a few hours until all liquid is completely gone.
i shall give this a try, may I ask if you've actually made soap (with this recipie) from Potash? or did you pull it from a source? thanks Gabriel
@@OldSchoolPrepper much research and im getting ready to proceed with this recipe, my pot ash has been soaking for many days now, prepared my tallow boiled it with herbs and strained it recipe will be hot process in my slow cooker, it may take a full day to complete. i didnt want to screw up so i researched the process extensively,
cheers
@@gabrielwimmershoff7614 please let me know how it goes
@@OldSchoolPrepper another week and we shall know , i will let you know
@@gabrielwimmershoff7614 did you give the solution a try at making soap?
What's the best kind of wood to this process ?
The best wood is hard wood, hard wood comes from trees with leaves and not needles. Good Luck
@@OldSchoolPrepper Hardwood produces potassium nitrates, soft wood makes sodium nitrates. Both will make soap, potassium is denser chemically, stronger.
Do you cover the bucket while in the process
Do you use just the water or you use the ash
when making potash I just use the water after a really long soak. I do use the ash after in my garden or in potted plants depending on if I'm using it as a soil additive or to increase soil pH but I don't use it in making Potash in any additional way after soaking rain water in the wood ash.
I keep the bucket undercover, so it's covered in a general kind of way.
Guys idont now what type of Ash I use or trees
ash from any hardwood burned tree should work. You can tell a hardwood tree (from softwood) as they have leaves and not needles.
1:17 not gonna lye, I rarely do anything half ash... Also not a single mention of Fight Club! Oh... crap... Just broke rules 1 and 2! 😨
😁
Did you ever make the soap
not from the wood ash....still looking for a good recipe. I have made soap from store purchased Lye both hot and cold process
Im surprised you didn't strain ash and water through rocks then letting that solution sit.
it was very clear (on top) after I let it sit so I didn't find it necessary to strain. Do you think I lost out on something by not straining?
you dissolved and boiled down wood ash? That’s a bunch of stuff. I thought potash you bought was this stuff recrytallized. or they first crash out calcium and other elements so it’s more concentrated potassium.
I never claimed to be a scientist ;) but I try! lots and lots of bad info out there about potash being lye (wrong) but what you say is on the correct side, there are a lot of stuff in this: Potassium carbonate (aka 'potash',) from wood ash. Leaching plant ashes with hot water, filter and boil filtrate down to dryness. The solid obtained is crude K2CO3. Only a few percent of the ashes is potash, though.
KOH can be obtained by reacting K2CO3 with slaked lime (Ca(OH)2) and water. A solution of KOH and insoluble CaCO3 is obtained.
@@OldSchoolPrepper Interesting. KOH is what you get from K2CO3 mixed in water period. The CO2 derived from potassium carbonate is the same as the CO2 from the air - both will cause calcium hydroxide to go milky, but air is slower.
Potash is potassium hydroxide. Normal Lye is Sodium Hydroxide (Caustic Soda)
Caustic soda is common name of Potassium Hydroxide
Common name : Caustic soda
IUPAC Name : Potassium Hydroxide
Chemical Formula: KOH
@@OldSchoolPrepper I don't wanna keep arguing, but first result on Google says Sodium Hydroxide is called Lye or Caustic Soda
Potassium Hydroxide is called Potash
Think about where the word Soda comes from. from "Sodium". Just like Baking Soda is Sodium Bicarbonate
So why would Potassium Hydroxide be called Soda?it doesn't contain Sodium
@@MarvinMonroe why not do a video on it? people would definetly watch it....I'm certainly not a scientist just some rando trying to make soap from scratch
@@OldSchoolPrepper ehh they are very similar. Potassium Hydroxide is more commonly used for liquid soap.
That's all I know. And your video is way better and more interesting than anything I'd do
@@MarvinMonroe I make soap from purchased products on the regular (liquid and bar) ... I always like to try new things. I'd say you seem pretty smart and funny I'd suspect you'd make a great channel. think on it, it's free and what can it hurt? Be well Marvin.
That's caustic potash, actually. Caustic soda is from rock salt or another sodium source.
good to know.
@@OldSchoolPrepper I know my alkali metals.
@@TheRojo387 have you done many vids on this subject? I'll pop over to your channel and take a look...i'm always happy to learn more!
@@OldSchoolPrepper Mostly it's gaming and humour. I do cookery too, but knowing what's happened with my Yakko's World Chinese dub…
I want to make soap
I want you to make soap too!
Try honey with your soap
sounds good
you had one job
one complicated job. ugh
@@OldSchoolPrepper I'll say this for you and in general women tend to have much less egotism which makes them much easier to follow. The best air conditioner window unit instuctional video I could find, the only one that was thorough and made sense and actually explained everything I need to do was a woman.
Change the title
no
Hi, I was intrigued by what you are up to. Looking, you can make calcium carbonate using crushed eggshells and HCL. That will react with potassium carbonate to make lye. If I understand it, you can figure out necessary amounts when a calcium based precipitate stops forming. Takes a couple of days. I looked also to see whether you could use vinegar/lemon juice, but those make potassium acetate: Ca(C2H3O2)2 + K2CO3 = KC2H3O2 + CaCO3, and there are a few references to this in soap, one in a google patent.
You can also make potassium chloride based soap. Here are the instructions. I suspect that is where you are already!
apparently lime rock can be used as well, to get the calcium carbonate to make KOH. "When the carbonate lye was ready to make soap, it was mixed with a portion of the fat to be saponified. The mixture was simmered and stirred over a fire for many hours. Because the lye concentration varied from batch to batch despite one's best efforts, this "boiled" soap making process was a trial and error method. Lye was gradually added, the mixture cooked and stirred, more fat and more lye were added as needed, and the mixture was stirred and cooked further until it formed a crude paste soap." classicbells.com/soap/woodAshLye.asp
thanks for the intel. I know I can make calcium carbonate using sea shells (like oyster shells too). I know I can make soap with almost any of the caustic chemicals where I run into problems is how much of each. even the recipie you shared reads "it was mied with a portion of the fat"...i understand it depends on how strong the KOH/or lye is...but how much fat? I've read from very little (like 1 part fat to 4 parts lye) to 50/50 ratio. I'd just like a good place to start....it is maddening. This winter i'll go back to trying more and more again. This time of year i'm obsessed with the garden.
@@OldSchoolPrepper Right =) The recipe I posted was you have to do it a bunch of times and iterate to understand the soap goop. Like folks in the day had to!!! =) OK, so if you can make calcium carbonate, you can make lye. You can get a sense of when the process is at equilibrium by observing the sediments (precipitants) over time. If you add potassium carbonate to your lye + carbonate and no more precipitants, you are low on carbonate. If you add more carbonate and no precipitants, you are high on carbonate.
There are some values for mg lye to fat type here at Wikipedia, as well as how to determine the values (not easy!)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponification_value
Lard, for instance is about 200mg/g, or 1/5.
@@damesftw45 I am an experienced soap maker. both hot and cold process (I prefer a cold process bar myself)...so I get it, I just wish someone (other than me) had the ability to test this and just let me know. I have tons of recipies for soap making with straightforward KOH (I use Lye from a chemical company)....I'm just complaining and bitching...but I think you get it. sorry for the vent...seems if I want to do something right I just have to do it myself...what else is new ;)
@@OldSchoolPrepper Well, the values in the Wikipedia Saponification Value are what you seek. These ratios of lye to various fats are in the table. Those are probably the best numbers you will find, and it also includes additional information. So! =) Do not be frustrated! I spent about an hour experiencing the same issues you did, people saying things that they did not understand, until I found this source.
It's pretty cool. It tells you ratios for olive oil, sunoil, whale oil! I think it has that which you seek. let me know! =)
Love the Rosie the Riveter image. My woman is half man, I think! With all respect!
@@OldSchoolPrepper Oh, AND, on the strength of your thoughts, I have a bucket with ash in it I'm going to try to. I read in my wanderings that high heat combustion can vaporize some potassium chloride. I also suspect, but don't know, that lye and potassium chloride are interchangable.