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Cumminger House

Lye Soap

Soap has always been a necessity. The soap was made of a mixture of lye, a cleaning agent, and beef tallow (rendered beef suet). When people cleaned their wood stoves, they would save the ashes and soak them in water, producing lye. The lye would then be mixed with the beef tallow and poured into a form to harden. The soap was very harsh on the skin but excellent for cleaning. The soap is still made in the Cumminger house today, although a commercial lye is now used.