10 lbs. clean rendered tallow (suet)
2 c. each of olive oil & coconut oil
1 (13 oz.) can lye
1 flat wooden tray, about 18 x 18 inches with tight sides about 1 to 2 inches high, don't ever expect to use this for anything else after making soap in it
1 lg. flat piece of cotton (an old pillowcase cut up 1 side & across the bottom works well)

Render the suet and strain the clear fat. Weigh out 10 pounds. Heat or cool tallow to 120 to 130 degrees in an enamel or glass pan. Mix lye with 6 cups of cold water outside in a large enamel or glass pan. Stir with a wooden spoon until the lye has dissolved, staying away from the fumes. Bring temperature down to 90 to 95 degrees.

When both the fat and lye are the right temperature, pour the lye into the fat in a very slow, steady, thin stream, stirring constantly as you pour. Stir SLOWLY for an hour or more until the mixture is thick and well blended without streaks of dark separated lye. Add the olive oil and coconut oil, stirring slowly until they are well blended also. You can add at this point any essential oil you like, 1 to 2 cups of ground oatmeal or oat flour and (or) 1 cup of sugar (it supposedly makes the soap lather better). Stir slowly until thick blended.

If the soap separates, add about half again as much water and bring to a boil, cool, stirring slowly as before until it is thick and well blended. Get the wooden tray and the cotton cloth wet, wring the cloth out and line the tray with it, over the edges, one long edge overhanging to place on top of the soap after it is in the tray. Pour the soap into the tray and let it set for about 24 hours. Slip the cloth out of the tray, lifting the soap with it. Cut the soap into bars with thin string or nylon fishing line. Hang or place in a cool dry area to cure, about 6 weeks, although it is better if cured longer. Soap keeps indefinitely, and improves for about a year.

I have also made soap with lard and no olive or coconut oil, the combining temperatures of fat and lye are different, and the recipe is on the can of lye. Lye can be made by pouring water through wood ashes, in a special arrangement like a cradle to leach the water out the bottom at one end. Don't try this unless you are outside away from anything that could burn as the wood ashes heat up tremendously and I once saw them catch fire to some unburned pieces of wood in them. Also, the cradle has to be made just so, and the amounts of water, ashes and fat afterwards are only for the very experienced.