1. Rule #1. Never, never make homemade soap with young children around. Lye solution is dangerous and can even taste sweet to a young child and it is very dangerous.

2. Rule #2. Always, always consult your almanac. Be sure it is just a few days before full moon, otherwise the soap will not turn out.

3. Rule #3. If you do not feel fully confident and brave and determined, go to the store and buy your soap.

If you are determined or misplaced your recipe last time you used it, here goes --

Melt 6 pounds of clean rendered fat in an outside cast iron kettle until it's a clear liquid; cool it to the right temperature. For fresh, sweet lard the lard temperature should be 80 to 85 degrees F. and the lye solution at 70 to 75 degrees F. For all tallow, 120 to 130 degrees F. with lye solution at 90 to 95 degrees F. You have now cooled it to the temperature until it thickens; stir it occasionally to keep the fat from graining as it gets near room temperature.

Meanwhile, in a large enameled pot, mix 1 (just opened) 13 ounce can of suitable crystalline household lye (the can will so indicate) with 5 cups of cold water. Stir with a wooden paddle until it has dissolved, but stand clear of the fumes and avoid spatters of the caustic liquid; it will boil up like mad of its own accord. Let the solution cool to the proper temperature for the fat you're using.

When both fat and lye are the right heat, very carefully pour the warm lye into the fat in a thin steady stream, stirring the mixture very slowly and evenly (another pair of hands would be a great help here). If the combining temperatures are too cold or too hot, or if the fat and lye are combined too fast or stirred too hard, the soap will separate and then you must boil the separated mixture with much extra water to make it get together again.

In 10 to 20 minutes of careful stirring the fat and lye will have blended thoroughly and become thick. Pour the saponified mixture at once into the soaked, cloth lined box; set the box in the dripping pan to catch leaked soap. Lay the protecting board over the box and cover the whole shebang with a rug or old blanket to hold the heat while the soap develops a good texture. Most old tymers leave the saponified (thick almost like vanilla pudding) mixture in the cast iron kettle until it has thickened until you can just cut it with a knife. When it holds the shape well, cut with a large knife, removing blocks of soap and placing them on a board and placing the board in a dry, ventilated place (rafters of a wash house works great) to cure.

But if you do use the cloth lined box technique, don't disturb the soap for 24 hours. Then grasp the overhanging edges of the cloth liner and raise the soap block from the mold. Cut it by cinching strong twine or wire around the soap and pulling tight. Let the bars of young (uncured) soap dry at room temperature in a draft free place for 10 days or 2 weeks. Don't let the soap freeze during this time. Bring and set behind the wood cookstove when you feel (in your bones) that a norther is coming. When the soap has cured, wrap each piece in paper and store in a cool, dry place, or leave on the board up on the rafters in the wash house. That way, whenever you need a fresh piece for the washer or wash board, just reach up and get one. How much more convenient can things be.