[TheOldLady]

It is actually lye-and-fatty-acid soap. If you will recall, an acid plus a base equals a salt. Yes, soap is a salt.

I have pH papers and check my soap when it's cured. The soap runs between 8-8.5, just a bit more caustic than a hard-boiled egg, which is pH 8.

I've been using my own soap for 13+ years, and these are my hands when I was 65:

Yes, that is a PS90, and that is the stamp on my hand from the gun show where Bryan and I bought it that day.

[NicknamedBob]

I didn’t know how dedicated to the process you might be.

It’s possible to leach your own lye from hardwood ashes, and fireplaces are plentiful.

The fatty acids could be leftover cooking products. But, acquired this way, the pH of such products might be hard to determine.

That bit about the rubber gloves when you wash your hands, was originally supposed to be a joke.

Everyone knows rubber gloves wouldn’t hold up long using lye soap.