soap, bullet lube, soap and bullet lube, soap...

[Bibbyman]

I wake up in the night and I get to pondering on something and it just keeps going around and around.  In the past few months I've been reading up on homemade bullet lube for black power.  In looking at the base ingredients,  it looks like homemade soap is pretty well along being bullet lube. 

It probably wouldn't work as is because it will eventually dry out and become hard.  But what if it was mixed with some other oil?  Say Mobile 1 or? Maybe flaked soap mixed with liquid soap? 

Am I on to something or should I just go back to sleep?

[ndnchf]

Is'nt old fashion home made soap made with lye?  Lye is extremely corrosive.  I dont know what would happen if you tried it, but I'd be concerned about any residuals causing rust in the bore.

[Bibbyman]

I watched a couple of YouTube videos on making homemade soap while I was thinking about it and lie is used to break down the oil or fat to make it a solid.  The comments imply that the lie is used up in the process if done in the right amount and right process used. I wouldn't think there could be much left if you could use it for hand and bath soap. 

[PJ Hardtack]

Do you guys remember those bricks of yellow 'lye soap' our mothers used for laundry and other scrubbing tasks?

It stunk to high heaven compared to the scented bar soaps of the era and was as caustic as hell. When I was too dirty to be allowed into the house, I was handed a bar of that soap and a towel and told to wash my self off with the garden hose.

It stung like hell if you got even a smidgeon (that's a metric tad) in your eyes! If that's typical of homemade soaps, I admire the pioneers and 'back-to-the-landers' that make and use it. Not for this Cowboy ......

[Blair]

Bibbyman,

How is a bullet lube formula, similar/like making soap?
Blair

[Bibbyman]

Bibbyman,

How is a bullet lube formula, similar/like making soap?
Blair

The old timey soap is made from animal fats - lard.  It's also made from about any kind of vegetable oil.  I suspect Cresco could be used.  You heat it up (or not) and mix it together to make soap.  The lie is the agent that breaks down the oil or fat and makes it a solid.   

I just see the base materials and the pans, mixing and heat, etc. of the two processes got to thinking.   Could good lie soap made from known ingredients be used as a base material to make black powder lubricant?   

Talking to Mary who often kibits with people that make their own soap,  there are two kinds - the kind that is used for bath and another that still has lie in it for strong laundry soap or scrubbing floors.  The bath type should have the lie depleted.  The other not. Some oils result in a soft soap.

Still,  unless you've got a free source for the base ingredients and the time, a person is as well off paying for store bought.

[Blair]

Bibbyman,

Okay, perhaps I asked my question incorrectly.

What in soap making makes it different from bullet lube?

I think you mentioned lye?
So, what in the making of soap, neutralizes or eliminates the lye used in soap making?
Blair

[Bibbyman]

Bibbyman,

Okay, perhaps I asked my question incorrectly.

What in soap making makes it different from bullet lube?

I think you mentioned lye?
So, what in the making of soap, neutralizes or eliminates the lye used in soap making?
Blair

I really don't know the answer to where the lie goes - if does totally deplete.  I'm just posing the question.  Maybe there is a soap maker or chemist that can answer that question.

What's in soap that makes it different from bullet lube?   Well,  basic soap appears to be solidified/modified fat or oil.  Lots of different things can be added to change color and smell and texture to make many variations of soap.  But it tends to continue to dry out and get harder.   There is a multitude of bullet lube formulas but all have some base ingredient of vegetable or mineral oil or animal fat.  The combination is mixed to make a lube that retain some degree of softness and still stick in bullet grooves.

[Blair]

Bibbyman,

Okay.
FWIW, There is a difference in the formulas for bullet lube and the making of soap.
You have been told what that difference is.
The end result is... these are your guns. Do with them as you want or feel you need to do.
Blair

[Bibbyman]

Bibbyman,

Okay.
FWIW, There is a difference in the formulas for bullet lube and the making of soap.
You have been told what that difference is.
The end result is... these are your guns. Do with them as you want or feel you need to do.
Blair

I'm just posing a question.  No need to get the idea that I'm saying soap would work as is or even mixed with other stuff. 

Say,  wasn't modern plastics invented by a guy trying to make a synthetic varnish? 

[Dick Dastardly]

Use it and report back.  I'm thinkn' that you will be wanting some new guns soon enough.

DD-MDA

[Blair]

DD,

My thoughts as well.
Some folks just want acceptance for an idea they have. In this case, it wont come from me.
My best,
Blair

[Bibbyman]

Well in the last couple of months I've seen bullet lube recipes with all kinds of stuff in them I would of never thought of.  STP fuel treatment, Mobile 1, 2 cycle fuel mix, lithium grease.  I doubt that those recipes went back to the 17'th century so someone had to have had a thought.  

Not long ago I thought how nice is would be to have a short 45 Colt case.  Maybe a 45 ACP case with 45 Colt rim. To my surprise,  someone had stolen my Idea some 10 years before I got it!

[Blair]

Don't blame the lack of trying your idea on anyone else.
The use of a soap lube maybe the cats ass for all I know.
I just don't believe it to be true.
How about you try doing the research before you come here looking to get conformation?
Blair

[Bibbyman]

Don't blame the lack of trying your idea on anyone else.
The use of a soap lube maybe the cats ass for all I know.
I just don't believe it to be true.
How about you try doing the research before you come here looking to get conformation?
Blair

That's what I'm doing.  I thought you guys are the knowledge base.  Maybe someone else has tried it and found it worked or found out it didn't work?

[Blair]

Out of 500 years of firearms research and usage, I have never seen soap used as a bullet lube!
Soap used as an assist in cleaning? Yes! But never as a bullet lube.

What does your research have to show you about soap usage regarding this subject?
Blair

[Bibbyman]

Out of 500 years of firearms research and usage, I have never seen soap used as a bullet lube!
Soap used as an assist in cleaning? Yes! But never as a bullet lube.

What does your research have to show you about soap usage regarding this subject?
Blair

Thanks.  I just Google "soap used as bullet lubricant" and came up with pages of links - including this forum. 

Here is one from castbulletdirect.

http://www.castbulletsdirect.com/blogs/blog/4458092-home-spun-cast-bullet-lube-ingredients

Third line down on the list,  Ivory,  or home made soap.

I can rest easier tonight.   

[Major 2]

If I recall, Ivory does not contain Lye

I do know Murphy's oil soap was one of 3 ingredients in "Gator Grease" , the others were glycerin & green food dye...
It was a patch lube made by a local fellow member of the Palmetto Muzzle Loaders some 30 years ago.
 

[Blair]

Bibbyman,

Great!
You are doing your own research now and not looking to be "spoon fed" info.
Ain't it great how the net works?
Now look up Ivory and or hand made soap. See anything about Lye?

Now look up "Lye" and see if you can find out anything about how toxic/caustic it is with metals like iron and steel. Not to mention tissue and bone in any concentration.
Blair

[cpt dan blodgett]

Some of the lube recipes I have seen do call for putting flakes of soap in the mix either ivory, neutrogena or castile.  Some recipes use murpy's oil soap as an ingredient.  What ever the recipe the soap is a minor additive vs a major component.