Anyone know of a good use of wood ashes?

[panader0]

I've gone through quite a bit of firewood this winter, partly because I've been at home quite a bit (not much work). There's a lot of ash, mostly from mesquite and pecan. I built a block wall for a local pecan farmer and he sells me his wood at a good rate, so I've been burning it up. There must be a good use for the ashes. Any ideas?

[MineralMan]

1. Make soap. Ashes in water make lye. Cook lye with fats and

you have soap. I'm sure there are good recipes on the web. Here's one:

http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/soapmake.htm

[TNDemo]

15. Only thing about using them for soap

is that it is very hard to know the amount to use as compared to mixing water with a specific lye measurement. Also green hickory is probably the best wood for soapmaking.

[razorman]

18. Is that what you'd use to make Irish Spring?

[H2O Man]

2. Ashes

are good for gardening.

[panader0]

7. Yeah, I've been scattering them in the garden

but I have so much now.

[H2O Man]

16. If you compost,

they are a great addition. If you have neighbors/family/friends who garden, you could probably get rid of a substantial amount of ashes.

[LWolf]

23. Depending on where you live.

Ashes aren't good for the garden in areas with alkaline soil.

[realisticphish]

3. They're ok for snow traction

some areas use them in lieu of salt for anti-ice purposes

[Warpy]

8. I'd use them in an icy driveway

I tried using them on the walks one year and didn't like mopping the floor three times a day. Oh, my ex and I took our boots off, it was the cats tracking them in.

I throw mine in the compost pile with clippings and veggie scraps when I've got the garden well coated.

[panader0]

10. Not much ice around here.

I blame a lot of stuff on the cats too. lol

[Demeter]

4. Ashes used for soil improvement

contain or produce potash when mixed with water.

Amazon natives would burn over the rainforest to produce long-lasting charcoal to provide growth medium for good bacteria.

Ashes were also used in soap production--mixed with urine, I believe, produces lye.

[11 Bravo]

5. Give this link a look ...

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,1581470.html

[Thothmes]

6. good for polishing brass.

[murray hill farm]

29. and silver.

[mattvermont]

9. If you can purify the lye

from several washings...it becomes a key part of the "bio diesel" reaction when mixed with alcohol and vegetable oil.

[Cirque du So-What]

11. You could make your own gunpowder

or maybe not.

Maybe use them as an organic fertilizer.

[panader0]

12. Yeah, but then I'd have to buy a gun..........

[creeker]

30. i don't know about gunpowder

you can put ash into a wooden box and urinate on them--- in time potassium nitrate crystals will form. this can be used as a key ingredient in black powder---------old texts say the best is produced by white oak ash peed upon by wine drinking monks-- but beer drinking "country boys" can do pretty good too

[haele]

13. We always used ash in the garden, mixed it up with the soil before planting season.

Glassblowers sometimes use ash to color and texture their glass mix, and some re-creationist type dyers and potters might also use it in their colors.

Haele

[Kali]

14. hey panaderO!

I dump them down by the corrals - great natural de-louser for livestock. Ask any local ranchers you get along with or you can haul them out here!:7

We also dump them at the end of the piping of our "solar composting system", for odor control.

They are good as a soil amendment except we tend to be alkaline here in the west, but if you are in the oaks at all it will be OK. Some garden plants are picky about pH - might test soil if problems show up after using a lot of ash.

[applegrove]

17. If you own an outhouse you can use the ashes there.

[ConcernedCanuk]

25. Right

.
.
.

I lived in a place with an outhouse 5 years ago;

kept a pail of ashes inside with a ladle -

spread 2 or three spoonfuls over your doings,

little or no odor, and the decomposition accelerates

AND NO FLIES!!

[shraby]

19. Put them on a garden.

[enlightenment]

20. Have you ever read the Firefox Books?

One of the volumes (can't recall which one) has a recipe for making lye soap - and how to build the set up for extracting the lye from the ash and such.

You can clean glass with wood ash (mixed with water); polish silver with it (same idea); put some in the bottom of your trash can to decrease odors . . .

[conscious evolution]

21. Its good for breaking down clay

in gardens.

[monkeyweather]

22. Wood ash uses

I heard recently that there were studies done of the residents
of Okinawa who were over the age of 100, and - sorry, I forget
the other group...might be the Hunzas? Both groups have been
studied for a long time to try and determine the reason for
their longevity. It's something like 1 centenarian per 500, as
opposed to our western 1 per 10,000.
Anyways, one thing both groups have in common is that they use
wood ash in their gardens and they cut it into their salt and
food. 
Wood ash is very alkaline and has a range of minerals,
including calcium. You burn the wood and it leaves behind the
minerals. (obviously you wouldn't use treated wood - has to be
clean)

I'm sure most of you have read about how people are combating
disease/cancer by altering their diets to alkaline, which
causes oxygenation of the whole body and creates a hostile
environment for anaerobic organisms. 
Might be that a bit of wood ash in the diet would be helpful. 
Certainly hasn't hurt the Okinawans ;O)
You can buy test strips to check your body's pH level, and
before you add it to your garden check the pH of your soil as
well. If you adore hydrangeas, they are acid and won't like
wood ash. 

[creeker]

24. in the old days you could produce potassium nitrate

from urine passed thru ash---the best was (supposed) to be produced by "Wine drinking Monks" peeing into white oak ash-------for what it is worth

[Po_d Mainiac]

27. Charcoal, not ash

Black powder = sulfur + salt peter + Charcoal....

The monks would squirt on the ground up powder mixture to create a slurry that could then be extruded.

[dhpgetsit]

26. If you keep chickens they will enjoy bathing in it.

It will help them keep the mites and lice down.

[arachadillo]

28. Recycling Wood Ash

panader0 asks: I've gone through quite a bit of firewood this winter, partly because I've been at home quite a bit (not much work). There's a lot of ash, mostly from mesquite and pecan. ... There must be a good use for the ashes. Any ideas?

MineralMan suggests: Make soap. Ashes in water make lye. Cook lye with fats and you have soap. I'm sure there are good recipes on the web.

Demeter suggests: Ashes used for soil improvement contain or produce potash when mixed with water. Amazon natives would burn over the rainforest to produce long-lasting charcoal to provide growth medium for good bacteria.

haele suggests: We always used ash in the garden, mixed it up with the soil before planting season. Glassblowers sometimes use ash to color and texture their glass mix, and some re-creationist type dyers and potters might also use it in their colors.

realisticphish suggests: They're ok for snow traction some areas use them in lieu of salt for anti-ice purposes.

Thanks everyone, I just want to keep a running list of the suggestions.