The basic function of lye soap at any 1880's homestead was to clean...yourself, your clothes or anything else that needed a good wash. This popular home remedy is rumored to cure insect bites and poison ivy as well as remove stains from laundry. At Silver Dollar City, you can purchase the good old-fashioned straight forward kind to take home, or get fancy with different colors and scents from lavender to mint and everything in between.

The Story of Granny's Lye Soap

In 1827, Granny B. Jones traveled through the Ozarks and stopped at the Silver Dollar City General Store to get supplies. Granny nearly had an attack at the outrageous price of Lye Soap. She learned they had to get it from out east and supplies only came once a month when a wagon train came through. (Everyone in the Ozarks knows lye soap gets you clean but we also hear tell that it helps itching and pain from bug bites, poison ivy, sunburn and the like...and that it's good for stains on clothes, fighting dandruff, fish bait and dirty mouthed kids.)

Granny knew she could make and sell the soap for half the price. So she decided to set up her pots and start making lye soap to sell at Silver Dollar City. Folks came from everywhere to buy her soap and to learn about all her home remedies.

Martha Sudweeks, Lye Soap