Soap was made from the fat of lambs or pigs. The fat was mixed with lye and crushed rosebuds were added to give it a sweet-smelling scent. It was boiled in a special pot outside with a good fire.
They would let it stand a day, and then they would set it up in bars. The clothes came out very white. They liked to use it on the floors also. That was done until the late 1950s.
In the fall, they would go in the hills and get “Amole” (yucca roots) to wash their bedding. You wash the root real good and then put it in a thrash made from a big tire and make the seeds to wash blankets and anything of wool. They would hit the root with a hoe or ax until it was soft, then they would make it into suds.
Some used it to wash their hair, and hair washed with yucca roots was very shiny. The mattress and pillows were made from wool of the sheep. The wool was washed real good with amole, put out to dry. When dry they would hit it with a stick and it got very fluffy. They made a cover and put the wool and made their mattress and pillows. People washed their blankets with amole too.