Barbara,
I know. I've got an auction already going on eBay for 200 pieces of .30-06 brass, and within minutes I had bidders. My pack-rat tendencies as a range officer are paying off with all the rifle and handgun brass I brought home, but I now have a 10,000 pound household goods weight allowance for my retirement move, and some of the heavy stuff's gotta go if I want to keep the rest of it. Hence me selling off reloadable brass and gun parts vs. my Tektronix Phaser 780 color laser and combo mill-lathe machine, etc.
Regarding the home soap-making venture, I got a bunch of Red Devil lye at our local Publix grocery store a couple months ago for that exact purpose, they still stock it. As for the soap, it didn't turn out so good. I think it was the Crisco I used as the fat component. The finished product never really cured to a complete solid, and was more of a semi-paste goop that I ended up using as a cleansing shower gel until all evidence of the failed experiment was gone. Hopefully, your technique works better.