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[Eater of Vermin]

Just had a wildfire run through...  which left me wondering if there's any way to 'c'ollect the resulting ashes for use in making lye, etc.

Doesn't seem to be, but thought I'd ask.  I'd love it if I gave my Asher orders for a large batch and he just quickly nicked outside to grab the ashes instead of heading downstairs to lug some logs back...   

[Magnus]

Sadly no, there isn't. Potash is actually not ash as such, it's more like a chemical.

Congrats on actually having a lye industry though. Soap is, as we all know, the sturdiest building material available. It's useless for anything else, but no finer building materials exist.

[fluffymormegil]

Sadly no, there isn't. Potash is actually not ash as such, it's more like a chemical.

Potash is potassium carbonate. In most parts of the world, the only convenient source of potassium salts before the industrial revolution was wood ash.

[Magnus]

Sadly no, there isn't. Potash is actually not ash as such, it's more like a chemical.

Potash is potassium carbonate. In most parts of the world, the only convenient source of potassium salts before the industrial revolution was wood ash.

You are absolutely correct, and more importantly I forgot that ash is actually a product in DF, I thought that the ashery just used wood and lye. But you must actually burn the wood into ash at a kiln first, so it ought to be possible for the potash maker to use the ash from outside. It isn't though, he requires ash bars, and won't use ash on the ground.

I suppose one could say that the ground ash is far too contaminated with other substances, but realism hasn't stopped dwarves before.

[FrisianDude]

Not a kiln, just a wood furnace.

[steel jackal]

Sadly no, there isn't. Potash is actually not ash as such, it's more like a chemical.

Congrats on actually having a lye industry though. Soap is, as we all know, the sturdiest building material available. It's useless for anything else, but no finer building materials exist.

magma, nobles encased in obsidian

just thought i would prove you wrong

[PatrikLundell]

I was disappointed the first time I killed an FB made out of some useful material and found out I couldn't harvest it.

[greycat]

But you must actually burn the wood into ash at a kiln first, so it ought to be possible for the potash maker to use the ash from outside. It isn't though, he requires ash bars, and won't use ash on the ground.

The "ash" that's left behind after a fire is a contaminant, not a bar-like object that dwarves can pick up, alas.  Maybe in some future version....

[RickRollYou2]

Sadly no, there isn't. Potash is actually not ash as such, it's more like a chemical.

Congrats on actually having a lye industry though. Soap is, as we all know, the sturdiest building material available. It's useless for anything else, but no finer building materials exist.

It does prevent infections when cleaning wounds, and gives dwarves happy thoughts from bathing with it. But yes, mostly we use it to build walls of soap.

[mgotthard]

Actually, I've had serious problems keeping a stockpile of soap in my 42.03 fortress - the first time ever.  My dwarves seem to really like bathing and being clean in the new version.

I might have to consider that soap wall to keep an emergency supply aside.... Or, I guess, just forbid up a dozen bars.

[martinuzz]

Actually, I've had serious problems keeping a stockpile of soap in my 42.03 fortress - the first time ever.  My dwarves seem to really like bathing and being clean in the new version.

I might have to consider that soap wall to keep an emergency supply aside.... Or, I guess, just forbid up a dozen bars.

I have noticed this as well. I need to make new batches of soap regularily

[nomad_delta]

Actually, I've had serious problems keeping a stockpile of soap in my 42.03 fortress - the first time ever.  My dwarves seem to really like bathing and being clean in the new version.

I might have to consider that soap wall to keep an emergency supply aside.... Or, I guess, just forbid up a dozen bars.

I have noticed this as well. I need to make new batches of soap regularily

Pretty sure any soap assigned to your [H]ospital zone will be reserved for medical use so dwarves won't just steal it to take bubble baths at the well. 

[Niddhoger]

This is also a problem with ice, oddly.  In frozen (glacier) biomes, you can't melt ice to get water.  You can place ice boulders over warm stone, or melt them above-ground in the summer if it gets hot enough.  However, you'll never be able to collect the puddles of water they leave behind.

I'd also like to collect the flower leaves to make scented soap (luxury good for nobles), or collects the fallen leaves to make compost with.  Instead of the headache involving potash for fertilizer, why can't we just collect all those bloody leaves and rotten food my mlitary leaves -everywhere-, and compost those into fertilizer? Bah w/e.

It'd be a neat idea, though.  It might need to be 1/7 a bar of ash per tile, but would save us some wood on mountain/tree scarce embarks if we wanted to glaze some pottery or make soap.

[PatrikLundell]

You can convert glacier ice into water, but not through boulder melting. It's been said magma below ice can melt the ice above (into usable water), and cave-in of ice onto stone further down than the stone layer just below the ice will also melt the caved-in ice, provided the area isn't open to the freezing sky.

[Kumquat]

Pretty sure any soap assigned to your [H]ospital zone will be reserved for medical use so dwarves won't just steal it to take bubble baths at the well.

They will.