Can you buy lye at the grocery store?

Lye used to be available in the supermarket but not anymore. You might be able to find it in some hardware stores often in the drain cleaning section next to the Draino. In order for that lye to be effective in soapmaking, you need to make sure that you are getting 100 percent sodium hydroxide.

Can lye be purchased?

Craft stores carry lye for soapmaking. There is also food-grade sodium hydroxide, sold in some specialty cooking stores. You can find sodium hydroxide online. You can purchase it at Amazon as sodium hydroxide or lye, pure lye drain opener, caustic soda, and pure or food-grade sodium hydroxide.

Which lye is best for soap making?

Is there a substitute for lye?

A common home alternative to lye when making pretzels or bagels is to use a baking soda solution.

How do you get lye?

To make lye in the kitchen, boil the ashes from a hardwood fire (soft woods are too resinous to mix with fat) in a little soft water, rainwater is best, for about half an hour. Allow the ashes to settle to the bottom of the pan and then skim the liquid lye off the top.

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What do you use lye for?

Uses of Caustic Soda or Lye

Lye is used for soap making, candle making, homemade biodiesel, frosting glass, making several foods, and for chemistry experiments.

How do you make lye from baking soda?

You only need two ingredients for homemade lye water: Baked baking soda and water. Mix them at a 1:4 ratio. Then you're ready to use it!

Is lye and baking soda the same?

Lye is a stronger alkaline than baking soda or sodium bicarbonate, with a pH reading ranging from around 13 to 14. Its base of sodium hydroxide is created commercially by the electrolysis of sodium chloride solution, as well as reacting calcium hydroxide with sodium carbonate, according to the FDA.

Can I use baking soda instead of lye?

Many home recipes replace the lye with baking soda, but the results taste like breadsticks, not pretzels. Baked soda does a much better job of approximating true lye-dipped pretzels.

Is there a substitute for lye in soap making?

Sodium hydroxide is the lye you use to make bar soap. No other substances can be used in place of either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide to make soap.

Can bar soap be made without lye?

NO, chemically-speaking, soap itself cannot be made without lye. Soap is made by blending oils (like olive oil or coconut oil), a liquid (water, goat's milk, etc.), and an alkali (lye). Lye is needed to convert oils into soap.

Can you use lye from the hardware store to make soap?

You Can't Make Soap Without Lye

You might be able to find it in some hardware stores often in the drain cleaning section next to the Draino. In order for that lye to be effective in soapmaking, you need to make sure that you are getting 100 percent sodium hydroxide. Otherwise, do not buy it.

How much does it cost to buy lye?

Lye Prices

Lye (sodium hydroxide) is sold as low as $5.99 per pound.

Why do you need lye to make soap?

Lye is most known for its use as a drain cleaner, not necessarily for its role in making soap. It can also be used for making paper, glass, textiles and some cleaning supplies. Unfortunately, this valuable chemical is also used in the production of illegal narcotics and is therefore difficult to find in stores.

Is lye caustic soda?

Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), also known as caustic soda or lye, is a highly versatile substance used in a variety of manufacturing processes.

What is a good substitute for lye water?

It can be replaced by a homemade version made from two extremely common ingredients – baking soda and water. There are two approaches to making alkaline solution at home: one that uses baking soda and one that uses baked baking soda. However, baked baking soda is recommended for both mooncake and ramen making.

How do you make lye for pretzels?

To prepare a lye bath for pretzels, fill a large liquid measuring cup with four cups of cold water. Add the water to a heavy, plastic container and carefully mix with two tablespoons of food-grade lye until fully dissolved.

What is lye used for in murders?

A lye solution, heated to 300 Fahrenheit degrees (148 Celsius), can dissolve an entire body into an oily brown liquid in just three hours. Dissolving of bodies in lye is a time-tested method used by Mexican drug cartels to get rid of tell-tale corpses.

Can I make sodium hydroxide at home?

Dissolve 1 tablespoon (17 grams) of salt in 1.24 cups (290 mL) of water. Add the water to a glass and gently pour the salt into the water. Stir it in well with a spoon until the salt is completely dissolved. If your cup has a lid, attach it after adding the salt and shake it up and down to mix the salt it in.

Is lime and lye the same?

While lime is more alkaline than soda ash, when reacted together they produce a stronger alkali than either of the two separately. Synonyms for lye are caustic soda, and sodium hydroxide. It remains one of the most important alkalis in modern chemical industry though it is no longer manufactured from lime and soda ash.

What happens when you mix lye and water?

Mixing water and lye creates an exothermic reaction that causes a dramatic temperature increase. Adding lye to room temperature water can cause the water to reach temperatures up to 200 ° F. The mixture also creates fumes, which should not be inhaled.

What is household lye?

Sodium hydroxide, NaOH, also known as lye or caustic soda, is an extremely caustic (corrosive and damaging to human tissue) white solid that readily dissolves in water. Sodium hydroxide is used in the manufacture of soaps, rayon, and paper, in petroleum refining, and in homes as drain cleaners and oven cleaners.

How much lye do you need to make soap?

You can use a lye calculator to figure out how much lye you'll need, which you'll definitely want to do if it's your first time. This DIY soap recipe uses 2 pounds of tallow, 10 ounces of filtered, pure water, and 4.4 ounces lye. Some soap makers opt for cold process soap, but this recipe uses the hot process method.

Can I use 100 lye for drain opener to make soap?

Roebic lye, also known as Heavy Duty Crystal Drain Opener is labelled as 100 percent lye. It's manufactured by Roebic Laboratories. If you're wondering if it's safe to use Roebic lye for soap making, the short answer is yes.