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Sources of lye include: Drain cleaner (check the label) – e.g., Roebic Crystal Drain Cleaner, sold at Lowes. Sodium hydroxide from an online chemical supply store. Soap-making store. Candle-making store. Biodiesel supply store.
Where do I get lye?
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.
Where does lye come from naturally?
Whatever meat scraps and drippings you have on hand will supply the fat and the lye comes from wood ashes and water. 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, rain water is best, for about half an hour.
How much does it cost to buy lye?
Price Discounts when Organization Members Buy Lye to Make Soap Quantity Price per Lb Total Price 1.25 lbs $6.39 $7.98 2.50 lbs $6.39 $15.97 3.75 lbs $6.39 $23.96 5.00 lbs $6.39 $31.95.
What can I use instead of lye in soap making?
Here are some good choices: Goat’s Milk Soap Base. Shea Butter Soap Base. Glycerin Soap Base. Cocoa Butter Soap Base.
Can soap be made without lye?
The main way that you can make soap without handling lye is by using melt-and-pour soap. It’s already been through saponification (oils reacting with lye) and is safe to use and handle straight out of the package. All you do with it is melt it, add your scent, color, and other additives, then pour it into molds.
Is lye the same as baking soda?
Originally Answered: Is baking soda same as lye? No. baking soda is sodium (hence the “soda” in the name) bicarbonate (NaHCO3), while lye (also known as “caustic soda”) is sodium hydroxide (NaOH).
Is lye harmful to humans?
Lye is a caustic substance that can certainly damage your skin if you’re exposed to it. It can cause a number of problems, such as burns, blindness, and even death when consumed. You see, the lye used to create soap reacts with other chemicals, which results in the formation of soap.
How do you make homemade 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.
Why is lye used in pretzels?
Lye is a strong alkali that can be dangerous if misused, but it’s lye that enhances the Maillard reaction on the outside of the dough. This reaction gives each pretzel a chewy crust, mahogany color, glossy sheen, and that unmistakable pretzel flavor typical of a German soft pretzel.
Is lye illegal?
Key Takeaways: Caustic Soda Caustic soda is one of the common names for sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Impure caustic soda is found in drain cleaner. Because lye is used to make illegal drugs, it’s harder to buy large quantities than in the past.
Is lye edible?
Lye water (sometimes called ‘Lime Water’) is a strong (caustic) liquid that is safe to use in very small amounts in cooking, but it can be dangerous if lye water is swallowed undiluted straight from the bottle. It can cause severe corrosive burns to the throat, oesophagus and stomach with permanent damage if swallowed.
What does a lye burn feel like?
Lye burns if left untreated may be bad but I usually take care of it right away. It first feels like an insect bite then starts to itch and burn. Rinse under cold water then use soap and water to wash the area, rinse again.
Can you use baking soda instead of lye to make soap?
It is certainly possible to make an acceptable cold process soap using baking soda or washing soda, but lather performance suffers compared to the same soap formula without them. This supports the conventional wisdom that they are better used in a hot process soap (after the cook) or in a rebatched soap.
Does all soap have lye?
All REAL soap is made with lye (sodium hydroxide mixed with liquid). Any skin or hair cleansing product made without sodium hydroxide is not soap, it is detergent.
How do you make chemical free soap at home?
Ingredients: 1 cup baking soda. 2-5 tablespoons water. 10 drops eucalyptus essential oil. 10 drops peppermint essential oil. 10 drops lavender essential oil. Soap colorant (optional) Silicone mold.
How do you make basic natural soap?
Basic ingredients 20 oz. coconut oil. 10 oz. olive oil. 9 oz. distilled water. 4.78 oz. 100 percent pure lye. 20 to 40 drops of essential oils, if desired. colorants (optional) dried herbs or flowers (optional).
How was soap made before lye?
Thousands of years ago before soap was available, people made their lye the old fashioned way by leaching water through wood ashes layered in a barrel or other container. If you’re in a far corner of the globe and can’t get lye locally, or are just curious how it’s made, you can make potassium hardwood lye yourself.
Why is lye used in making soap?
Lye, which has a scientific name of sodium hydroxide, reacts when it is properly mixed; the process of mixing and causing this reaction is called saponification. The process typically involves mixing lye with oils or butters, which contribute scents and other natural properties, such as vitamins and minerals, to soap.
What is lye used for in gardening?
Lye is a strongly alkaline so it could be used to reduce the acidity of the soil instead of using the usual agricultural limestone. However, lye is so strong that you run the danger of killing plants or making an area so alkaline that plants don’t want to grow there or irritating your skin.
Why is lye used on bodies?
Under high heat and pressure, lye can turn corrosive enough to disintegrate fat, bones and skin. Dissolving of bodies in lye is a time-tested method used by Mexican drug cartels to get rid of tell-tale corpses.
What is lye in food?
Lye — also known as sodium hydroxide — is an alkaline compound used in everything from manufacturing (cleaning supplies, dyes, aluminum, paper) to food production (pretzels, cured fish, olives, hominy).
