Lye in S.E. America?

[resrfglc]

Preferably in SW FLA or SW North Carolina.

A source for plain ole Lye. If you know of one, pls advise if you know of a source.

[Doug Miller]

Any hardware store should have it -- Ace, TruValue, Do-It-Best, etc. I'm pretty sure I've seen it at Home Depot or Lowe's, too, but can't swear to it. Lots of grocery stores around here (Indianapolis) sell it, too.

Ask for Red Devil lye. It's the most common brand.

[Toller]

A couple years ago I couldn't find it anywhere. I finally bought some drain cleaner that had lye as the only active ingredient. Didn't like what it did to cherry.

[fredfighter]

Was it white? If not it had a dye in it. Not an active ingredient when cleaning drains perhaps. Draino also has aluminum flakes in it, which is an active ingredient, a very active one and should be labeled as such.

[Lew Hodgett]

RE: Subject

Lye, AKA: Caustic or sodium hydroxide.

May not be available to the general retail public, but a very common industrial chemical.

Lew

[CW]

Did a Google search on Red Devil Lye. First place I went to had it.

[resrfglc]

Not interested in it for WOOD, but for electrolytic'ly removing rust - didn't mention the intended use to try and keep everyone on topic.

I've looked in ACE and HOME DEPOT and LOWES for Red Devil (as I, too, rememberthat brand and wish I could find it.) without success.

[Nova]

It appears Red Devil Lye was discontinued about a year ago. Here's a link to an article by a soap makers suggesting sources for lye:

[Doug Miller]

Washing soda works well for that purpose, too, and isn't anywhere nearly as hazardous.

[George E. Cawthon]

Actually, lye IS an active ingredient. Lye dissolves fats (lye plus fat makes soap) and lye dissolves proteins. Thus lye is active for the two major causes of drain blockage.

Lye acting on the aluminum creates heat and bubbles, increasing the possibility of moving mass obstructions.

[George E. Cawthon]

Oh for Pete's sake. This comes up all the time. Lye is commonly available in grocery stores and many other types of stores.

[Nova]

Things change. From "Wikipedia" regarding lye uses"

"Illegal drugs

Because it is a key ingredient in the process of making Methamphetamine, it is now impossible to purchase pure Sodium hydroxide as a consumer product in the United States. Products containing pure Sodium hydroxide, such as Red Devil, are no longer available for sale. As a result, amateur soapmakers must now purchase Sodium hydroxide in bulk."

[Doug Miller]

He said the *dye* is not an active ingredient...

[resrfglc]

THANK YOU lots of sources mentioned:

Where to Buy Lye From David Fisher, Your Guide to Candle and Soap Making. FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now! No Lye = No Soap (Note: Upated list of lye vendors below) Well, it's been over a year now now, and we're still making soap. There was worry when Red Devil Lye was taken from the shelves...but a number of online and local vendors have taken up the slack to make up for Red Devil Lye being pulled from the supermarkets.

Here are stores, sites and solutions that many soap makers have come up with:

a.. Get together with other soap makers >

[resrfglc]

"Lye is commonly available in grocery stores "

No so in my area. Red Devil is no longer carried by the stores here. Lord knows, I've tried and called 'round.

However, FYI, I did find an approach that relies upon Arm & Hammer Baking Soda or Laundry Soda in lieu of the "Lye" [Sodium Hydroxide] to derust items.

Subsequent posts expla>> RE: Subject

[John L. Poole]

Lye plus aluminum plus water creates hydrogen.

When I was a curious lad, I used to place a tablespoon of Drano brand lye in an old soda pop bottle along with some water and then stick in strips of aluminum foil and place a balloon over the mouth of the bottle and the balloon would fill up with hydrogen. If you add too much lye, it will generate enough heat to crack the bottle, so be very careful and start with small amounts.

[George E. Cawthon]

Bull! the Wikipedia article (if you quoted accurately) isn't true. You should know that individuals write Wikipedia and you have to be rather skeptical of the articles. For example, look above at the poorly written part that you quote, "Products containing pure Sodium hydroxide...." That statement is very strange in addition to the capitalized sodium. "Products containing" sounds like you have pure sodium hydroxide mixed with other things which would make the sodium hydroxide impure.

In any case, oven cleaners (which are NaOH with a propellant) are still widely available, as well as dry NaOH in pound quantities, in the PNW. That makes the Wikipedia article untrue.

[George E. Cawthon]

No he didn't. It was not clear what the "not an active ingredient" referred to. You inferred one way, I inferred a different way.

[George E. Cawthon]

Not sure when my latest purchase of lye was, but it was less than 1 year ago. Just for the hell of it I will check in a few stores tomorrow.

resrfglc wrote:

[Nova]

Here's a link to a soap makers supply that sells lye. Read their statement on compliance with state/local laws. Note the Indiana "MethWatch" symbol near the bottom of the page.

"MethWatch" states include:

Georgia Indiana Iowa Maine Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Montana New Mexico North Carolina Oregon Pennsylvania South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia Washington Wyoming

Federal legislation is being called for.