Who Sells Lye?

Is it against the law or something to sell lye now? Is there something I don't know? I've spent several hours for the last few evenings driving around the Bay Area trying to figure out where to buy some lye and for the life of me I can't find any. I'd like to just play around with making a batch of soap to see how it works but everyone just looks at me like I grew pointy antlers when I ask for it.

I know it's normally sold as crystal drain cleaners but the only ones of those I've found aren't pure lye, they are mixed with aluminum, potassium hydroxide, etc. I've tried the grocery stores, Orchard Supply Hardware, Home Depot, etc and whenever I ask for it they all look at me like I'm either a criminal or an idiot.

Any ideas?

-- Gary F.

Gary, Have you tried a pharmacy? According to this one site they "may" carry lye.

here is a link on how to make your own lye:

http://www.itdg.org/docs/technical_i...soapmaking.pdf

Jmy. Ellis

I believe home depot carries it for unclogging drains. I read that on some biodiesel forums a while ago.

I believe the sale and purchase of Lye is now regulated in the USA. This is due to the booming Chrystal Methamphetamine biz.
For possible sources, contact Colleen Hurley at her email "[email protected]" i think? The email is in her thread in the vendors category.
She ran into the same trouble, as the regulation has recently come into effect. I remember her saying that she now has to buy lye in 50lb bags. I'm not sure if the small "pure lye" products are suitable for soaps, as they may contain other ingredients. I'd check into that too. An unaccounted for filler or chemical could make for big trouble during soap production.

Just to be clear, you ARE planning to attempt SOAP making, correct? I'd hate to be part of a meth lab or murder cover-up. Well, I wouldn't HATE it, but I'd want a say in the process.

Hope this helps and good luck.

I thought that too, and went and looked. They do carry a crystal drain opener that lists itself as 100% sodium hydroxide (lye) but when I asked around one of the older guys there told me he was pretty sure it also contained aluminum so I figured I'd wait and do some research on it first.

I found an online source (bitter creek candle company) but I have to fax in a waiver sheet saying basically "Yeah I know this is some nasty stuff and I promise not to drink it, bathe my dog in it or serve it to my friends and tell them it's kosher salt" before they'll ship it to me.

Edit: and lol @ Matt... yeah, I don't think I'd want anything to do with meth, I'm more a "slow down" kinda guy instead of a "speed up" guy. And when I want to slow down I just pour myself three fingers of MacAllan, turn some blues on and sink back in my chair.

It's a crying shame when the honest people can't buy this stuff but you *know* it doesn't slow down the crackheads one bit.

-- Gary F.

Hey Gary,
I played around with soap making a bit, and used Red Devil Lye. I understand that it has been pulled from many shelves, probably due to the meth biz as noted. One way to see if what you're getting is indeed 100% Sodium Hydroxide is to check the MSDS sheet. I found a MSDS for Roebic Crystal Drain Opener, and it only lists sodium hydroxide, so it should work fine.
Here's a link: http://www.roebic.com/pdf/hdcryMSDS.pdf
In your earlier post you noted potassium hydroxide as an ingredient in one of the drain openers. I think that's actually used to make soft soap, or liquid soap. I've often wondered if it could be used, along with NaOH, to make a semi-soft soap. Maybe something along the lines of the creams we use. You got me interested again. :)
Parry

Thanks, I had some other people suggest roebic too, so I went and found it at Lowes. I got a couple of 2 lb containers to experiment with. For the record, the one that I found at Home Depot was "Zep" brand, that was the one the guy warned me about and said he thought it had aluminum shavings in it. No idea if it's true or not, but so many people recommended roebic I just decided to stop worrying about it and go with the flow.

Now I just need to find coconut oil in small quantities, and maybe some glycerin, stearic acid and some EO's or FO's to play with :) I think I might just make a few small batches unscented and then remelt it and scent it with different scents when I get the process down. If nothing else, I can at least use it as shop soap for when I'm getting greasy in the garage heh.

-- Gary F.

Red devil used to be the best option for basic soap making. Here's a fail proof and cheap alternative to trying to find lye commercially:

HOW TO MAKE LYE

IT's much more authentic also.

Do this at your own risk. Lye is caustic.

If you are looking for EO's, check out the Bulk Barn. I don't know if you guys have it in the states, but it's everywhere in Canada and I picked up a dozen or so EO's when I was on a soap kick last year. If you have trouble sourceing them, I can see if they have what you are looking for and ship it out. The EO's are expensive, generally between $5-20/oz, but they are sold in 1 oz. containers, so it's not too bad.

If interested, I'm probably travelling to the USA this weekend and could ship it out to you saturday from Niagara Falls, which would probably put it in your hands by about Wed. of next week.

Matt

ya, ive got some red devil under my sink right now, it says 100% lye.

-micah

p.s. if anyone ever uses stuff like this for drain clearing and doesnt succeed, please be nice enough to tell the plumber working on it about the junk you put in the drain. draino and all that stuff does harsh things to yer hands, and whatever else it splashes on, lol.

p.p.s. and most of them(chemical drain openers) wont do jack anyway, i think theyre just boobytraps for us plumbers.....