The thought of flushing your loved ones’ bodies may bring spine shivers to you, but it is going to be a reality in few years down the line. Then, funeral with lye will be considered a safer and greener return to dust than burial or cremation. At least, that is what the funeral industry of America hints at after the arrival of alkaline hydrolysis cylinders. Read the rest of this entry »

Lye or Sodium Hydroxide, though toxic, has a variety of uses in the food processing industry.  Lye is a great preservative which is used in curing, processing and making of foods such as lutefisk, green olives, hominy, lye rolls, century eggs, pretzels, Chinese dumplings (also called Zongzi) and noodles. In Asia, lye solution is used to keep food from turning rancid. However, processing foods with lye can be a dangerous thing as lye is a highly reactive chemical that has to be handled with care. Read the rest of this entry »

As we all know, lye, owing to its alkaline properties, acts vigorously on all sorts of dirt and dust and cleans extremely well on even rough surfaces. Sodium Hydroxide or lye can be used in the cleaning of drains, ovens, cast iron cookware and things as rusty as iron relics. This article will detail on the ways to use lye to clean iron relics or worn-out iron items. Read the rest of this entry »

Lye is a caustic chemical that requires expert handling. Of course, thousands of people make soaps without mishaps. But there are a few who stumble and meet with several troubles in the process of soap making. If you do not want to be one among the few, read this article to know how to guard yourself during lye soap making. If you can get past these warnings, you are destined to make soap with lye. Read the rest of this entry »

Lye is a key ingrediant in soap making. To make soap, you mix water and lye with a fat or oil, and the chemical reaction turns the oil into soap. The lye turns the oil into soap, in a process called saponification. First you’re going to need a recipe, and materials. I enjoy this one.

8 ounces of soybean oil

5 ounces of water

4 ounces of olive oil

4 ounces of coconut oil

2 ounces of lye

If you want to have a soap mold, get something to mold it with, like some PCP pipe, and then some Vaseline, as a lubricant. Also, some household materials such as rubber bands, and plastic wrap. Also, some sort of insulating material is needed.

Before we get started, make sure you have goggles, gloves, and maybe a smock. Lye can be very harmful to your eyes and skin, so be very careful not to get it anywhere on your body. Also, you’ll need a thermometer to take the temperature of the water at times.

First, measure out the lye and water in separate containers. now pour very very slowly, the lye into the water. Do NOT pour the water into the lye. As you pour, stir the container, to ensure that the lye dissolves uniformly. Be careful not to breathe the fumes, and the heat. After you pour, insert the thermometer into the pot. THIS STUFF SHOULD BE HOT! It should be anywhere from 150-200 degrees Fahrenheit right now, but it should cool to around 120 degrees, or lower.

If you want to make a mold, take your mold, and apply a firm layer of vaseline, to keep in slippery for the lye. Wrap platic wrap around any open holes in the mold.

Add you oils to another container, such as a pot. Put the pot on a stove, and heat it to on a low level, until everything is melted together. Add another thermometer to this pot.

Ok, you need to get both your lye water, and your oils at 110 degrees. You can’t actually heat lye on the stove, or the microwave. You need to heat the lye in another pot of water. Then, pour the oils into the lye. Gently stir it for 15-60 minutes. What you’re looking for is something called a trace. That is When you pour a little bit of the solution back into the pot, the drops will sit on top of the mixture for a while. Don’t worry if you don’t see it in 60 minutes, just continue on.

Fill the molds to a little less than what you want, to compensate for the material to expand. Put some ceramic wrap, or maybe some cardboard on top of the mold. Heavily insulate the molds, using your insulating material. Now, wait for 48 hours, as the soap cures itself. You now have bars of soap in the shape of the mold! Cut up the soap into manageable bars. Next, we’re going to hand mill the soap.

Get out a grater, and grate the soap into little chunks, and bag the soap. Also, start to simmer a pot of water. Add about 2 ounces of distilled water to the bag, and double bag the soap to ensure no spills. Put the soap into the simmering water, and wait an hour.

Now’s the time to use any kinds of perfumes, or additives that you want into the soap. Mead the soap until it’s all the spread throughout. Now freeze them overnight. Congradulations! You now have your soap

Okay, so you know all about lye soap, its uses, benefits and its cures. You know that it acts as a good cleanser too. You can use it for any sort of cleaning and even as a laundry detergent. So, what is the big deal about this article, you think? Let us explain. Lye soap is not the kind of soap you get can everywhere. It is different, unique and has to be specially made if it ought to be 100% natural and pure. When such a specially made soap is in your hands, how do you use it? Only for bathing and cleaning? That would be minimal and ineffective use of a lye soap. Even while bathing, if you do not know how to use it as cure, there is no point in you preferring lye. You might as well use any other soap. How should you use lye soap everyday, in an effective manner? This article is an answer. Read the rest of this entry »

NaOH versus KOH. Caustic. In fact, too (two) caustic chemicals. Though both can be interchangeably used in a variety of situations, there are things which differentiate Sodium Hydroxide from Potassium Hydroxide. Apart from differences in chemical composition, there are a few similarities and differences in properties and usage too. NaOH or Sodium Hydroxide is used widely in industrial applications on account of its cheap availability, whereas Potassium Hydroxide finds more usage in domestic and other handcrafted applications. This article will draw a comparison chart on both the chemicals in terms of usage, properties and caustic ratio. Read the rest of this entry »

What is it to be poisoned with lye? TERRIBLE. It can mean anything from burnt skin, corroded lungs to death. Remember, for all its uses, lye is a poison that should not be inhaled, touched or ingested into the body. You may meet with terrible consequences if you happen to be victims of lye poisoning. This is why it is advised that you have to be careful and wear protective gear while handling lye. This article will explain the symptoms and treatments that follow a lye poisoning and what emergency care needs to be taken immediately after such a terrible accident. Read the rest of this entry »

Lye soap can be transparent too. To achieve that you need to reduce the lye to about 1% and add a lot of essential oils to the mixture. Since transparent soap means making a glycerin-rich soap, you need to include glycerin, alcohol and sugar solution in your recipe. This article will provide a step-by-step guide on how to make transparent lye soap with fewer and effective soapmaking supplies. Read the rest of this entry »

Lye should be a surprise for many reading this blog. Indeed, not many would have surmised that lye or sodium hydroxide or caustic soda would have a wide range of industrial and domestic uses. And not many would believe (without proof) that lye can be used in some unknown ways too. Apart from the usual stirring and mixing of soapmaking or the common cleaning and wiping of drains/floors, lye can be used in new ways to curb unwanted stuff. No, we are not discussing funerals here. Lye, as we already know, is used in the disposal of corpses and animal carcasses. But this is different. This article elaborately discusses on three less popular uses of lye. Read the rest of this entry »