I just bought 10 pounds of lye

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

BetterSense

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2011
Messages
1,025
Reaction score
59
Location
Richardson
I decided I needed lye so I bought 10lb of food grade lye for $35 shipped. I haven't been able to buy it on shelves for a few years; I think it's one of those things they use to make meth or something.

Does anyone use lye for cleaning? How do you mix it up? What else is it good for?
 
Pretzels!

Once the pretzels are rolled and tied, you use a stainless steel lifter (or tongs) to do a 3 second dip into the caustic lye solution, let drain for a few minutes, salt and bake. Outside of the pretzel will come out glossy and perfect.
 
10 lbs of lye will last you your entire life as well as the lives of your children and grandchildren.

If I were you, I would make 100,000 pretzels with it.
 
Getting rid of bodies.

Now I want to get rid of some bodies this weekend...

try searching ebay for "sodium hydroxide". theres tons of it around. its used for biodiesil and soap making.
 
Aren't Lye and Oxyclean the two ingredients in PBW? I mainly use Oxyclean for cleaning because I find PBW to be a bit expensive, but if you toss a bit of lye in there with it you could really kick it up a notch.
 
I used lye to dissolve a dead mouse stuck in a carboy. There's a thread here on it.
 
Aren't Lye and Oxyclean the two ingredients in PBW? I mainly use Oxyclean for cleaning because I find PBW to be a bit expensive, but if you toss a bit of lye in there with it you could really kick it up a notch.

No, lye is NaOH, aka caustic soda. (PBW and oxiclean have sodium carbonate among other things) Caustic soda is what big breweries use to clean with and the reason they clean with it is because it will eat through organic material be that your leftover krausen, dead body, or the flesh on your arm.

So, do be careful. When I mix 1M NaOH solutions in the lab, they get pretty hot....glasses, gloves, apron, the whole bit. If you have kids or pets, make sure they are secure before you mess with it.
 
No, lye is NaOH, aka caustic soda. (PBW and oxiclean have sodium carbonate among other things) Caustic soda is what big breweries use to clean with and the reason they clean with it is because it will eat through organic material be that your leftover krausen, dead body, or the flesh on your arm.

So, do be careful. When I mix 1M NaOH solutions in the lab, they get pretty hot....glasses, gloves, apron, the whole bit. If you have kids or pets, make sure they are secure before you mess with it.

+1

I handle large quantities of the stuff on a daily basis. One drop of a 50% solution will burn a quarter-sized hole through your skin in a very short time. Safety precautions should be taken to avoid contact with skin, eyes or mucous membranes. Avoid breathing the dust or mist.
 
Back
Top