On Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:04:54 -0800, Winston
wrote:

Ed Huntress wrote:

(...)

In the US, there appears to be only one brand of over-the-counter
drain cleaner that is straight, powder NaOH (lye). It's Roebic Crystal
Drain Opener, and the main (or sole?) retail outlet is Lowe's.

However, there are soap-making-supply companies that sell lye over the
Internet, and it's much cheaper. The trouble is that small quantities
tend to eat up any savings with shipping costs.

I buy from Essential Depot:

http://www.essentialdepot.com/

They've given me very good service, although I haven't bought any
larger quantities of lye for about a year.

http://www.essentialdepot.com/servle...l-Grade/Detail

32 smackers for 10 lbs NaOH in 5 - 2 lb bottles. Free Shipping!

Is that a good deal Ed?

Yeah, that's good. $3/pound delivered is what I expect to pay.
Sometimes they offer big discounts to their e-mail list, but you might
wait for months.

Note that they're now selling 2-pound bottles for $1.99. I didn't
check shipping to your area, but you'll probably find that the
10-pound/free-shipping deal is better.

My local Lowe's does not admit to selling any kind of lye
on their website but I have not called them yet.

Go to Lowe's site and search for "Crystal drain opener." You'll see
two brands. One is Roebic, which is the one you want. Two pounds for
$11.69 in my neighborhood.

I used lots of lye to clean the 80-year-old cast-iron drains in my
house, but I've been slowly replacing them with plastic, so I don't
buy quantities these days. Mostly I use it for producing a matte
finish on homemade aluminum radio chassis (another thing I haven't
done for a few years), and as an ingredient in Ted Edward's E-clean
electrolytic cleaner/de-ruster:

http://metalworking.com/dropbox/_199...es/E-CLEAN.TXT

I love that stuff.

--
Ed Huntress



http://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/make-lye.html

Hmmm.


--Winston