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.

In article 0SYgh.6152$hy6.3288@trnddc05, "resrfglc" wrote:
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.

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.


--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. ..
In article 0SYgh.6152$hy6.3288@trnddc05, "resrfglc"
wrote:
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.

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.

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.

Toller wrote:
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. ..
In article 0SYgh.6152$hy6.3288@trnddc05, "resrfglc"
wrote:
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.

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.

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.

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.

--

FF

wrote:
Toller wrote:
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. ..
In article 0SYgh.6152$hy6.3288@trnddc05, "resrfglc"
wrote:
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.
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.

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.

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.


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.

In article , "George E. Cawthon" wrote:
wrote:

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.


Actually, lye IS an active ingredient.

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

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

George E. Cawthon wrote:
snip
Lye acting on the aluminum creates heat and bubbles, increasing the
possibility of moving mass obstructions.

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.

Lye acting on the aluminum creates heat and bubbles ....

For what it's worth, when lye reacts with aluminum it generates
hydrogen.

Subject

Lye, AKA: Caustic or sodium hydroxide.

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

Lew

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

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
.net...
Subject

Lye, AKA: Caustic or sodium hydroxide.

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

Lew

Lew Hodgett wrote:
Subject

Lye, AKA: Caustic or sodium hydroxide.

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

Lew

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

George E. Cawthon wrote:

Lew Hodgett wrote:

Subject

Lye, AKA: Caustic or sodium hydroxide.

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

Lew


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

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."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_...#Illegal_drugs

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

"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 explain why it has been "pulled from the shelves."

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
Lew Hodgett wrote:
Subject

Lye, AKA: Caustic or sodium hydroxide.

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

Lew

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

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.

Thanks for the feedback
"Toller" wrote in message
...

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. ..
In article 0SYgh.6152$hy6.3288@trnddc05, "resrfglc"
wrote:
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.

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.

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.

resrfglc wrote:

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.


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:

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/co...lyesources.htm

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

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 in your area and "go in" on buying
a bag of lye, carefully splitting it between you. Lots of soap makers buy
their lye in bulk. Most large cities have a solvent or chemical company that
will sell lye (Sodium Hydroxide) in 35 or 50 lb. bags. You'll pay a fraction
(per pound) of what the Red Devil cost, but, you've got to be able to safely
store that much lye. Remember the cautions you go through with a 12 oz. jar
of lye, now imagine 35 lbs. of it!
b.. Buy a whole bag yourself, knowing that it needs to be stored in an
airtight container, safely away from children, pets or other unknowing
people.
c.. Check your local hardware store - Several people have written me
claiming to have found Crystal Drain Opener at their local Lowe's, Home
Depot or Wal-Mart. The label states 100% sodium hydroxide! BUT, it's best to
check the manufacturers site and check the MSDS sheets for the product. I
had one user write me and say that while the label said 100% lye, the MSDS
sheet said otherwise.
d.. Buy lye from one of the following online mail order vendors:
a..
b.. Camden-GreyBitter Creek Candle Co.-buy only 2 lbs!
c.. Texas Natural Supply
d.. Lehman's Soapmaking Supplies
e.. The Boyer Corporation
f.. Snowdrift Farm
g.. The Soap Dish
h.. ChemistryStore.com

"Nova" wrote in message
news:Eh0hh.633$Ei5.183@trndny05...
resrfglc wrote:

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.


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:

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/co...lyesources.htm

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

In article Dv%gh.696$od6.582@trnddc04, "resrfglc" wrote:
Not interested in it for WOOD, but for electrolytic'ly removing rust -

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

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.