# Soap Making Problem



## Lerxt (Feb 22, 2005)

I'm sure you all have covered this but I can't find it when I search the site.

Is there a product on the market now that Red Devil is gone that is 100% NaOH? Or even KOH? Or am I going to have to order my lye online from some chemical distributor?


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

I buy Rooto brand lye now. I had to get my local hardware store to order it. It is 100% lye just like the Red Devil brand was. Check hardware stores. Anotehr brand is Roebic.


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## Fourthistles (Feb 24, 2003)

Roebic Crystal Drain Opener. Lowes carries it.


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## Lerxt (Feb 22, 2005)

Thanks for the quick response. I'll check around for it.

It's been 2 years since I last made soap (just 2 of us so a couple batches lasted that long) and I was surprised to find that Red Devil was gone. And even more surprised at the look I got when I asked about it. Darned meth makers making a poor homesteader look bad. :shrug:

edit: Argh! The nearest Lowes is 16 miles away. There's one just 4 miles from my office and on my way home. Except I'm home now. Ah well. Maybe tomorrow.


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## ruby_jane (May 15, 2007)

Lerxt said:


> I'm sure you all have covered this but I can't find it when I search the site.
> 
> Is there a product on the market now that Red Devil is gone that is 100% NaOH? Or even KOH? Or am I going to have to order my lye online from some chemical distributor?


No more Red Devil? :Bawling: The last time I made lye soap was about 2 years ago...and that would explain why Acme doesn't carry it anymore when I went lookin' for it last month


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## Lerxt (Feb 22, 2005)

I found it at Lowes. Then, on my way home, I stopped by a grocery store that was on the way back (but not near my home) and what did I find in the cleaning isle? Yep, crystal NaOH drain opener. Go figure...

Thanks again for the tip. My soap is currently curing in my living room and making my house smell great.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Red Devil 100% lye is still around. I get it at the hardware store where the commercial plumbing cleaners are. Picked some up just last week.


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## Charleen (May 12, 2002)

Wisconsin Ann said:


> Red Devil 100% lye is still around. I get it at the hardware store where the commercial plumbing cleaners are. Picked some up just last week.


Red Devil stopped making 100% lye back in July of 2005. So, if you're finding some still on store shelves, it's probably old stock. GRAB IT!


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

heh. guess it's lucky I live in an area that doesn't clean drains very often  

I'd wondered why people were so upset about Red Devil going away when I can just wander in and pick it up. Wonder if I'll get put on some "list" if I buy the entire case? 

As to where to get lye, if you can't find 100%lye at your local hardware store, they should be able to order it for you. It's just they often don't like carrying stock on shelves that can create law suits. Worth checking on, anyway. (talk to the guy who owns the store, or the manager, NOT the clerks.)


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## goatmarm (Nov 19, 2005)

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## HomesteadBaker (Feb 8, 2006)

I found a hardware store that would order 100% lye for me.... the "secondary use" is listed as soapmaking..... NOT "meth"-making!

Kitty


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## Just Me (Jun 11, 2007)

I am new here. I make soap. I have a chemical supplier down the road from me that sells sodium hydroxide (lye). He sells online too.


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## Beeman (Dec 29, 2002)

You can easily buy from a chemical supplier but usually only in large quantities. Meth makers are usually broke and can only buy or steal small quantities. Any place that carries lye will usually have it put up so you have to ask for it because of the meth theives. I went to lowes the other day and after checking the shelf and asking twice one of the employees finally told me that they no longer keep it on the shelf because of theft. He then went and got a container for me. Here in Tennesse, probably one of the last places where soap was made by almost every family, we are now the meth capital.


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