Lifelace Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Hi guys, I have a quick question. I'm pretty clueless about CP soap and all that is involved so I hope this isn't a silly question. I have had no luck finding lye locally although I admit I haven't looked very hard. Online I can find it for around 1-2$ a pound so maybe 50$ for 50lbs plus the hazmat and shipping fees etc...I'm in Canada BTW. Now my Dh decided to call a local farmer's pesticide etc...place and asked them if they had lye and they said yes for 7$ for 75 lbs. Now that just doesn't sound right, way too cheap right? If it is indeed Sodium Hydroxide, do I need a special <<grade>> or something or is sodium hydroxide the same no matter where you get it? I just want to be sure what I would be using is safe.....any help would be great!Melany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 You don't need any particular grade but you do need to make sure there is nothing in there but lye. I.e., no aluminum chips or whatnot. You want something around the area of 99% lye.Are you sure they hadn't given him the price for LIME? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katshe Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 For making bar soap i get my lye in the drain cleaner section of ace or aco hardware store it says 100% lye on the container i paid a couple dollars for I think 10 oz.Before you plundge into making soap I would suggest millers soap site http://www.millersoap.com/There is alot of great info there for beginners...I strongly suggest reading all you can before you start making soap.Most importantly is safety when using lye! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelenW Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Hi Melany: I am not sure where in Canada you are, but I am in Ontario and I purchase my lye at the local Home Hardware store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 It does sound too cheap. I've heard of people paying as low as $35 for a 50 lb bag but that is still way more than what you were quoted. If you do find someone selling pure lye, you can just go for the technical grade, it will suffice for making soap and is less expensive than the food grade or laboratory grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifelace Posted July 25, 2007 Author Share Posted July 25, 2007 Thanks guys, yeah it just didn't seem right to me, the price. The guy could just have been confused about what DH was asking. I did check out the Miller site quite a while back and haven't found any lye in our hardware stores, we don't have the big name stores here. Ahhh the joys of living in a small town! Having to pay shipping on everything is awful...but what can ya do! I think I'll have DH call a few more places and ask (I'm shy that way) and if I don't have any luck I'll just order online. I don't know though, I just checked again and with the hazmat, shipping and tax it comes to 150$ for 50lbs lye at Scentsanctuary. UGH........Oh well.....Anyway I was mostly wondering about the lye itself and if there were different grades or kinds you could get...looks like it's all pretty much the same as long as it's not mixed with other stuff....Melany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doris Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I've lived in a few small towns in Canada, and we always had to make occasional shopping trips to "civilization" to pick up the stuff we couldn't get locally. If you do that, you could look then. Ask at your local hardware store if they could order it in for you. It's a pity you haven't got a Home Hardware, they all seem to carry it. If you have a local feed store, you could ask there as well, apparently dairy farmers use it for cleaning.Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Another name for it is caustic soda. I'd have him ask for 100% sodium hydroxide or caustic soda. I found asking for just lye around here, I was referred to drain cleaner products which usually have other stuff in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnhorsemom Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Just my 2 cents here, but I would think if you are just getting into soaping and are not even sure you will like it 50 pounds of lye is an awful lot! I know I have purchased lye from BCN in smaller amounts maybe you could check and see if they ship to Canada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 I paid a little less than $25 per 50 lb bag recently, but I have to buy 4-5 bags at a time to get that price because I am picking it up rather than having it shipped. This is directly from a mfr. in the city here. hth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 I paid a little less than $25 per 50 lb bag recently, but I have to buy 4-5 bags at a time to get that price because I am picking it up rather than having it shipped. This is directly from a mfr. in the city here. hth<insert clearing throat noises> I know you aren't far from Rockin, so ummm ... next time you go to ordering, let us know. We could use a bag of that lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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