Lye

[CAJUNLAWYER]

The drain in the bathroom sink was running a bit slow this morning so I went to the closet got the 5 pound bottle of lye, poured about a cup into the drain with a little hot water listened to that satisfying hiss and bubble and then rinsed it out. Good to go. Got me thinking just how hard it would be to buy lye if I was still living in New Orleans or some other big city. I remember the first time I bought it down here Went to the lumber yard/hardware store to gt some drain cleaners and asked where they were. I was pointed to the shelf where there was nothing but lye-no liquid plumber no draino, just a big bottle that said LYE. He said "We only sell what works". And he was right. Old school, dangerous(if you're dumb enough to lean over and peer down the drain while it is sizzling), but it works. Anyway this morning it got me to thinking about how modern and insulated we've become. Back when I was growing up, the three main cleaning/household agents were clorox, ammonia and lye-and maybe some pine sol. We didn't need windex or simple green or all these other miracle cleaning products. We were taught not to mix them (out first lesson in chemistry) and that was that.
I also remember buying sulfur, charcoal and salt petre at the drug store too But that's for another thread

 

[max]

Don't forget Lava soap to clean up afterwards.

 

[cougar14]

Don't get me started. Chlordane, Copper Green, any good paint remover, now California has listed wood dust as a carcinogen.

 

[ditrina]

Don't get me started. Chlordane, Copper Green, any good paint remover, now California has listed wood dust as a carcinogen.

Living in Florida... Not sure what I would pay for Chlordane if available...But it sure would be more than " List"

It's been gone since 1988

 

[model70hunter]

Oh for a second I thought lye was the lawyers tool when facts or wirnesses fail.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Around here all people would use real lye for is making better meth . . .

 

[6518John]

. . .Also disposing of the occasional, and inconvenient, dead body that crops up in the drug trade.

 

[loutent]

I also remember buying sulfur, charcoal and salt petre at the drug store too But that's for another thread

Ahhh yes - the memories - as a 12 year olds we could walk into any hardware store in central PA and buy a roll of dynamite fuse - nothing like the smell of creosote soaked fuse burning on summer morning to set off all the black powder we mixed up

 

[Skeet 028]

Good grief. Dynamite fuse? We bought dynamite. Was helping my mentor blow some stumps and we got the bright idea to blow us a little pond in a copse of trees. Worked..but took more'n we thought. I was really spooked by the blasting caps. Put the fuse in 'em and crimp 'em. Scared the **** out of me. Small chunks really brought fish up out in the river. And as a young 'un I'd go to the pharmacy and Doc Sterling would sell me the chemicals to make all kinds of bluing chemicals or whatever. I'd take my gunsmithing book to him and he'd sell me the stuff in the recipes..Black powder was easy.. My cousin and I made some crude nitro glycerine once. My uncle was a chemist and had a lab out in the barn. We put the little bottle in an old unused outhouse that had been put behind the barn. Got pretty warm later that day. It kinda disintegrated the outhouse about 10 minutes before he got home. When we fessed up he never even whupped us. But he sold us into bondage to a local farmer for the next three days. That farmer worked our tail ends off. And he, of course, locked the lab up. But it was my cousins fault..he was OLDER than me so it wasn't my fault. Surprised he and I are still alive. He's still a goober. I on the other hand learned my lesson...yep sure did!

 

[rburg]

Well, we tore the old house on this site down. It had hundreds of problems, most more costly than it was worth to fix. One of the bad ones involved the bathtub. It didn't like to drain. That was caused by the drain running the full length of the tub and only dropping a couple of inches. It was more of a storage pond for hair and stuff. No, lye based cleaners didn't work. We got some sodium hydroxide which is pure lye, and it worked just a little. I discovered that the time to use it wasn't when the drain was clogged, but when it was still running.

Long before, I discovered that my mag wheels needed and industrial strength cleaner. All the "Mothers" and such were just acid. So a buddy dropped off some air conditioner coil cleaner. It was in a milk type jug and you could see the ugly purple through all the warnings. Mostly that if you get any on you, you'll die and no one will discover the puddle that was you body. I got a sprayer and went to work. It cleaned the aluminum to the point where it looked like a fresh casting! It didn't eat holes in the wheels, just removed all the grit and surface ugliness.

So once, after we'd moved to the now-torndown house, the drain pulled its regular stoppage. I had the brilliant idea to use the acid. It only took about a quart. OK, I've since heard that was way too much, but bad conditions required desperate measures. I poured it in and it went down until it was out of sight. I went to the living room to sit down. Suddenly I heard a giant slurping sound. When I went to look, all looked kind of normal. So I ran some cold water in, just for fun. It went away fast. I even ran to the basement to make sure the pipes hadn't dissolved. So for the next 15 years, it was my go-to cleaner. The moral of the story is that both strong base and strong acid will dissolve hair. Pick your poison.

 

[A10]

One of our local hardware stores sells Sulfuric Acid for the same purpose Caj. Works like a charm.....

 

[Trooperdan]

Yep, at 15-16 I was buying dynamite, prima-cord and blasting caps, no questions asked! By the time I got to college I was making picric acid, combining it with potassium chlorate and using it to boost ammonium nitrate -fuel oil to blast 'duck ponds'.. charged $30 for the first 3 pounds, used old half-gallon waxed cardboard milk containers. Muck would fall for a LONG time when you set off one of those under about 5 feet of water/muck! Make a good sized nesting pond too... and the state paid the farmers to do it! Wonderful!

 

[M E Morrison]

Ahhh yes - the memories - as a 12 year olds we could walk into any hardware store in central PA and buy a roll of dynamite fuse - nothing like the smell of creosote soaked fuse burning on summer morning to set off all the black powder we mixed up

And we used to buy black powder at the local feed mill. Seems some of the old timers used to sprinkle it on the cattle feed - to get rid of worms.

 

[GatorFarmer]

You could easily get the ingredients for blackpowder at the drugstore through the 1990s.

These days you can just use Ebay. That is where I get all my chloroform. Hey....who wants to go camping...

 

[Chuck24]

Our Mr Bubble was the dishwashing soap.

 

[DWalt]

I have found that Hydrochloric Acid (HCl, Muriatic Acid) works much better at unclogging drains than Drano (which is Lye+ aluminum turnings) or any of the proprietary stuff sold in supermarkets. Can get it at Home Depot or any swimming pool supply store. Works super well for cleaning toilets also. Wal-Mart sells a diluted solution of HCl for that purpose, but it's a lot more expensive than buying a gallon or two at Home Depot or a pool supply store. The local Tru-Valu hardware store always has cans of pure lye. I don't think I have seen it in supermarkets. People who make their own soap need lye (AKA sodium hydroxide).

 

[Drm50]

I manage 60+ properties. With renters clogged drains are every
day problem, it seems. Have never had the over the counter
products work worth a hoot. Lye will do better cheaper.

 

[snowman]

And none of this stuff you fellows are talking about damages PVC?

Andy

 

[DWalt]

PVC pipe is compatible with both sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid solutions. There is not much in the way of aqueous solutions that PVC will not tolerate. Some organic solvents are not so good.

 

[Bugkiller99]

My memory of lye is some darker. Seem to be the go to "product" for the ladies to use on their men when they discovered they have been cheatin'.

Take my word for it, those warnings on the label don't begin to describe the damage that can be done by scorned woman with a bucket of lye.

To say, "That's gonna leave a mark" would be a gross understatement.