# Lye Burn in Mouth... yup, seriously



## Crocoturtle (Jan 24, 2013)

I will tell the whole story so maybe I don't sound like an idiot. 

I ordered 5 bottles of lye from a popular supplier. It arrived in a priority mail box with the bottles wrapped in plastic bags, 2 bottles in each bag. I opened it took out one bottle and put the box on a top shelf, where I thought it would be safe. Used up that bottle and took the box down and got another out. Used that one up and went to get the box down. As I pulled the box down one of the brand new unopened bottles fell out of the box and the factory lid flew off. Physically I don't even understand how it could have come off like that midair. The lye beads splashed all over my face and upper body. In complete shock and fight or flight I ran and poured vinegar on my face and chest as I was taught in the first soapmaking class I ever took. Fortunately, I didn't get burned anywhere except the very edges of the inside of my lips.
Point of telling this story is two-fold. One, always check the lids of your lye bottles when they arrive in the mail and probably don't store your lye above eye level. 
Two, can anyone tell me how long it will take for a lye burn on your mucous membrane to heal? It has been over 48 hours and it still is painful to eat or drink anything. 
Go ahead and tell me if you think I'm a moron, I know this is the internet and people like to do that.


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## paillo (Jan 24, 2013)

aww, how terrifying!!! have you tried fresh aloe gel? i swear by it as a heal-all for lye burns. glad you're ok, and you are NOT a moron. i put all my soap stuff wherever i can find room, and some of it is on a top shelf that i can barely, barely reach. for a get-well present, wishing you a real soap space -- abracadabra!


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## lizflowers42 (Jan 24, 2013)

Ouch! I would hold an ice cube to it for a while to numb the pain! What about treating it like a canker sore? http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=41080&catid=183114&aid=338666&aparam=goobase_filler this stuff helps for canker and cold sores.


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## Genny (Jan 24, 2013)

Yikes!! That could have been seriously worse.  
Never ever put vinegar on a lye burn, it makes it much worse.  

Mouth sores can heal pretty quickly (a week or so) as long as you don't irritate them further.  I had a pretty painful nipple lye burn once & it was very painful for days


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## melstan775 (Jan 24, 2013)

Genny said:


> Yikes!! That could have been seriously worse.
> Never ever put vinegar on a lye burn, it makes it much worse.
> 
> Mouth sores can heal pretty quickly (a week or so) as long as you don't irritate them further.  I had a pretty painful nipple lye burn once & it was very painful for days



While I am sorry to hear lye burns happened to both the OP and Genny, I also am curious how Genny got a lye burn on her nipple?


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## Crocoturtle (Jan 24, 2013)

Genny said:


> Yikes!! That could have been seriously worse.
> Never ever put vinegar on a lye burn, it makes it much worse.
> 
> Mouth sores can heal pretty quickly (a week or so) as long as you don't irritate them further.  I had a pretty painful nipple lye burn once & it was very painful for days




I see a lot of the debate of water vs vinegar for lye burns, some say half and half. From this experience I say I only got irritation from the lye in places where I started to sweat before I got the vinegar on. I know that the vinegar/lye reaction can be hotter but the resulting reaction is not caustic so it seems like damned if you do damned if you don't. (?)


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## Maythorn (Jan 24, 2013)

Oh how awful!  It sounds like the factory didn't screw the lid tightly enough and should have.  I'm so glad none went in your eyes or up your nose.  I think you're taking good care of it and I hope it's just a minor burn that goes away iin a couple of days since it's already been 48 hrs or so.  Maybe the aloe would be soothing and is sure worth a try.


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## Sammi_552 (Jan 24, 2013)

Ouch! Hope you heal up soon. That would have freaked me out. Sorry!


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## AngelMomma (Jan 24, 2013)

That is so scary!!!  I have liquid aloe in my fridge so I would go for that if I had a lye burn.  I would just dab it on with a cotton ball as often as I could.   I am about to break into my big bag of lye this evening and I am nervous as can be.  I might even wait until my hubby gets home.  I can be a Big chicken!


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## Lion Of Judah (Jan 24, 2013)

hope you heal soon Crocoturtle , there is something else to be learned here : never keep lye above your head level . just as it got a little bit on your lip it could have gotten in a nostril , eye  or deeper in the mouth. accident can and do happen ,just got to minimize the severity .

TGC


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## jeremmy (Jan 24, 2013)

So glad you are ok! And that it didnt get in your eyes...


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## CaliChan (Jan 24, 2013)

i got a lye burn on my hand and i rubbed it with Coconut oil every couple hours. It was gone in 3-5 days
I used coconut oil because i already had it on hand, Its very soothing and its an antibacterial. Hope you feel better soon!!


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## Crocoturtle (Jan 24, 2013)

Thanks for the support everyone! When I contacted the manufacturer their reaction was just "it's a dangerous chemical, you should be more careful" and "we have several techs who insure that the caps are on before shipping." No accountability for the lid not being on and they only asked me if I was out of lye, no offer to replace what I lost.


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## CaliChan (Jan 24, 2013)

Crocoturtle said:


> Thanks for the support everyone! When I contacted the manufacturer their reaction was just "it's a dangerous chemical, you should be more careful" and "we have several techs who insure that the caps are on before shipping." No accountability for the lid not being on and they only asked me if I was out of lye, no offer to replace what I lost.



I would contact the manager and give him an earful. You could have seriously been hurt.


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## Genny (Jan 24, 2013)

melstan775 said:


> While I am sorry to hear lye burns happened to both the OP and Genny, I also am curious how Genny got a lye burn on her nipple?



It's nothing kinky if that's what you're thinking 

I bumped the lye solution against the counter on accident and it splashed out and landed on my shirt.  I was wearing nursing pads, so it soaked up the lye, which was obviously on my nipple.  I didn't feel it burning right away, so I started cleaning up the area on the counter & floor where it had splashed.  After about a minute, I could feel the burning.


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## Genny (Jan 24, 2013)

CaliChan said:


> I would contact the manager and give him an earful. You could have seriously been hurt.



I would, too.  Even if they don't offer to send you more lye, I'd think they'd want to know so they can look into why it happened.


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## melstan775 (Jan 25, 2013)

Genny said:


> It's nothing kinky if that's what you're thinking
> 
> I bumped the lye solution against the counter on accident and it splashed out and landed on my shirt.  I was wearing nursing pads, so it soaked up the lye, which was obviously on my nipple.  I didn't feel it burning right away, so I started cleaning up the area on the counter & floor where it had splashed.  After about a minute, I could feel the burning.



I wasn't thinking kinky, lol. Am now though... jeez... j/k.  I feel bad for you though. From what I understand, nursing pads never absorb anything from the inside, but from this story, they work to absorb from the outside?? That is not cool.  Ouchies for you!


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## tkine (Jan 25, 2013)

Crocoturtle said:


> Thanks for the support everyone! When I contacted the manufacturer their reaction was just "it's a dangerous chemical, you should be more careful" and "we have several techs who insure that the caps are on before shipping." No accountability for the lid not being on and they only asked me if I was out of lye, no offer to replace what I lost.



I know it was painful & inconvenient with the lye episode.  I will not be storing my lye in any place it could spill down on someone because of your post!  But container lids could loosen in transit.  I know I always check bleach bottles when I buy it, to make sure the lid doesn't come off on the way home from the store.  We all are somewhat culpable on how we store known dangerous chemicals, & our precautions we take prior to storing them, for our own loved-one's safety.

Thank you for sharing.  I'm off to check the lid to my lye bucket!


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## judymoody (Jan 25, 2013)

Ouch, I'm glad it wasn't more serious!

My local poison control recommends flushing with cold running water for up to 20 minutes or until affected surface no longer has that slippery feel.

Your supplier's response is unacceptable.  I'd not do business with them again.


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## lsg (Jan 25, 2013)

I do store my lye on the top shelf of my pantry, out of the reach of my three-year-old grandson.  I always store an opened jar in a plastic bag and tie it.  I never thought about a lid coming off an unopened jar.  With young children in the house, you either have to store dangerous chemicals out of reach or in a locked storage area.


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## Crocoturtle (Jan 25, 2013)

lsg said:


> I do store my lye on the top shelf of my pantry, out of the reach of my three-year-old grandson.  I always store an opened jar in a plastic bag and tie it.  I never thought about a lid coming off an unopened jar.  With young children in the house, you either have to store dangerous chemicals out of reach or in a locked storage area.


 
Because of this incident my lye is now moved from a top shelf in a closet to the bottom shelf of a locked cabinet in the kitchen and the kitchen has a baby gate. 

And for anyone who was concerned my lips are feeling better today and are really only sore in the corners. I don't think it will leave any permenant scars. 

I jumped right back on to the soap train and have made 2, 4 pound batches since. I'm so thankful that nothing was worse and that I wear glasses. Believe me that as I was washing I worried that I would be the lady without a face.


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## Marilyna (Jan 26, 2013)

So glad you weren't hurt more seriously.  It's good to be reminded every now and then how cautious we need to be.


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## Crocoturtle (Jan 31, 2013)

Update. I'm completely healed!
As much as I wish I had values and I said that I wouldn't use that supplier again. I'm just so cheap. Apparently, my pocket is more important than... my face. So I got another box from the same people. Completely different everything. The shipment arrived in days instead of a week. The box was different. It came by FedEx rather than USPS. The bottles were stacked neatly in a correct sized box rather than thrown into a priority mail shipper. AND there was a card in it that said who packaged the box. I did not give my name when I called to complain and I actually even ordered under a different name this time so I would say that the company took note of the problem and did something about it. Good to know because they were kind of dismissive on the phone.


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## Cjchrissy (May 4, 2015)

I would try rubbing coconut cream on it, ouch. Reminds me of when I got oven cleaner in my eye, I phoned the hospital and said don't worry about it, five minutes later they called back and made me come in, flushed my eye for three hours...the eyeball is sort of eaten away now.


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## shunt2011 (May 4, 2015)

Cjchrissy said:


> I would try rubbing coconut cream on it, ouch. Reminds me of when I got oven cleaner in my eye, I phoned the hospital and said don't worry about it, five minutes later they called back and made me come in, flushed my eye for three hours...the eyeball is sort of eaten away now.


 
This post is 2 years old.  I'm sure the OP has taken care of the problem.


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## boyago (May 4, 2015)

Genny said:


> I had a pretty painful nipple lye burn once & it was very painful for days


!!!!
I think when they say to always wear gloves and eye protection while soaping the whole shirt and pants thing is kind of assumed.  They should be clearer.


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## Cjchrissy (May 4, 2015)

Ah I didn't check the date, new to the forum, I would of thought it was new as others had posted...me bad.


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## Stacyspy (May 5, 2015)

Since this post has been revived...
I got a lovely lye burn on my lips today...I look like I've had collagen injections...lol...
As I was mixing a test batch for new color experiments, there was a power surge due to a storm that's brewing.... my SB quit working, and as I reached over to check the plug, it came back on and splashed up. Thank goodness, I had all my gear on, and it only got my lips. Had I not been wearing my goggles, I wouldn't be writing this....There were several splatters on my goggles, gloves and shirt. I'm just very glad it wasn't worse!


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## zolveria (May 5, 2015)

omg GOD BLESS YOU who was the supplier ? OMG ... I will double check my stuff from now on when i get them.
I shop at Lye Guy since its close to my home.


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## hozhed (May 8, 2015)

Crocoturtle said:


> I will tell the whole story so maybe I don't sound like an idiot.
> 
> I ordered 5 bottles of lye from a popular supplier. It arrived in a priority mail box with the bottles wrapped in plastic bags, 2 bottles in each bag. I opened it took out one bottle and put the box on a top shelf, where I thought it would be safe. Used up that bottle and took the box down and got another out. Used that one up and went to get the box down. As I pulled the box down one of the brand new unopened bottles fell out of the box and the factory lid flew off. Physically I don't even understand how it could have come off like that midair. The lye beads splashed all over my face and upper body. In complete shock and fight or flight I ran and poured vinegar on my face and chest as I was taught in the first soapmaking class I ever took. Fortunately, I didn't get burned anywhere except the very edges of the inside of my lips.
> Point of telling this story is two-fold. One, always check the lids of your lye bottles when they arrive in the mail and probably don't store your lye above eye level.
> ...


 

We use High powered NAOH here where I work by the train car load. There is no need for vinegar. Immediately flush your whole face, and whatever else you get lye beads on with all the water you can. By the time the beads and water mix to create a solution that will do any harm it will be gone. Jump in the shower and flood yourself from head to toe, taking your clothes off as you go. We have showers here near anyplace you can come in contact with that stuff for just that purpose. The more water the better. Glad you didn't get hurt too badly.


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