Best price for Lye

[xyxoxy]

I posted this on another forum... sorry for those who have already seen it.

I need to order more lye soon so I'm trying to find the best deal including shipping.

I have tried to find a local chemical company to see if I can buy a bulk container but have had no luck. If anyone knows of one in the Baltimore/DC or southern PA area please let me know. Or if you know of an online supplier located closer to me (so the shipping costs would be less) I'd appreciate that too.

I have ordered from The Lye Guy in the past and was happy with the product and the service as well as the price. But the packaging is not as air tight as I'd like and seems to absorb a bit of moisture over time.

I looked at essential Depot and for a 32# order including shipping the cost comes out to $2.40/#. This is a little better than The Lye Guy and they also seem to have better packaging. This is probably ok but I think I can do better.

 

[IanT]

I posted this on another forum... sorry for those who have already seen it.

I need to order more lye soon so I'm trying to find the best deal including shipping.

I have tried to find a local chemical company to see if I can buy a bulk container but have had no luck. If anyone knows of one in the Baltimore/DC or southern PA area please let me know. Or if you know of an online supplier located closer to me (so the shipping costs would be less) I'd appreciate that too.

I have ordered from The Lye Guy in the past and was happy with the product and the service as well as the price. But the packaging is not as air tight as I'd like and seems to absorb a bit of moisture over time.

I looked at essential Depot and for a 32# order including shipping the cost comes out to $2.40/#. This is a little better than The Lye Guy and they also seem to have better packaging. This is probably ok but I think I can do better.

see if you can find a local yahoo group or other groups of people who make biodiesel, thats how I found my source and it took aaaaaaaaaaaaaaages... but the benefit, I get it delivered to me (or Home Depot parking lot meet-up), no delivery charge, and its $1.16/#

50# bag

 

[theBrewMeister]

So do the guys makin biodeisel use lye? Or is it some sort of byproduct? Why so cheap thru them?

 

[IanT]

So do the guys makin biodeisel use lye? Or is it some sort of byproduct? Why so cheap thru them?

Its used in the process of making biodiesel ... yup...Not a biproduct but an ingredient, I believe it is mixed with methanol and added to the oils... not sure of the process, but there are loads of resources on line ... Ive always wanted to make it.. just dont have the space. but they use ALOT of lye in the process of producing it.. they also get alot of glycerin from the process as a bi-product.. it will contain a lot of lye still and other nasties, but these can all be purified out of it to make it useable.

I think its so cheap just cause I was buying a 50# bag of it... so bulk=better and the guy lives right down the road from me so he delivers it too good stuff...

He showed me his whole truck-bio set up too.. he converted a Ford truck to run off bio... kinda cool... especially when he started saying how much gas he has saved. he can make bio for about $1 a gallon... better than $3 !!!

 

[theBrewMeister]

pretty cool. I wouldnt mind paying $1 again! Next you gotta find out where he's getting it. Im sure if he's selling it to you that cheap you may be able to buy direct and get it cheaper!

 

[xyxoxy]

I know we had a member on here for a while who made biodiesel and then made soap from the glycerin byproduct.

I've tried reaching out to local pool supplies and I just found a local biodiesel co-op. They do not make their own biodiesel but rather buy in bulk and share the cost. But I'm sure there are some enthusiasts among them who may know the answer. There is also a biodiesel company on the Eastern shore I just found and emailed to see if they might resell to me.

We'll see what happens.

Still... If anyone knows of a possible supplier in the area please let me know. I would travel up into lower PA or down into Northern VA for the right price.

 

[IanT]

I know we had a member on here for a while who made biodiesel and then made soap from the glycerin byproduct.

I've tried reaching out to local pool supplies and I just found a local biodiesel co-op. They do not make their own biodiesel but rather buy in bulk and share the cost. But I'm sure there are some enthusiasts among them who may know the answer. There is also a biodiesel company on the Eastern shore I just found and emailed to see if they might resell to me.

We'll see what happens.

Still... If anyone knows of a possible supplier in the area please let me know. I would travel up into lower PA or down into Northern VA for the right price.

yeah i think that was the "brown soap co" guy... tried a few of the soaps and they were def nice.... it was weird though they were pliable almost like jello! lol

 

[Zenobiah]

:roll: In my area there should be bio-diesel manufacturers (this IS a hippie state after all!) but I can't seem to find any.

I have a feeling it would be easier to find the closest drug-making operation than finding the closest bio-diesel manufacturer. *Grumble, grumble*

 

[IanT]

:roll: In my area there should be bio-diesel manufacturers (this IS a hippie state after all!) but I can't seem to find any.

I have a feeling it would be easier to find the closest drug-making operation than finding the closest bio-diesel manufacturer. *Grumble, grumble*

yeah its always easier to find the blackmarket as opposed to legit stuff... kinda messed up how society is in that respect.. lol.

I guarantee there are bio producers around, theyre just hard to find cause they mostly do it for personal uses... check with farms... a lot of farms are converting to it now for all their farm equipment!

Thats how I found this guy, he makes it for his buddies farm equipment

 

[loveit_latherit]

Just went to the Lye Guy's site because what you found was the best I've seen. My problem is with large orders, you find great prices but the shipping kills ya! So don't know how long he's been running this but buy 5 get 1 free. If there is no limit and I was to order 18 - my cost with shipping would be 2.20 plus it will get here quick since he's in NY
I'm thinking of placing an order...Oh I do like that they will come in small containers - easy to manage rather than a bulk container.

 

[theBrewMeister]

my ace hardware stopped selling lye for drains. **** the meth heads!

 

[Sibi]

I posted this on another forum... sorry for those who have already seen it.

I need to order more lye soon so I'm trying to find the best deal including shipping.

I have tried to find a local chemical company to see if I can buy a bulk container but have had no luck. If anyone knows of one in the Baltimore/DC or southern PA area please let me know. Or if you know of an online supplier located closer to me (so the shipping costs would be less) I'd appreciate that too.

I have ordered from The Lye Guy in the past and was happy with the product and the service as well as the price. But the packaging is not as air tight as I'd like and seems to absorb a bit of moisture over time.

I looked at essential Depot and for a 32# order including shipping the cost comes out to $2.40/#. This is a little better than The Lye Guy and they also seem to have better packaging. This is probably ok but I think I can do better.

How about the Northern Virginia area? I know that Deda knows of a place in, I believe it's Warrenton, VA.

 

[xyxoxy]

Thank you Sibi... Deda has already contacted me by PM with that info so that is an option. I have a few more local chemical companies to try but so far either they do not sell lye, or they do not sell to individuals, or they require a minimum order which would be about 5 years supply for me.
One lady wanted to sell me a 55 gallon drum

ETA: When I find the best option I will post it here in case it benefits others.

 

[chris21908]

i saw that essential depot have their own ebay store which sells 4lbs of lye for around $17 on ebay. this is the cheapest i have seen.

 

[kommon_sense]

my ace hardware stopped selling lye for drains. **** the meth heads!

That sucks.... Fortunately my local ace hardware still sells it, but they don't have more than 3-4 bottles on the shelf at a time. I think last time I paid $3.99 for 16oz.

 

[Deda]

Crop Production Services, or AgChem. Most locations sell caustic soda. You'll need to supply them with your business license and your state sales tax reseller number.

They sell 50# bags for around $60. You'll want to make sure that you can legally store that much lye in your home, many locales won't.

 

[Bigmoose]

[/quote]You'll want to make sure that you can legally store that much lye in your home, many locales won't.

Hey Deda, What is the proper way for one to check?

Bruce

 

[Bigmoose]

Well that did not turn out quite right but the question still stands.

Bruce

 

[IanT]

Well that did not turn out quite right but the question still stands.

Bruce

good question...yeaaaaah I dont even know where to check and now that I think of it im afraid to lol... tooo late

 

[xyxoxy]

I'm a strong believer in "If you don't ask... they can't tell you NO!" :wink:

I also wanted to follow up and say that I did find a supplier. I started with CPS (thanks Deda) but none of my local CPS stores even carried it. I called all the way to Delaware. One of the CPS stores put me in touch with the store in VA who put me in touch with their supplier back here in Baltimore... who has a $400 minimum order. Finally THEY put me in touch with Unibar.

Not exactly local but just about an hour North of me in Middletown, PA. Very friendly company. I had to fax some info to set up an account but they did not make it difficult. Also allowed me to pick up from their warehouse even though they mostly only ship orders. This way I get their best price.

Tomorrow I'm driving up and picking up a 50# bag for $51.75 !!!
So that works out to $1.03 per pound plus my gas to get there.

Persistence pays off kids!