Rooto Lye Users - Please Confirm

[RobinHoodFan]

Hi all

Checked my local ACE and yup they have Rooto 100% Lye drain cleaner.

I'm starting this thread as a sort of confirmation to myself. I feel kinda weird using drain cleaner for soap and I want to be sure that I'm using the right stuff and that this stuff works well for making and selling soap.

SO....will all you soap makers who use Rooto as your lye, please check in and confirm here that it works? Also any tips/tricks when working with Rooto?

Thanks! It will help ease my nerves when I start trying to make soap

 

[agriffin]

Yes, rooto from Ace Hardware is fine to use for soapmaking.

 

[judymoody]

Tips and tricks?

It's lye. Wear safety goggles, use gloves, and long sleeves, long pants, closed toe shoes.

Stir in a well ventilated area.

Pour lye into water, not the other way around. Stir it until the solution becomes clear and all lye is dissolved. Don't breathe in the fumes.

Keep it away from kids and pets, label it clearly.

Mix in stainless steel or HDPE plastic pitcher. NOT glass. NOT aluminum.

If you spill some on yourself, flush immediately with lots of cool running water. NOT vinegar.

Don't be alarmed by the tone of this post. Respect the lye and you should be fine.

 

[khermsen]

I have used a similar product purchased at a local hardware store.
Check the label for 100% lye.

 

[IrishLass]

I used to use Rooto (and also Red Devil Lye and Roebic's lye) from the hardware store before before odering online in bulk. They all worked great. As long as it says 100% sodium hydroxide on the label and nothing else, you're good to go.

IrishLass

 

[MyJadedHeart]

As long as the ingredient listed on the back is 100% sodium hydroxide, you are good to go.

 

[paillo]

yup, the granular rooto is what i use all the time. my local hardware store carries it just for me, and at a great price. when i made my first purchase of all they had in stock (half a dozen bottles ) and told them i was making soap, they were all kind of alarmed. what, drain opener in soap!!!??? after i explained that you can't make real soap without lye, and the chemical process, and brought them samples, they are carrying my soap and are one of my best customers they also carry liquid rooto, but i haven't tried that ...

 

[RobinHoodFan]

yup, the granular rooto is what i use all the time. my local hardware store carries it just for me, and at a great price. when i made my first purchase of all they had in stock (half a dozen bottles ) and told them i was making soap, they were all kind of alarmed. what, drain opener in soap!!!??? after i explained that you can't make real soap without lye, and the chemical process, and brought them samples, they are carrying my soap and are one of my best customers they also carry liquid rooto, but i haven't tried that ...

Awesome! Go you!

This is the exact type of post I was looking for..

I know as long as it says 100% lye (sodium hydroxide) it is fine...BUT I just want to know who else out there actually uses the stuff. If everyone just says "yea, it's fine to use" but no one has actually ever used it..i personally wouldnt want to use it for my first batch..just IMO

everyone talks about it but this is the first confrimation I have of someone actually using it (I hope I'm making sense).

 

[RobinHoodFan]

Tips and tricks?

It's lye. Wear safety goggles, use gloves, and long sleeves, long pants, closed toe shoes.

Stir in a well ventilated area.

Pour lye into water, not the other way around. Stir it until the solution becomes clear and all lye is dissolved. Don't breathe in the fumes.

Keep it away from kids and pets, label it clearly.

Mix in stainless steel or HDPE plastic pitcher. NOT glass. NOT aluminum.

If you spill some on yourself, flush immediately with lots of cool running water. NOT vinegar.

Don't be alarmed by the tone of this post. Respect the lye and you should be fine.

This was actually very helpful! It's like a quick safety sheet! I knew most of that except the mixing container bit. Thanks for the helpful info!

 

[SweetPretty]

I made a lye water solution and after I made them, the solution was clear. Left that to cool down and 1 hour later, a whitish layer has formed.

Any idea what happened and if this is safe to use for soap-making?

This is 100% Rooto Lye which I bought from Ace Hardware.

The link to the photo is here

https://picasaweb.google.com/1085962353 ... 9776770306

 

[RobinHoodFan]

You've got me....I still have yet to try soapmaking...still no time on my hands to figure it out...although i did get a couple of soapmaking books for xmas that i'm excited about....one of these days *sigh

Good question though...would love to know the answer also for future reference...anyone?

Oh and BTW the link to the pic doesn't seem to be working

 

[dirrdee]

link isnt working?

 

[LauraHoosier]

Says page not found when I tried it.

The hardware stores here don't carry 100% lye unless you pay $14 for 2lbs and that's steep. I order mine from AAA Chemicals, I get 100% lye, food grade, for around $4.50 or less per bottle depending on the number of bottles I order. Even after shipping costs it's still less then $14 per bottle.

 

[RobinHoodFan]

Says page not found when I tried it.

The hardware stores here don't carry 100% lye unless you pay $14 for 2lbs and that's steep. I order mine from AAA Chemicals, I get 100% lye, food grade, for around $4.50 or less per bottle depending on the number of bottles I order. Even after shipping costs it's still less then $14 per bottle.

Great Site Laura! Thanks so much for the tip! Looks like they have a nice beginner kit that would be very helpful for me!

 

[Lady Scrubbins]

I made a lye water solution and after I made them, the solution was clear. Left that to cool down and 1 hour later, a whitish layer has formed.

Any idea what happened and if this is safe to use for soap-making?

This is 100% Rooto Lye which I bought from Ace Hardware.

The link to the photo is here

https://picasaweb.google.com/1085962353 ... 9776770306

You can make about a 52.6% Sodium hydroxide/water solution at room temperature (111 grams NaOH in 100 grams of water at 25C). As with all solutions, the warmer the solvent, the more solute you can dissolve. If you were to add 250 grams of NaOH to 1000 grams of water (for a 25% solution), then it would heat up significantly, which would allow you to super-saturate, i.e. you could add much more than another 250 grams of NaOH and get it to dissolve completely.

However, once it cools down to room temperature again, the solution cannot hold more than 52%, so some of the NaOH will precipitate. From what you describe, this may be the case.

 

[Sunny]

that's the lye i use too, most often.

 

[bluevervain]

I have had the whitish layer form or little flecks. I remember reading about it, in one of the two Susan Miller Cavitch soapmaking books, she calls it "lint" and writes that you don't have to worry about it. (pp. 183 and 184 of the Soapmaker's Companion). She also writes that it is more likely to happen during cooler conditions but doesn't eleaborate on that.

That's been my experience too. The soap made with "lint" turns out great. When I first started I would sometimes use tap water and I remember there being more lint. The last few years I have used exclusively distilled water and rooto lye from ace. I have less of the lint that way but still sometimes it's there.

 

[MegaSoap]

If you spill some on yourself, flush immediately with lots of cool running water. NOT vinegar.

sorry if this is a stupid question. why not vinegar? i thought the acid countered the basic burn? i've read elsewhere of others using vinegar. thought that was a general rule, acid on a base...(??) thank you!

 

[Genny]

[quote="MegaSoap

sorry if this is a stupid question. why not vinegar? i thought the acid countered the basic burn? i've read elsewhere of others using vinegar. thought that was a general rule, acid on a base...(??) thank you![/quote]

Vinegar on lye causes a chemical reaction that causes extreme heat, which will cause burns.

 

[new12soap]

That is what I use, I make smaller batches of HP just for personal use, and when I started I didn't want a large quantity so I just got it from the hardware store. It works great, for soap and as drain cleaner! Just be careful and it will be fine