Sodium Hydroxide in Lotion?

[DeeAnna]

You can buy both (or used to, anyway) at Essential Depot. I don't think there's a big difference in price.

The point about using "food grade" ingredients is that they're intended for use in food. Food grade standards for heavy metals and other contaminants are determined to protect the quality of food, especially food consumed by children who are more sensitive to heavy metal contaminants than adults.

Soap doesn't get eaten -- and we only use a few grams of soap per day. Compare that to the weight of the food and water we consume.

If it makes you feel better to use food grade NaOH and you have a reasonably priced, reliable source, then by all means use it. If it's hard to find or the added cost is going to break the budget, then tech grade is plenty fine.

 

[MissE]

You can buy both (or used to, anyway) at Essential Depot. I don't think there's a big difference in price.

The point about using "food grade" ingredients is that they're intended for use in food. Food grade standards for heavy metals and other contaminants are determined to protect the quality of food, especially food consumed by children who are more sensitive to heavy metal contaminants than adults.

Soap doesn't get eaten -- and we only use a few grams of soap per day. Compare that to the weight of the food and water we consume.

If it makes you feel better to use food grade NaOH and you have a reasonably priced, reliable source, then by all means use it. If it's hard to find or the added cost is going to break the budget, then tech grade is plenty fine.

Thank you for the guidance, DeeAnna!

 

[Arimara]

I probably should add that when you are making pretzels and bagels with NaOH, The dough for those breads are dipped into an extremely diluted solution. The NaOh solution helps these breads develop that distinctive "crust" on the outside that we all know and love. It's not like they put it into out bread.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Over here we brush it over with a pastry brush. That's how weak the solution is - my pastry brush survives repeated use in it. It's something like 6%

 

[MissE]

Thanks, everyone, for the inputs. I want to report that this morning when I had to wash my hand soon after using my lotion (the one with the sodium hydroxide), I observed that there was a little bit of lather in the water