I hear and understand people's concerns about lye, but I have a slightly different take on the matter, having worked with dangerous or toxic chemicals for a large part of my professional life.
Lye (whether KOH or NaOH) really isn't in the same category as things like pesticides, heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium), and the like. Many pesticide residues don't break down into safe compounds and the heavy metals don't degrade at all. Low doses of these chemicals can linger in the environment and can potentially cause long-term health problems. On the other hand, the chemicals in lye that might possibly remain behind on our soaping equipment as trace residues -- the Na (sodium), K (potassium), H (hydrogen), and OH (hydroxide) -- are all normal, safe components of the food we eat and the world in which we live. Some examples include table salt (NaCl), "light" salt (KCl), and water (H2O).
Yes, lye in concentrated form is dangerous to the body, and I always handle it with care and the proper safety gear. But if the lye is diluted and rinsed away, there is really no toxic residue left behind to worry about. While I do have my own set of soaping utensils, I will sometimes also use kitchen bowls and other items in my soaping. I really don't have any issue putting these items back in the kitchen cabinet for food use after they have been well washed and rinsed.
The items I reserve only for soap and won't reuse for food are utensils with crevices that cannot be thoroughly washed and rinsed -- my stick blender is a prime example. Other items I reserve for soaping only are the containers I use with fragrance and essential oils -- FOs and EOs can leave hard-to-remove residues, especially if the container is plastic.
Lye (whether KOH or NaOH) really isn't in the same category as things like pesticides, heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium), and the like. Many pesticide residues don't break down into safe compounds and the heavy metals don't degrade at all. Low doses of these chemicals can linger in the environment and can potentially cause long-term health problems. On the other hand, the chemicals in lye that might possibly remain behind on our soaping equipment as trace residues -- the Na (sodium), K (potassium), H (hydrogen), and OH (hydroxide) -- are all normal, safe components of the food we eat and the world in which we live. Some examples include table salt (NaCl), "light" salt (KCl), and water (H2O).
Yes, lye in concentrated form is dangerous to the body, and I always handle it with care and the proper safety gear. But if the lye is diluted and rinsed away, there is really no toxic residue left behind to worry about. While I do have my own set of soaping utensils, I will sometimes also use kitchen bowls and other items in my soaping. I really don't have any issue putting these items back in the kitchen cabinet for food use after they have been well washed and rinsed.
The items I reserve only for soap and won't reuse for food are utensils with crevices that cannot be thoroughly washed and rinsed -- my stick blender is a prime example. Other items I reserve for soaping only are the containers I use with fragrance and essential oils -- FOs and EOs can leave hard-to-remove residues, especially if the container is plastic.
