Built my first Lye tank.

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PBBurkett

Member
Made my first Lye tank today. It's an underbed storage tote, 34qt. I had some old Roebic 100% lye I had gotten at Lowe's over 10yrs ago. I marked the lid of the tote to warn others of what it is. It held 5 gal of water and 1lbs of lye. It will take around 2 large pans, 2 med, and 2 small. As soon as the pans hit the water, they started leeching grease, so can't wait to check on them in a week!
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It's that easy? I need to do this! Putting mine in garbage bags is so time-consuming. Thanks for posting your pics. :-P
 
It's fairly easy. The hardest part is getting the lye. If you can't find it at your local hardware store, you can still get it online from Amazon. Mix 1lb of lye per 5 gallons of water. I used warm water to get it dissolved for the initial mix. I also chose the flat underfed type tote, while others do deeper totes. Do get some thick long rubber gloves for reaching into the water for your pans. One thing I did was get a smaller rectangular trash can and keep beside the lye tank. My tank is away from my sink, so I pull a pan out of the tank, put it in the trash can, and carry it to the sink to prevent dripping lye and greasy goop along the way.
 
Home Depot carries drain cleaner that is 98% Lye (sodium hydroxide). I have been using that.

I was pulling pans out the other day and one slipped and splashed a little on my cheek. I wiped it off right away and there was no ill effects. I have also had some get inside my gloves without a problem. I wouldn't bathe in it, but if you wash it off relatively quickly, you have nothing to worry about.
 
Gettng the lye is no problem here (also use it to make goat milk soaps) & I already have a container for it that will fit under my bed & out of harms way.
So glad this site is full of helpful people! Now, I must get busy...I have 3 cast iron skillets that are in need of a bath! :icon_thumbsup:
 
KJRigden said:
Is food grade lye any better than "pure" lye drain cleaners. Seems that can be found cheaper in bulk online.
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Not for this purpose. They may in fact be the exact same product but regulations require different packaging and handling to be considered "food grade". If you can buy it in bulk you will save money for sure.
 
Thanks Ben! Got 24lbs of Roto for about $50. Could have gone cheaper, but didn't feel like scooping and weighing.
 
KJRigden said:
Thanks Ben! Got 24lbs of Roto for about $50. Could have gone cheaper, but didn't feel like scooping and weighing.
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24lbs!!!?? How big a tank are you building??? Either that, or you just want to be able to dip the pieces in for a few minutes and they're done??


PBBurkett, I added the same markings to mine in 20 gallon Rubbermaid brute trashcans. I added the Spanish translation as well as the neighbors speak Spanish.
 
I purchase it 32 lbs. at a time, That will get me around 1 year, and a heck of a lot of clean iron. But I also use lye in my eTank.
 
PBBurkett said:
Dang, you clean a LOT of Iron.
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-2deg. right now and I just took a #6 slant Erie skillet out of my eTank and put in a lid for a #8 Wagner dutch oven. Then I put an Erie #5 scotch bowl and a #7 Griswold slant logo fully marked dutch oven in my Lye tank. If I stop I might freeze up.:chuckle:
 
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