Lye bath longevity

M

Mike Kuran

Member
I was wondering how long does 1lb of lye and 5 gal of water last? I'm sure allot depends on how bad the pans are but I found a pan that had about 3/16" of crud on the bottom and 95% is gone. Still has some tough spots. Its a wagner also to my surprise as I couldn't see the bottom when I bought it.

It's still soaking been in there a little over a day. Was wondering if I should mix up a new batch or? Thanks,

Mike
 
My mother-in-law stood at her kitchen sink and patiently scrapped off the crud with a paring knife. Never scarred the iron itself.
 
The only thing I would like to add is if you are moving your Lye tank inside for the Winter is to use a container that is rated HDPE.

I was very lucky to be able to pick up my Lye from thelyeguy.com at his location.
He is located just outside Syracuse, NY
On my trip to the Syracuse VA he was only 15 minutes out of the way.

Back to the point he told me to use a HDPE container.
The most common HDPE containers are the Blue Barrels in sizes from 15 gallon to 55 gallon.
They are about 1/4" thick but are very easy to cut even with a hand saw.
If you cut the barrel near the top in the grove the top can be flipped over and it fits very nice.
You could add a hinge and a lock if you wanted or needed to.

I have a 30 gallon tank for my Lye but they use 15 gallon Chlorine Blue barrels at larger pools like a hotels so it might be a good place to look for one or 3.......

These Blue barrels are Non Refundable so you should be able to get them for free.

Black Power is also shipped in HDPE Black containers but the are very thin.

The Lye Guys ships his lye in a thin HDPE container but a note on the label to not store for more than 2 years.

I just worry about people using thin cheap containers that may fail if used for a extended period of time.
 
Ed Grabski said:
The Lye Guys ships his lye in a thin HDPE container but a note on the label to not store for more than 2 years.

I just worry about people using thin cheap containers that may fail if used for a extended period of time.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ed The 5 Gal pales I picked up at Minards and I'm sure there not HDPE. I just got started in this and I usually keep that in the garage. But I brought it in for the night as it's warmer in the house lol.

I will go down and see about getting one of those HDPE containers as I want to be safe about doing this.. Thanks for taking the time to let me know..

Mike
 
Ed Grabski said:
I just worry about people using thin cheap containers that may fail if used for a extended period of time.
Click to expand...

This is why I have my lye container sitting inside another larger container. I live in an apartment and would hate for a leak. By doing this, I can see if it is leaking hopefully before there is an issue.

The lye is in a clear container which sits inside a larger dark grey one.

I will have to see if either of them have the rating.
 
Thanks Sean! Most of the time I leave the lye container in the garage. But here lately while cleaning pans I leave it in the sink just in case.

---------- Post added at 05:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:43 PM ----------
Sean_H said:
Just look at the recycling number. Pickle pails/5 gallon buckets are HDPE (high density polyethylene). Most bins are PP (polypropylene) which is also highly resistant to lye, but are thin so be careful. https://classicbells.com/soap/lyeStorage.html.
Click to expand...

I just looked at my containers and thankfully someone was looking out for me lol. Mine are HDPE with a recycle code 2 :)
 
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