Question about lye bath

B

Bonnie Scott

Active member
I have spent far to much money this past week on oven cleaner so I have decided it is time to set up a lye bath. My question is.. if I put multiple pans in the tub and they touch up against each other will that cause any problems? All of the beautiful pictures on this site have made me ashamed of the condition of my pans. :frown:
 
You can stack as many in it as the container is capable of safely holding and will completely submerge. Of course, that also means you'll need some sort of parking or rinse container to place unfinished pieces while you sort through a group to find the ones that are done, as some will take longer than others. I stack skillets with a long coat hanger wire hook through the handles so I can lift them up without fishing around in the murk.
 
Load it up, as I have had as much as 18 - 20 pieces in my lye bath at one time. I just sent in 7 new pieces last night.
Just make sure that your tube is strong enough to support all the weight. You just might spring a leak and have all that murk as Doug calls it all over the place.
I use a 40 Gallon heavy barrel with a lid.
 
I would plan for it to leak and place it accordingly. My first one leaked and made a mess of my garage. My second one now lives outside tucked away where it can't do as much damage. I can get away with this year-round, being in the south.
 
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Thank you all for your helpful information. I just picked up two 20 gallon black trash cans with locking lids. I had to go to 3 stores before I found 100% lye. I picked up a shepherds hook plant hanger to assist me in holding some pans when I lift them out of the bath. Thanks Doug for the coat hanger trick as I was considering the braille method and I don't think my manicure would hold up well that way. :chuckle: I chose a sunny area of my yard to set up my little work station.
 
Hi Bonnie:
I've placed about 5-7 pieces in my bath, leave it there for a week and come back, and almost always are all the pieces ready to go. I use bailing wire and hook a couple of CI together- has worked great for me so far!!

BTW, I've sent about 30 pieces through my current setup, and the the water is somewhere between the color of tar and the 7Eleven coffee at 2 in the afternoon... Has anybody found that the lye bath looses effectiveness over time?

Thanks,
-J
 
Although a batch of lye lasts quite a long time, we are talking about a chemical reaction here, so there will eventually be diminishing returns over time.
 
Please please use caution when using lye, eye protection, rubber gloves and have a jug of vinager handy. Make sure kids cant get into the lye bucket that stuff is mean as hell. And happy cleaning .
 
JDSchneider said:
BTW, I've sent about 30 pieces through my current setup, and the the water is somewhere between the color of tar and the 7Eleven coffee at 2 in the afternoon... Has anybody found that the lye bath looses effectiveness over time?

Thanks,
-J
Click to expand...
I've done ~8 pieces, and my lye bath already feels weak. I sprinked maybe 1/4 pound more lye into the 5gal bath today, so hopefully it works a little better now.
 
I have an 18 gallon lye bath. I get about 30 badly encrusted skillets done in it before I have to add a pound of lye to reactivate it. I empty it and start over about once a year. And yes, I pour the old solution into the toilet. After all lye is used to unclog drains.
 
Don't know why I didn't think of pouring it down the toilet. That's a good idea. Sounds painful to move an 18gal container though!

Good point about killing pets. I assume that it smells bad enough to keep animals from drinking out of an uncovered container (unlike coolant) at least. I did pick a container where the lid snaps on AND the handles latch it closed to be safe. Didn't think I would do enough pieces to warrant using my 55gal rain barrels.
 
I have a 5 inch cleanout in my yard. I figured I would just drain it down there with the assistance of a $6 hand syphon from harbor freight.
 
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