Sources of  Lye for Soapmaking

The death of Red Devil Lye created a great disturbance in the handcrafted soap industry. Here are some resources that may help ease the transition.

You may find that your local hardware store has a replacement for Red Devil Lye. Look in the drain cleaner section. Some are now carrying "ROOTO", a 100% Lye product.

Boyer Corporation has been selling Lye for a long time, and they know soapmaking: www.boyercorporation.com

This fellow from Texas (AAA Chemicals) is now selling Lye and asked me to add a link to my website for him, which I have done: http://www.aaa-chemicals.com/  He takes PayPal online!

And a new entrant run by soapmakers: www.certified-lye.com

If you live in California and need 50 LBS or more of Lye, try www.galladechem.com for a very competitive deal.  You will want the form of lye commonly sold as "caustic soda beads." For various OSHA-related reasons, Gallade does not offer low prices on sizes smaller than 50 LBS - so please don't call them if you only need 5 - 10 LBS.