[MR] Soap Making News

[C. Brian Towey]

Friends and neighbors, 

 

There's good news and bad news for soap makers.  The good news is that I
found this very handy calculator for soap making.  It asks what kind of fat
and lye you have, and figures out the exact proportions.

 

 <http://www.gristle.to/markup/saponification/>
http://www.gristle.to/markup/saponification/

 

The bad news is that Red Devil, long the household lye of choice, has
discontinued production, and what is out there on shelves and in warehouses
is ALL THERE WILL BE.  The manufacturer is discontinuing lye in favor of a
liquid plumbing anti-clogger which contains no sodium hydroxide  This is
useless to soap makers (and probably much less effective in unclogging
plumbing, too).  Soap makers have launched a phone campaign to the parent
company of Red Devil, but I doubt it will do any good.  

 

Officially it's because of poor sales, but rumor has it that the Drug
Enforcement Agency pressured the company into the decision.  Lye is
apparently an ingredient in methamphetamine production.  If so, then we can
expect mail orders to become difficult or impossible as well.  Sales of
other household chemicals of interest to medievalists have been restricted
by anti-drug or anti-terror regulations.  For example, one woman I
correspond with reports that in order to buy some sodium carbonate (washing
soda) for dying fabric, she had to show photo ID, which the vendor copied
and attached to her invoice.

 

Lowe's reportedly carries Roebic "Heavy Duty Crystal Drain Opener", at least
for now.  That may be an acceptable substitute for soap making.  If anyone
has tried it, I would be interested to hear how it worked out.

 

Your servant,

 

Charles Fleming

Who always wanted to try soap making and may have missed his chance