Essential Depot Pure Lye Drain Cleaner/Opener, 2 lbs. Food Grade Sodium Hydroxide Micro Beads - HDPE container with Resealable Child Resistant Cap

I’ve been using this lye consistently for my cold-process soap making, and it has performed beautifully every time. It dissolves well, behaves predictably in my recipes, and I’ve never experienced any clumping or impurities. The packaging is secure and easy to work with, which gives me peace of mind when handling such a sensitive ingredient.

Nice product, perfect to make soap. Value for the money.

I bought a smaller bottle of this food grade lye a few years ago. It did the job quite nicely! So I decided to buy the 2 pound bottle this time since my bath tub drain was draining very slow again. Well, I used a small amount with some hot water and it did not really do anything at first. I added some more with hot water and still nothing. I used a plunger and some tub water again to try to break up the clog, but nothing happened. So I said I will use just a little more and see what happens. So I did this and still the water did not drain out if the tub. Even after I was plunging and plunging. I thought at that point I was going to have to call a plumber because I could not get the lye to clear the pipe of the clog. So I decided to wait a while and see what happens. Three hours later I came back in the bathroom and the small amount of water was still not draining out of the tub. I tried plunging again. I decided that maybe my plunger was not strong enough. The one I was using was kind of a cheap version anyway. I had a better plunger actually I that bathroom at the time. So I decided to try it. This was my last attempt and I was really worried I would have to call a plumber and pay alot to have him come out and snake the drain to get it open again. After covering the head of the better plunger with tub water, I plunged again and after a few good plunges, sure enough the drain opened up and the water went down the drain as quick as you please! Wide open again! The clog was gone and the lye did the job! But boy, was I worried that I had spent alot of money on lye that was not going to work! My advice to everyone trying to clear out a bathtub drain: add the lye and hot water, maybe two small doses total, and then wait awhile for it to work. In most cases it does not happen right away! And always use a good quality strong plunger to plung the drain after you have waited for the lye to do its job! It should work just fine after a few good plunges and clear the drain completely of the clog! Yipee! All clear! I would recommend this food grade lye to clear your bathtub drain. It worked fine! Two pounds of the lye on hand is better then just one pound to remove future drain clogs! Thank you!

bought this to make soap also comes in handy to clean the drain

If you intend to make a lot of soap in a quick amount of time this is a good product. Over time it's turned in one gigantic hydroscopic ball. Luckily the bottle is made of thick plastic and I have been able to break it into small enough chunks to get it out of the package. Ive probably made close to 200+ bars of soap over the years. I will be getting this again, but I might be more careful with how it's stored and double wrap it.

**Do not use on metal pipes. If your ptrap is plastic and the other pipes downward, you should be fine. Lye is neutralized with a water flushing of at least 5 minutes. AFTER FLUSHING WITH WATER, you can bring the PH down further with lemon juice or household vinegar. Household Vinegar is 5% and 100% lye is 14 percent. So vinegar may bring the PH down to an acceptable slightly alkaline level of 8-9. After those caveats . . . This drain cleaner works really well—especially for hair clogs. It does work on grease clogs. However, for grease clogs, I would recommend Dawn Professional Degreaser or some other degreaser to break up oil and fats as a first line of defense. After which, you can use this drain cleaner. It is lye and not an enzyme. So for erotica and toilets, use an enzyme to break down wastes. Other commenters state to use hot water. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO USE HOT WATER. Remember, lye will generate its own heat if used within the first 10 minutes. I typically mix the lye in a container already measured with the amount of water rather than dumping the powder in the drain. This is dangerous, as it can create burns from splash backs. Do premix it and pour in drain. Most issues are within the Ptrap. So only mix enough initially to break down within the trap. A second batch can be mixed after to clean out remaining residue. The reason why most drains are having issues is because shampoos and soaps have more parabens and dimethicones and less lye (I.e., like your Coast, Irish Spring, Safeguard soaps).

I bought this for soap-making and it was shipped quickly and worked great. The pellets are small which makes it easy to pour and weigh. What I really like about this brand is that it is so well packaged. I have purchased lye in the past that was not securely packaged and it ended up making a mess in my mailbox. If you are familiar with lye, I don’t have to tell you what a big problem that is. This brand fully seals the plastic container in a thick plastic bag that is not just glued or “zipped” at the top, but is actually….like… pressed closed with heat so the plastic is melted to itself? I don’t know what that process is called so let’s just say it was SECURE and nothing was going to be escaping even if the plastic container had been compromised. (which it wasn’t. Just saying. If it HAD been). Anyway with just about any other product I would consider it over-packaging but I think we can all agree that for lye, better safe than sorry. So to summarize… I didn’t have to call a hazmat team, it was easy to weigh, and it made nice soap. Full marks.

Works great. Be CAREFUL to follow directions!