Contaminated lye

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

paradisi

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
374
Reaction score
871
This has been resolved for me, but here's a safety heads-up.

A pail of food grade lye I got in February, when opened this summer, smelled funny (diesely) when I took the lid off, though the lye itself appeared normal.

A test batch made up with my normal distilled water started out looking and smelling ok but as it stopped steaming, black gunk appeared and clung to the side of the pitcher and the stirring spoon.

I called the company (Duda Diesel) as it was past Amazon's return date, and had difficulty getting a person, and when I did, it took two days of arguing via phone and emails with several people that this is not normal, and was their lye causing it, and then making another batch & documenting & sending photos of the fresh distilled water jug, my freshly washed tools, their pail and lot #, and the black flotsam as it was forming, .... three times, as they said they didn't get the pics...to get them to admit there was a problem requiring them to do something. That 2nd batch had even more black scum form than the first.

It took another week for them to replace (they would not refund) the product.

Needless to say I'll never buy lye from them again; I have a pail of hazardous waste to dispose of. This is the lot #: L309N

Recent reviews on Amazon include their lye being adulterated with tiny plastic granules that look like lye but never dissolve.

They say they're mostly making sanitizer now.. and I wouldn't buy that either.
 
Because it was past the return date there was only the option to contact the seller, in my account. And I was scrambling to find a different source for lye, which I did.

I too hope nobody was buying that lye for food. With luck most of their customers are washing parts or making biodiesel.
 
Because it was past the return date there was only the option to contact the seller, in my account. And I was scrambling to find a different source for lye, which I did.

I too hope nobody was buying that lye for food. With luck most of their customers are washing parts or making biodiesel.
You can still report them to the BBB and the FDA. I would.
 
I did.

And have reported the issue to Amazon re: food safety.
You can still report them to the BBB and the FDA. I would.

They said as it was sold & fulfilled by a 3rd party, it was up to the 3rd party.

Did you contact Amazon? Their product was clearly defective and you deserve a refund for it, not another possibly defective product?
 
This has been resolved for me, but here's a safety heads-up.

A pail of food grade lye I got in February, when opened this summer, smelled funny (diesely) when I took the lid off, though the lye itself appeared normal.

A test batch made up with my normal distilled water started out looking and smelling ok but as it stopped steaming, black gunk appeared and clung to the side of the pitcher and the stirring spoon.

I called the company (Duda Diesel) as it was past Amazon's return date, and had difficulty getting a person, and when I did, it took two days of arguing via phone and emails with several people that this is not normal, and was their lye causing it, and then making another batch & documenting & sending photos of the fresh distilled water jug, my freshly washed tools, their pail and lot #, and the black flotsam as it was forming, .... three times, as they said they didn't get the pics...to get them to admit there was a problem requiring them to do something. That 2nd batch had even more black scum form than the first.

It took another week for them to replace (they would not refund) the product.

Needless to say I'll never buy lye from them again; I have a pail of hazardous waste to dispose of. This is the lot #: L309N

Recent reviews on Amazon include their lye being adulterated with tiny plastic granules that look like lye but never dissolve.

They say they're mostly making sanitizer now.. and I wouldn't buy that either.
Wow, sorry for your headache, but appreciate you providing this info! I buy lye from Amazon and will be careful to stay clear of these folks. Such a shame that it took so long to get some sort of resolution!
 
Thank you, paradisi, for sharing this experience. This whole thing must have been very frustrating. I've ordered from Duda in the past (last time was mid-March) and luckily haven't encountered this issue, but will definitely keep it in mind when looking to re-order in the future.
 
Back
Top