granular lye

[Patgst]

Hi,
When ever I try to pour the lye out the grains seem to contain static and end up shooting all over my table. Is there someway to combat this? Thanks so much

 

[jcandleattic]

Rub your equipment and lye container with dryer sheets before opening the lye. This will help tremendously with static cling.

 

[BattleGnome]

I store my lye with dryer sheets then rub the bottle down with one before opening the bottle. I also rub the outside of the container with a dryer sheet before pouring. If it’s dry out I spray the counter with vinegar water (1:1 that I use for cleaning) just to make sure if something does jump out it sticks to my counter and doesn’t roll to the floor

 

[Patgst]

Thanks to BattleGnome and Jcandleattic. I will surely give that a try. One of the people I talked with said to store it in the fridge so, I think I'll store it in the fridge AND wipe everything down with dryer sheets! Kinda like a belt with suspenders.

 

[earlene]

I don't think I'd store the lye in a fridge. That's not a dry environment. Lye needs to be stored in a dry environment, air-tight, too. Besides that, it's dangerous to store a potentially deadly product in the same place you store food.

Here is how I store my lye to keep my lye as dry as possible between uses: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/my-lye-storage-setup.59316/

I don't have problems with staticy lye since I started following this method. Although I did buy some anti-static clothing spray to use with a paper towel (in place of a dryer sheet - I don't allow those things anywhere near my dryer), but have only needed to use it once.

 

[DeeAnna]

I would not store NaOH or other chemicals in the fridge either, due to an abundance of caution about safety. One of the hard-and-fast rules in a chemistry lab is you never, ever store hazardous chemicals in a fridge that is also used for food. The consequences of confusing a hazardous chemical with food can be horrible and are utterly preventable. Please, please don't go there!

Just store NaOH in a dry, safe, controlled environment away from food and such. Here's how I store my alkalis (NaOH and KOH) and other chemicals: https://classicbells.com/soap/lyePurity.html#dryBucket

As far as controlling the static, the dryer sheet idea is the best way to go. If you don't have dryer sheets, then lightly wipe the nearby work surfaces with a damp cloth to temporarily raise the humidity in the air. That helps too.

 

[jackznanakin]

echoing what they have suggested with the dryer sheet, in addition to wiping the bottle down, I also kind of hold the dryer sheet just above the opening as I am pouring it out, kind of like an 'over the top' splash guard.