Lye in Australia

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SuzieOz

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What brand/s of lye do soapers in Aus use and where do you purchase it from?

I was told the Diggers brand is ok to use therefore that is what I have been buying from Mitre 10, but I have just realised it is only 98% caustic soda.

Is there a brand easy to find that is 100%??

I read somewhere the Mechanix brand might be, but I can't find the % on the internet anywhere and I don't have a supplier close by.
 
Most caustic soda is sold as 98% pure.
As you've used Diggers brand before, you can see it works great. What those 98% purity means is that you'll end up with a little bit of extra SF.

I got this from one of the websites selling lye. It's in regards to what those remaining 2% possibly are: 98% "pure to allow for absorption of atmospheric moisture and is also in the form of small sugar-like crystal"
What that means I think is that some of the lye reacts with air losing it's 100% purity. That's them basically saying, it's lye, but close to 100% as you can get it. That'my understanding, maybe someone with more knowledge can chip in.

If you are unsure, I guess you can always contact Diggers to clarify. I've only ever used their brand and never had a problem. I've tried Mechanix once and I'm pretty sure it's also 98% pure. It was hard to find and since I have Bunnings basically next door I stick to Diggers.
 
I use Mechanix and have never had a problem with it. I did buy the diggers one from Masters, but don't like it really, not sure why, but just don't. I think they all have 98% caustic on it.

Mechanix is very easy to find, it's in all the large Coles supermarkets. I think its around $4.83 for 500 grms.
http://shop.coles.com.au/online/SearchDisplay?storeId=10601&catalogId=10576&langId=-1&beginIndex=0&browseView=false&searchSource=Q&sType=SimpleSearch&resultCatEntryType=2&showResultsPage=true&pageView=image&supermarketRefer=yes&searchTerm=Mechanix+caustic+soda
 
I used to use Mexhanix but they stopped selling it in my area. I have been using Diggers from bunnings/masters for well over a year now and haven't had an issue with it. Except that time that i accidentally used an aluminum pot to mix it in. Didn't know it was aluminum at the time though.... it now is somewhere in the great big world of landfill
 
Oops dills :eek:

Thank Relle, I'll check out Coles when I get there. They're the only two brands I've heard of. Seems they're ok then.
 

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