Smells Like Green Spirit

I’m new on the homemade soap making bandwagon, and last night I went by Home Depot to get some lye. All the recipes I read said lye could easily be purchased at any hardware store, and many recommended the brand Red Devil. Not only did Home Depot not have any sort of lye, the employees gave me some weird looks when I asked for it and then reacted incredulously to them not having it.

It turns out that a few years ago, Red Devil was taken off the market because it was a common ingredient used to make crystal meth. Nice.

Here’s a picture from the Missouri State Police Department’s Website on how to identify a meth lab. Look! There’s Red Devil Lye in the very bottom left corner:

http://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/Root/index.html

Luckily there are other places you can buy lye, although in many big cities, sources will only sell it in bulk. Be cautious buying lye in bulk, as it is a very hazardous material that you must avoid contact with and which must be stored in airtight containers.

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