Can you use lye to wash clothes?

The dictionary (OED) says lye can be “any detergent material used in washing” and may even be “urine used as a detergent”. Chamber lye was a useful laundry product, even though it couldn’t be made into soap. Precious urine collected from chamber pots, its many uses included stain removal and pre-wash soaking.

Is lye solution safe?

Lye water (sometimes called ‘Lime Water’) is a strong (caustic) liquid that is safe to use in very small amounts in cooking, but it can be dangerous if lye water is swallowed undiluted straight from the bottle. It can cause severe corrosive burns to the throat, oesophagus and stomach with permanent damage if swallowed.

Why homemade laundry soap is bad?

Homemade “detergent” can ruin your clothes… If the water you’re using to do the wash is hard — meaning it’s high in the minerals calcium and magnesium — your soap (homemade “detergent”) will react with the dissolved minerals in the water and leave unwanted residue on your clothes.

Can you wash your body with lye soap?

Yes, lye is a corrosive substance. And yes, it has also been used to make soap for centuries.

What does alkali do in laundry?

Alkalies, a major component in most laundry detergents, are soluble salts and a base that reacts with an acid to neutralize it. They are effective in removing dirt and stains from fabric without excessive rubbing. Soluble salts of an alkali metal like potassium or sodium are good grease removers.

Can you wash dishes with lye soap?

Being made from natural ingredients, I have also used lye soap safely to clean my porch. I have used it on fragile vintage litho items as well as my own dishes and have not only found it to be excellent for cleaning, but safe enough not to harm the lithograph or paint found on vintage items.

Is lye a hazardous material?

We all know that lye is a hazardous material. Since we use it safely every day, it may not seem so hazardous to us.

Why is borax banned?

The EU has banned borax on claims of impacts on reproductive health, following studies on mice and rats at high (abnormally high) ingested doses. This study crucially relates to boric acid, not borax, and investigates the reproductive effects of boron exposure in workers employed in a boric acid production plant.

Is borax safe for laundry?

As blogger Julia from Simply Living Well explains in her Instagram post on the topic, as long as you’re not planning to eat or inhale the powder, borax can be a safe, yet powerful natural laundry booster.