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neutralize lye how to do it probably? (beginner question)

M

meino

Esteemed member
Hello,
can I fill a small bucket with 5% household vinegar and use it to soak all parts that have come into contact with lye pearls or the lye/water mixture? Does this neutralize immediately?
Because I added a little vinegar to a funnel with which I filled the lye pearl water mixture and it bubbled for quite a while. I wonder when it will really be neutralized.

So is it the best to soak everything for a while and is 5% vinegar enough?
 
I’m no chemical expert so someone like @Transform best weigh in here..but neutralization should be instant as soon as it drops to ph 7 .. it’s not a reaction you need to wait on and will happen straight away when you lower the ph enough.. the bubbling/fizzing is the creation of carbon dioxide.. AFAIK it’s fairly benign as far as byproducts but if done too hastily can overflow and make a mess.. and if it is still highly basic when it overflows it can end up all over you. So that aspect of it is dangerous. Wear appropriate PPE and do this somewhere with a decent sink you can put your gear in.. add your vinegar VERY SLOWLY to avoid overflow. If you do incrementally you shouldn't have any issues.

For cleaning equipment I like to soak in a mixture of ethanol and vinegar .. then rinse with again with either straight ethanol or water. Initial neutralization with an acid is best and then ethanol is just a really fantastic cleaning agent.
 
Last edited:
meino said:
Hello,
can I fill a small bucket with 5% household vinegar and use it to soak all parts that have come into contact with lye pearls or the lye/water mixture? Does this neutralize immediately?
Because I added a little vinegar to a funnel with which I filled the lye pearl water mixture and it bubbled for quite a while. I wonder when it will really be neutralized.

So is it the best to soak everything for a while and is 5% vinegar enough?
Click to expand...
If it's surface contamination a quick wash down with vinegar using a wash bottle will do it - you can buy them in the auto section of a good Baumarkt. A whole bucketful would be overkill. Unwanted lye solution can be poured down the sink or toilet since it is used as a drain cleaner anyhow. Ensure that any naphtha contamination has been allowed to completely evaporate, though - you don't want to create an explosion risk in your drains. Pouring the lye mixture into a large baking dish would facilitate this process. Leave it in a safe but well-ventilated place.

Having handled far more dangerous substances in my time, I'm probably a bit blasé about lye solutions - but nevertheless, I will ALWAYS wear eye protection if handling lye in any form. I save the gloves for when I'm working with the solid, or with hot and/or concentrated solutions, although it does of course depend on what else I'm using at the time.
 
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