The alkali dissolves greases to produce water soluble products. It additionally hydrolyzes the proteins similar to these found in hair which can block water pipes. sodium hydroxide on wood are sped by the warmth generated when sodium hydroxide and the other chemical components of the cleaner dissolve in water.

Water therapy

As one of many simplest hydroxides, it is frequently utilized alongside neutral water and acidic hydrochloric acid to reveal the pH scale to chemistry college students. Calculate the required fee of feed of impartial water to the thickeners so that the calcium carbonate, on drying, incorporates only one per cent of sodium hydroxide. The strong discharged from every thickener incorporates 1 part by mass of calcium carbonate to 3 of water. The concentrated wash liquid is blended with the contents of the agitator earlier than being fed to the primary thickener.
A resolution of sodium hydroxide in water was historically used as the most common paint stripper on picket objects. Its use has become less frequent, as a result of it could harm the wood floor, raising the grain and marking the colour buy caustic soda . Hominy is dried maize (corn) kernels reconstituted by soaking in lye-water. These broaden significantly in dimension and could also be additional processed by frying to make corn nuts or by drying and grinding to make grits. Hominy is used to create Masa, a popular flour used in Mexican cuisine to make Corn tortillas and tamales.
As above, sodium hydroxide reacts with weak acids similar to hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans to yield non-unstable sodium salts, which could be eliminated. The waste which is formed is poisonous and tough to cope with, and the method is banned in lots of international locations because of this. In 2006, Trafigura used the method after which dumped the waste in Africa.
Sodium hydroxide can be used in the manufacture of sodium salts and detergents, pH regulation, and natural synthesis. It is used in the what is caustic soda Bayer strategy of aluminium production.
NaOH is used more usually than potassium hydroxide because it's cheaper and a smaller amount is required. Sodium hydroxide is regularly used in the means of decomposing roadkill dumped in landfills by animal disposal contractors. Due to its availability and low price caustic soda liquid, it has been used to eliminate corpses by criminals. Italian serial killer Leonarda Cianciulli used this chemical to show dead our bodies into soap.

Chemical properties

• Solid alkali also can express its corrosive nature if there's water, corresponding to water vapor.

In an identical trend, sodium hydroxide is used to digest tissues, as in a course of that was used with livestock at one time. This process involved placing a carcass into a sealed chamber, then adding a mix of sodium hydroxide and water (which breaks the chemical bonds that keep the flesh intact).


In Mexico, a man who worked for drug cartels admitted disposing of over 300 our bodies with it. Poor high quality crude oil can be handled with sodium hydroxide to remove sulfurous impurities in a process generally known as caustic washing.
The distinction in swelling additionally explains the more sensible side of the fibre after caustic soda therapy and the satin gloss after the ammonia remedy. Few inhalation research to gauge the toxicity of sodium hydroxide have been reported. Sodium hydroxide at 2 mg/m3 (TWA) appeared to cause nasal and skin irritation, especially at high temperatures. Because increased temperature increases toxicity, the Committee concludes that a 1-h publicity to sodium hydroxide at 2 mg/m3 would in all probability produce not more than a reversible mild irritation of eyes, pores and skin, and respiratory system.