caustic soda
 

Can anyone tell me where I can buy caustic soda.
Thanks

whats it for?

I don't really know about you guys in the states, but I'm sure you can get it at a pharmacy or however you call it. Actually hobby shops (or tool shops) may have got it too.

Caustic soda, aka Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) is a solid. A powder or pellets. It's corrosive, and watersolube. Be carefull when you handle it. It burns your skin and would be very bad to have it in the eyes!! Wear gloves and eye protection.

It's for removing anodizing nbmaster, Thanks dafni, I read an old thread about removing anodizing and you talked about caustic soda and how well it works and how dangerous it is. I plan to be careful. I tried oven cleaner and it did not work at all.

Update: What else is it used for I have called all the pharmacy's in town and nobody has it.

Your pharmacies don't have it?? That's weird!

Maybe you can check paint shops. It has a use in removing paint from wood, sometimes.

It's also used to bake some special kind of buns. So I guess bakeries use it too, but this is pretty far fetched. It's a common chemical, really. Should be easy to get.

You should get it, one way or the other. I hope a local can point you in the right direction.

try walmart?

I think wal-mart sells about everything. Does it go by any other name?

Hobby Lye - Found this on ebay
 

Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) / Lye / Caustic Soda - 18 oz
Combine shipping on up to (23) bottles, see our store.. Item number: 7609561635


price: US $3.99


End time: Apr-19-06 09:30:53 PDT (5 days 13 hours)
Shipping costs: Calculate
Ships to: United States
Item location: Keene, New Hampshire, United States
Quantity: 10 available
History: Purchases
High bidder: User ID kept private

This is one instance where I found a name-brand to be important. Did you try "Easy-Off" oven cleaner?
I bought a generic brand figuring they were all the same and the generic did absolutely nothing to the anodizing. I then used Easy-Off and the anodizing was off within minutes.
For small parts, I put them in a small plastic dish, sprayed enough Easy-Off in the dish to cover them, then just swirled the stuff around in the dish until the anodizing was gone. I ran cool water through the dish until the chemicals were gone and had nicely 'de-purpled' aluminum shock caps :003:

Make sure you wear gloves and don't inhale the stuff.

easy off should do it, though it's not as fast as caustic soda.

Caustic soda is sold here, to remove a constipation from your sink.

Interesting

Brand Name: Drano Drain Cleaner (Institutional)
Form: crystals
Product Category: Home inside >> Drain >> opener/cleaner
Home maintenance >> Plumbing >> drain cleaner/opener


http://www.jancynmfg.com/index.htm
Ingredients from MSDS/Label
Chemical CAS No / Unique ID Percent
Sodium hydroxide 001310-73-2 <2.0
Sodium hypochlorite 007681-52-9 <10
Water 007732-18-5 85-95


Brand Name: Jancyn Main Line Cleaner Power Strength
Form: liquid
Product Category: Home inside >> Drain >> opener/cleaner
Home inside >> Cleaner >> drain
Date Entered: 1997-05-01
Chemical CAS No / Unique ID Percent
Sodium hydroxide 001310-73-2 100

Thanks for the help,:027: I tried every store in town and no caustic soda??:032: I bought "easy off no fumes" and it probably don't have caustic soda in it.:019: The drano idea sounds good I will try that and if it does not work I will get some caustic soda off e-bay. I will report if it works or not (drano). I did not check wal-mart so I will buy the drano there if they don't have caustic soda.:027:

for some reason easy off never worked for me. it would to a certain extent but it would leave dark and light spots as well as spots of blue that just plain wouldnt come off without sanding. and not to mention i would go threw 2 cans for a single chassis :confused:

Yesterday, I decided to de-anodize my extra Revo chassis and used Easy-Off and it worked great. All it took was about half of one can. Just make sure it contains Lye (or equivalent) - I've heard that some types use another chemical that might not work. It took 3 cycles of apply, wait 10 minutes, and rinse to get all the blue off though. But the end result wasn't pretty; it was all blotchy and almost looked rusted. A little elbow grease with some fine steel wool was needed to get a nice shine.

Now, I have to decide if I want to re-anodize it, chrome it, or even gold plate it. :) J/K; gold plating and chrome would be expensive and ugly IMO.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. :)