Lye Bath

[Jim Glatthaar]

I'm curious.  Those of us who have lye baths, how long do you use them?  And how do you know when it is time to replace them?

[Mark Zizzi]

Hi Jim, I don't know that you ever *have* to replace a lye bath, unless you want to.  You might need to add more lye every couple years though. Mine is going on 3 years now and still working well. I might go ahead and start fresh just to get the sludge out of it. It is getting a little smelly. But I've read in these pages a few times of people with lye baths a lot older than mine.

[Jim Glatthaar]

You make a good point, Mark.  I should probably strain my lye bath and add some new lye.  Refresh it, so to speak.

[Gary Salsman]

My experience, is that after a while, it doesn't work as well. You could just add more lye, but I just dump it, and start with clean water.