• LostXOR
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    fedilink
    602 months ago

    How is lye nonhazardous? Can’t it cause serious chemical burns? Maybe it’s just in low enough concentration that that’s not a concern.

    • Flying Squid
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      382 months ago

      You don’t want concentrated lye, but diluted lye is safe enough to make soap. My question, and I’m not the only one asking in this thread, is- is a mixture of borax and lye a good coolant for a supercomputer?

      I guess you could argue that the green is so they would recognize a coolant leak…

        • Flying Squid
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          11
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          2 months ago

          Ah, that makes more sense then.

          But lye as well?

          Edit: never mind, that discussion says also lye.

          • @kindernacht
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            English
            62 months ago

            They use this mixture at my work as well. Flushing out large sub freezing cooling systems. We don’t dump it out on the street though.

            • @mhague
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              2 months ago

              If it’s anything like the places I work, they specifically tell you to be very careful about what you wash away.

      • @[email protected]
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        fedilink
        152 months ago

        The lye concentration used to make soap is rather nasty if it gets on your skin and you don’t deal with it immediately. Source: I’ve made a lot of soap from scratch.