From: howdHol@yaooho.com   
      
   (Pierre Jelenc) wrote :   
      
   > Howard:   
   >>   
   >>The mix is one pound lye to five gallons of water, which appears to be   
   >>a standard ratio on other sites as well.   
   >   
   > That amounts to a roughly 0.5 molar solution, which is pretty caustic   
   > but not overwhelmingly so: that is, a splash on unprotected skin can   
   > be rinsed off immediately without any serious damage (at most a   
   > sunburn-like redness without blistering or worse) but it will cause a   
   > painful, often severe burn if left for a few minutes.   
   >   
   > It is crucial to have immediate access to plenty of running water,   
   > just in case, but also not to panic unduly: it is not nearly as   
   > aggressive as a concentrated strong acid or concentrated (30%)   
   > hydrogen peroxide.   
      
   Thanks, that's helpful. I have an outdoor spigot where I'm doing it so   
   that's taken care of.   
      
   The obviously dangerous step was the initial mix, but it's not brain   
   surgery and it went fine.   
      
   > That said, strong heat (such as the self-cleaning oven already   
   > suggested, or simply direct heating on a charcoal fire or gas stove   
   > with exhaust fan) followed by scrubbing with a wire brush is a safer   
   > alternative --as long as you make sure that everything cools down to   
   > room temperature before you handle it!   
      
   The oven venting isn't the best, which is why I avoided that. It's nice   
   older (not antique) thinner style cast iron, just pretty cruddy from a   
   lot of years of accumulated junk.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)