Today, lye is commonly manufactured as flakes, pellets, or powder. It's not a type of soap you make intentionally (out of lye water or otherwise), but rather a residue that some soaps leave on surfaces lie shower curtains. What should I do with the materials left in the barrel after the process is complete? Scientific American asked Ben Buchanan, a professor specializing in cybersecurity and statecraft at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Run the lye water through again if necessary. rubber motors in rubber-powered model aircraft. Speaking generally, the challenge with a lot of these facilities is oftentimes that they are older, or they just don’t have the security infrastructure that we would want to guard against hackers. For years, cybersecurity experts have warned of attacks on small municipal systems. You guys are really great. This was a very detailed and an easy read. At one point in the briefing, Gualtieri was asked if he would call the incident an attempted bioterrorism attack. The basic chemistry set is demystified, and it can be seen that, "This article really helped me learn how to make Lye from wood ashes in order to make soap instead of using Sodium, "Thank you! Use pH test strips. Sodium hydroxide, also called lye, is used to treat water acidity but the compound is also found in cleaning supplies such as soaps and … Subscribers get more award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology. Make sure the barrel is sturdy and will not fall over. There’s an important distinction here between security and safety. If you place a potato in your lye water and the potato sinks, it means that the lye is not yet strong enough and needs at least one more pass through the barrel. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published, This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Approved. What can we learn from this? Castile soap is a moisturizing soap made with olive oil. Replace a bucket under the holes in the barrel. Please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners. If the feather doesn’t dissolve, the lye isn't strong enough yet. If it floats, the lye is ready. If you boil down the resulting liquid, you should have a white residue. a person successfully hacked into their water system computer and tried to poison an entire city by attempting to add dangerous levels of lye. The best hardwoods for lye water include ash, hickory, beech, sugar maple, and buckeye. The straw and stones will act as a filter. Getting the balance right often depends on more resources than a lot of these facilities have. Sodium hydroxide, also called lye, is used to treat water acidity but the compound is also found in cleaning supplies such as soaps and … Sodium hydroxide, also called lye, is used to treat water acidity but the compound is also found in cleaning supplies such as soaps and … However, clarify it a few times during this process, by boiling then cooling and letting the sediment settle, then pour clearer liquid for use and repeat. Soft water has lower concentrations of other elements, so it’s ideal for soap making. Your directions and illustrations made me very confident as I proceeded. by weight Safety Notes: Due to shipping restrictions, you can only purchase 5 jars per transaction Usage Instructions: Lye can be dangerous if it's not handled properly. Don’t use ashes from softwood trees, as these don’t contain enough potassium. Because although there was intent to attack here, and there was action to attack here, no one was harmed. ", Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide. When you clean your drains (with lye), either they are backed up with water, which dilutes your lye, or they are slow draining, which means the lye does not spend as much time in the drain. Even a small potato has a lot of starch and water in it, though, which means that it won't dissolve immediately when placed in lye. To learn how to test the strength of your lye water, keep reading! Lye. Great stuff. Using these as a potash source would yield KOH, potassium hydroxide. Fortunately, a staff member noticed the attack as it was happening and restored the correct settings before anything changed. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. Guess again! What makes lye dangerous? This is a reminder of the importance of the work of industrial control systems professionals, and the people who secure those systems. You'll need to buy a different kind of lye to make bar soap. If the lye has a pH of 13, the potato will float, which means the lye is ready to use. Lye is so toxic that it will eat through certain substances, causing it to damage many materials. The case shows that there are bad actors out there, that money and time we spend securing and making safe our industrial control systems is often money and time well spent—but that we can actually manage to defend the systems in such a way that (against at least some attacks) minimizes the amount of harm that’s done. How much of a broader threat might attacks like this pose to public facilities, and what can be done to protect them? The most reliable way to check lye water's strength is to use a pH meter, but if you don't have one, you can use a potato. There are four different tests you can use to test the strength of the lye: Use pH test strips. Love the simple drawings and links for additional help and safety issues. To learn how to test the strength of your lye water, keep reading! You can boil the resulting liquid to get a lye powder. Sodium hydroxide, also called lye, is used to treat water acidity but the compound is also found in cleaning supplies such as soaps and … There’s a better option out there! Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Are there people who are monitoring systems to make sure that things don’t move out of whack for unclear reasons? ", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsfskVr_raY, http://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/make-lye.html#.WJs49X9vtf0, http://www.lovinsoap.com/2015/12/how-to-pick-containers-for-making-soap/, Please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. "This is useful info to make "soft green soap." "Lye" most commonly refers to sodium hydroxide (NaOH), but historically has been used for potassium hydroxide (KOH).. Today, lye is commercially manufactured using a membrane cell chloralkali process.It is supplied in … If you’re an insider, you already have that kind of knowledge. "This is obviously a significant and potentially dangerous increase. A lot of times the people who carry out cases like this—of which there are not that many—were disgruntled employees who already knew the system and how to manipulate it. If ingested, the contaminated water with a concentrated level of lye could "damage the human cells," he said. Can I make it into crystals by boiling it down? ", "This was great and can't wait to try it.". ", our most basic fundamental chemicals are on hand with a key given by your site and like sites. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,111,499 times. If you must use another material, make sure that it isn't aluminum, as this will react negatively with the lye. ", local locker plant is rendered. It’d be hard in the COVID moment to say, “Everything’s got to be managed on-site.” I don’t know how realistic that is. If you’re truly a foreign attacker, you want to do a lot of reconnaissance on the system. ", "Helped because it is detailed, very well presented and understandable. This chemical (better known as lye) was originally set at 100 parts per million, an innocuous amount that helps control the water’s pH levels. When all the lye water has drained through a second time, test the pH again. I use in combination with other ingredients to lubricate, "We use this soap for our clothes. Sophie Bushwick is an associate editor at Scientific American, covering technology. References wikiHow's. Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, is the main ingredient in liquid drain cleaners. After every hardwood fire you have, allow the ashes to cool for a few days. Sodium hydroxide, also called lye, is used to treat water acidity, but the compound can also be found in common cleaning supplies such as soaps and drain cleaners. The attacker tried to boost that to 11,100 ppm, high enough to damage skin and cause hair loss if the water contacts the body—or, if it is ingested, to cause potentially deadly gastrointestinal symptoms. To make lye water, drill 6 small holes in the base of a barrel and place a 1-2 inch layer of stones on the bottom of the barrel. I like all-natural products, as I am an, "Wonderful to know how to prepare my lye by using ash. It's amazing. Buy lye from Bulk Apothecary. But I think balancing the security and usability of these systems is often hard. Last Updated: April 2, 2020 It’s … And remember that lye is caustic, so be very careful when retrieving your potato! Pay attention to how many bucketfuls of water you add. After a few hours, lye water will trickle out from the holes into the bucket. Use a pH meter to see if the pH is at 13. Hard water contains more dissolved minerals than soft water does, but all water has the same consistency. The lye water will probably not be ready after a single run, but you can test it. By using our site, you agree to our. Nope! ", "I came to know how to make lye from a simple thing. The liquid itself will probably be the color of whatever you put into it. Coal is pure carbon, and will not work the same way as wooden ashes will. Always Add Lye to Water (Never Water to Lye! Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at, How to Stop Doomscrolling News and Social Media, Why COVID Vaccines Are Taking So Long to Reach You, What the Capitol Riot Data Download Shows about Social Media Vulnerabilities. Does that make it less of a target, or is it actually more vulnerable compared to a plant in a larger, more populated area? The lye water will drain down through the straw and stones, leaving the ashes and particles on top. Dip a chicken feather into the lye. Keep it up. The lye water that comes out the second time will be stronger. To make lye using this method, you'll need enough ash to nearly fill a wooden barrel. Lye water gets its potassium from the ashes, not the water. Cybersecurity is keeping the bad actors out of the computer networks, or limiting what they can do once they’re inside the computer networks. ", "It helped me to understand about the lye chemical. % of people told us that this article helped them. Working with lye is dangerous, and requires a number of safety precautions. You don’t have to put a lid on the barrel, but make sure that it’s protected from rain in case you get a storm. Use a pH meter to see if the pH is at 13. Soap made from hard lye water will still work, but soap made from soft water will be more enjoyable to use because it lathers better. "This is obviously a significant and potentially dangerous increase. Replace the bucket with a fresh one to catch the rest of the water. Not quite! Why should you use soft water to make your lye water? Try again! wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Can I use the ash from fallen (dried brown) coconut palm fronds and coconut shell that is discarded after the copra is extracted to make my lye? The hacker entered the system and set it to massively increase sodium hydroxide levels in the water. So, if the systems are not as secure as we would like, but their internet is accessible, that is a recipe for trouble. Let the water drain through the ashes again. A cybersecurity expert explains how safety systems stopped the attack. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/c\/cc\/Make-Lye-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/v4-460px-Make-Lye-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/c\/cc\/Make-Lye-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/aid6808-v4-728px-Make-Lye-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"