Does anyone know cheap internet vendors,where SWIM might obtain NaOh and hexane/d-limonene ?

Hi Hoot,

I have not used this myself but someone else has bought d-limonene from here:

http://www.citra-solv.com/ppaf.shtml

NaOH is probably one of the easiest things to get hold of, you can get it from any local store. If you have drains to be cleaned you'll be able to find it! If you can't get to a store or don't have any near you then I'm positive you can find it on ebay or something.

Hexane can be bought here: http://www.hexane.chemicalhouse.com/ although again I haven't used it. If was ever to attempt this extraction (which I won't obviously) I'd use naphtha, plenty of sources of that all over the place, which don't involve the net - I see the net as a last resort.

For lye, look up for companies that sell soap-making supplies.

For limonene, try googling for "orange oil" (cleaning agent) "citrus terpene" and such.

Lye itself (Sodium Hydroxide) is also sold on EB as a biodiesel manufacturing component. You can find it in granulated form [very important size] under the brand name Red Devil Lye.

"you can do it eeeeeeeeebay!!!"

I don't know about d-limonene, but for lye, I had a remarkably difficult time finding it locally, as all local Home Depots and Lowells didn't sell 100% NaOH (some drain cleaners say they have it, but none have the pure base, which is very important). I finally found a supply in my local Ace hardware. Give that place a look and see if they don't carry lye.