I got about 5 lbs of sodium dodecyl sulfate on amazon, I think that you could buy it here too:
https://www.bulkapothecary.com/sodium-lauryl-sulfoacetate-sl...
If you haven't run out of lye like myself, you could perhaps convert SDS to lauryl alcohol and go through the process to produce SLS, but SDS is also
an effective soap in it's own right, plus you can use SDS for decellularizing tissues.
Also the reports of SDS being a pain to handle while dry are very true. I bought a huge (5lb) bag of the stuff on amazon and when it arrived, I popped
it open expecting some tame, dry soap. My haste in opening the bag resulted in a large amount of the exceptionally fine powder being ejected into the
air, which I of course breathed in a large quantity of when I inhaled sharply in surprise at the sight of a large white cloud. I was coughing for a
good hour after that, my eyes felt like they had just had jalapenos jammed into them, and my nose burned like diethyl ether on an unattended hotplate.
Subsequent interactions with this compound have been conducted with more knowledge of this compound's properties, and without such idiocy in the
process of opening the bag, so things aren't nearly as bad as that first encounter, but still my throat and eyes burn during and after opening my bag
of SDS. The moral of the story is that even non-dropped soap can ruin your day if you aren't careful.
If you decide to take the SDS-->lauryl alcohol-->SLS route, be cautious, it's a mean compound in dry form, though solutions are only as bad as
soapy water. |
