Key Features

• It is used for making soaps and detergents. Sodium hydroxide is used for hard bar soap while Potassium Hydroxide is used for liquid soaps. sodium hydroxide is used more often than Potassium Hydroxide because it is cheaper and a smaller quantity is needed.
• It is used as drain cleaners that contain sodium hydroxide convert fats and grease that cana clog pipes into soap, which dissolves in water.
• It is used for making artificial textile fibres (such as Rayon).
• It is used in the manufacture of paper. Around 56% of sodium hydroxide produced is used by industry, 25% of which is used in the paper industry.
• It is used in purifying bauxite ore from which aluminium metal is extracted. This is known as Bayer process.
• It is used in de-greasing metals, oil refining, and making dyes and bleaches.