lye

“Students were forbidden to speak their traditional languages at the schools and forced to learn English. Sometimes teachers would wash students’ mouths out with lye soap.”

After Herrling learned of a police investigation into Wilding’s disappearance, she and her co-conspirators tried to dissolve his body in acid and lye on the rooftop balcony of her apartment, according to the prosecutor.

The prohibition against soap comes from a time when all soap was made with lye, which could eat through a patina in minutes.

As the bodies accumulated, Jon Hallford even suggested getting rid of them by digging a big hole and treating them with lye or setting them on fire, according to the texts presented by the prosecution.

Something you’ll see somewhat less in the U.S. is curing with lye, the method behind lutefisk and century eggs.