Calcium hydroxide (traditionally called slaked lime) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ca(OH)2.

It is a colorless crystal or white powder and is produced when quicklime (calcium oxide) is mixed with water.

Limewater, also called milk of lime, is the common name for a saturated solution of calcium hydroxide.

It forms a fluffy charged solid that aids in the removal of smaller particles from water, resulting in a clearer product.

[citation needed] Another large application is in the paper industry, where it is an intermediate in the reaction in the production of sodium hydroxide.

The trees are sprayed when they are dormant in winter to prevent toxic burns from the highly reactive calcium hydroxide.

Because of its low toxicity and the mildness of its basic properties, slaked lime is widely used in the food industry, In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, the word for calcium hydroxide is nextli.

[citation needed] Limewater is used in the preparation of maize for corn tortillas and other culinary purposes using a process known as nixtamalization.

Similarly, Native Americans traditionally chewed tobacco leaves with calcium hydroxide derived from burnt mollusc shells to enhance the effects.

It has also been used by some indigenous South American tribes as an ingredient in yopo, a psychedelic snuff prepared from the beans of some Anadenanthera species.

[18] Calcium hydroxide, locally known as chuna, choona or soon, is typically added to a bundle of areca nut and betel leaf called "paan" to keep the alkaloid stimulants chemically available to enter the bloodstream via sublingual absorption.

[19] Treating one's hair with limewater causes it to stiffen and bleach, with the added benefit of killing any lice or mites living there.

Their hair is blond, but not only naturally so: they bleach it, to this day, artificially, washing it in lime and combing it back from their foreheads.

Limewater may be prepared by mixing calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) with water and removing excess undissolved solute (e.g. by filtration).