Simplify the following text for a Grade 9 native English-speaking person.
Original: Olives are often soaked in sodium hydroxide to soften them , while pretzels and German lye rolls are glazed with a sodium hydroxide solution before baking to make them crisp . Owing to the difficulty in obtaining food grade sodium hydroxide in small quantities for home use , sodium carbonate is often used in place of sodium hydroxide .
Simplified: The hydrogen is released and the hydroxide bonds with the sodium to make sodium hydroxide .