# Muriatic Acid Bath Gone Bad



## Bottleman

I personally like to use oxalic acid for cleaning rust and dried medicine out of bottle but that stuff wonâ€™t take heavy lime deposits off. Because I live around a lot of limestone, lots of the bottles I dig have that on them. I went to Lows and picked up a jug of Muriatic acid for only $5. I didnâ€™t realize it was so powerful and I soaked a few bottles in it inside a plastic pretzel container with a lid that didnâ€™t seal. An hour later the whole room smelled like acid and when I lifted the cap I could see acid steam rising out of it. Without thinking I took it and dumped it down the shower. BIG mistake! It stared fizzing around the brass drain and the whole bathroom filled up with acid fumes. I luckily survived but would someone please tell me the right dilution that will be strong enough to take lime deposits off?    


 Thanks, Tom


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## madpaddla

Tom:

 I have been looking for that same "RECIPE".  Thanks for posting.  Before I got to the forum I used LimeAway.  That had good results on alot of stuff, except some cloudiness, and forgot to wear gloves first time.  Hands were peeling like a snake.  Once again good post I'll keep checking to find the right mixture of Muriatic Acid.

 Madpaddla


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## capsoda

Hey Tom, Mix your muratic 1 part acid to 2 parts water. Use outside only and away from any metal or concrete. Keep covered with a tight lid when not in use. 5 gallon buckets are great for muratic.

 It won't get out the cloudyness on all glass, some just have to be tumbled.


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## Bottleman

Thank you so much for the information Warren! I think this will help me and Madpaddla out a lot!


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## madpaddla

Warren:

 Thanks.  Good post bottle.
 Madpaddla


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## CALDIGR2

I have been using Muriatic with great success for many years. It is not a glass cleaner, however, but rather a rust and encrustation remover. I don't soak bottles in it, either, instead just dipping the glass in the acid and then rubbing the material off with rubber gloves. A water bath will quickly neutralise the acid. Also, NEVER use Muriatic, or any other acid for that matter, indoors. It is an outside only operation, being careful to not breathe the vapors, because doing so usually results in a bit of discomfort. LOL.


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## mikequarry

how long do you leave the bottles in the solution?will it hurt them?


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## bne74honda

Bottleman......WOW are you lucky...[]. Muriatic goes by another name - Hydrochloric. All the advise you've got so far is right on. NEVER inside. I've used it now for 3 years and I do soak in it as well as wash. Rubber gloves, safety glasses and mask for washing. NEVER add water to acid....water first.

I have soaked bottles for various amounts of time to find out what works and what doesn't. I figure if it doesn't soak off in 2 days then scrubbin or tumblin's the only way. BTW...only use acid in a container that seals so well that it can be held upside down without leaking. It will etch concrete, eat asphalt, permanently mar stainless steel (sinks) and burn yer hands quite nicely.

To dispose of an acid bath, add baking soda until the mixture no longer fizzes - this neutralizes the acid - then it can safely be poured down any drain or outside.

I always wash off rubber gloves and any tools that have been used in the bath with lots of cold clean water.

Rust and like stains can be removed using CLR or Goo Gone. Goo Gone takes off nearly everything that CLR cannot. I have even used reverse electrolysis to get tough rust off some porcelain and glass.

My 10 cents....

Brian


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## Gunsmoke47

Hey Mike, I have forgotten about bottles I put in a 50/50 % solution of Muratic acid and water for a month and it won't hurt glass. It also won't cure sick glass (the irridescent sheen on bottles that have been in the ground a long time). Pottery, stoners,ceramic is another story. You must soak them diligently in baking soda and water and fresh water after the acid bath. Kelley


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## mikequarry

Thank guys ,i got a few im going to try......


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## acls

Muriatic acid is bad news.  If inhaled it can cause pneumonia.  The fumes also can damge your eyes.  I left a about a quart outside uncovered and it caused a section of my patio table to rust.

That being said it is a good, strong cleaner.  Mason's use it to clean up small concrete spills.  If you are going to dilute it make sure you add the acid to the water.  Otherwise you may get have a small chemical explosion.


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## tazmainiendigger

Tom thats funny but not! I bet there aint no hair balls left in that drain!!!![sm=lol.gif]  I use it full strength on some of the bottles I tumble to take out the oxide residue but always outdoors....  they also have a "new formula" muriatic out, that they added something too so it wont attack the nails,skin and eyes, it works good but it will still have that effervescence.....Taz


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## southern Maine diver

Bottlman...

 Hey Tom,  I posted a 15 point list on how to use Muriatic acid bath "soup" back on 01-04-06 under the thread of Re: uh-oh, did I do something wrong?[8|]

 Do a search for "muriatic acid, soup, southern Maine diver" and you'll pull up several threads on proper use of, disposal and cautions while using the muriatic acid bath.. I've used it for years with great results...[]

 Just be careful and lets all use some common sense when soaking our bottles in Muriatic acid, soup or any caustic material for that matter...[]

 Wayne[&:]


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## Yooper14

[]You're cracking me up, Man!  Muratic Acid is wicked stuff.  I about killed myself a while back when I tended for a brick mason.  He told me never to breathe the stuff, so of course the first time I used it I had to just take a teeny little wiff to see what was so bad.  I about sizzled my brain right there - it felt like fishing hooks being pulled through my nose....NASTY stuff!  Mason use it to clean up mortar that splashes onto the brickwork, but even then you have to rinse it right away or it will eat away your brickwork!  I've thought of using it on bottles, but so far none of my have stains I haven't been able to neutralize some other way.  

 BTW - I laughed and laughed when someone a few posts ahead of this said "I bet your drain doesn't have any more hairballs!"  HA HA HA!!!  How true.  You might want to check and see if your drain still has a pipe, too....


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## HopelessMD

Just remember that muriatic (hydrochloric) acid is as far as one should go. Acids such as sulfuric or hydroflouric have no place in bottle cleaning -- they won't remove glass sickness but they may kill you or burn you until you wish you were dead. If hydrochloric doesn't remove glass sickness, no other mineral acid will. Either clean the bottle traditionally or have it tumbled.

 A quick note. If inclined, look up perchloric acid, preferrably the wikipedia link. This is mentioned because perchloric acid (not really accessable to the general public) is designated a "superacid." A superacid is defined as an acid which is at leat one hundred times as acidic as sulfuric acid and reading about heated perchloric acid may help one understand the extradorinally corrosive effect of sulfuric acid. I really don't even know why sulfuric or hydroflouric acid are even mentioned on this board. (End of soapbox.)


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## Bottleman

HopelessMD, the only reason I use the acid is to remove heavy rust and calcium stains from dug bottles. I understand that the acid will not clean the sickness but it does a nice job on dried medicine and food stains too. If you can find something else that works that fast and is that inexpensive I would use it.


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