# muriatic acid



## barbieheid (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi peoples,

 OK, I located a local source for muriatic acid. A former post had mentioned the proper dilution, but how long do you usually let a hazy bottle soak in this?

 Also, since I'll have to use it outside, will the cold weather effect it?

 Thanks,

 Barbie


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## IRISH (Jan 19, 2006)

I leave them in for anything from a few hours to weeks,  if I forget a bottles in there it can be in the acid for a month or more.   After a few days it really won't do much more so that's probably as long as you want to soak them,  it won't hurt the glass but I'd recomend against putting stoneware in it.

 Cold won't hurt as long as the temperature change when you put bottles in and take them out is not too great.   The Hydrochloric (correct name for muriatic) acid solution should have a lower freezing point than pure water,  I'm not sure what happens if you do freeze it though [:-] .


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## barbieheid (Jan 19, 2006)

>I leave them in for anything from a few hours to weeks,  if I forget a bottles in there it can be in the acid for a month or more.   After a few days it really won't do much more so that's probably as long as you want to soak them, 

 OK, thanks. So if a bottle's still hazy after, say, five days, there's nothing more I can do chemically?

 Appreciate the tips! []


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## CALDIGR2 (Jan 20, 2006)

Muriatic will not remove stains from bottles, but it does an excellent job with rust. The only way to clean stained glass is with a cleaning machine.


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## southern Maine diver (Jan 20, 2006)

Hey Barbie...

 A couple more things...

 Make sure that you "RINSE" the bottle thouroughly when you take it out of the "soup" and be sure not to drip any acid on yourself.  The acid will not hurt the glass... it just "eats" away the  organic matter that clings to it.

 I have left bottles in the acid for months and they come out great!!!  Just be carefull with the stoneware, jugs, clays, ceramics... take them out as soon as you can and rinse them repeatedly in fresh water.[&:]

 One other important thing... if you are soaking your bottles outside in a very cold environment, (below freezing...) don't bring them into a very warm, "roasty ... toasty" house and put them under warm water to rinse them off!!!  If you do, they will crack because of the temperature differential.

 Bring the "outside" bottles in gradually.  Into the garage... then into the basement... hold it in your hand or put it in your pocket and "GRADUALLY" warm the piece up so there isn't a "Sudden" temperature difference.[&:]  Of course, you won't have this problem in the warmer climates, like Seminole, Indiana where Warren lives, but it happens in the "frosty"  Northeastern states![&:]

 Wayne[]

 Wayne


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## barbieheid (Jan 21, 2006)

I have left bottles in the acid for months and they come out great!!!  Just be carefull with the stoneware, jugs, clays, ceramics... take them out as soon as you can and rinse them repeatedly in fresh water.[&:]


 So, what would you say is the average time - few days or few month? They're clean, just hazy and with scale. At first I thought that would take care of it - I must have misread the original post, because now I'm hearing it won't help the haze.


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## Miles (Jan 21, 2006)

Nope, Muriatic acid is really for removing barnacles, and stuff like that. The haziness still stays,  but if you have a high end bottle that's hazy, I reccomend getting it tumbled. If you really wanna spoil yourself, you could get a bottle tumbler for yourself!


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## barbieheid (Jan 21, 2006)

If you have really wanna spoil yourself, you could get a bottle tumbler for yourself!
 [/quote]

 I'm kicking around some ideas ... []


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## diverdown2 (Jan 29, 2006)

so me diver, you are probably the one to ask. I have several (dozen) bottles recovered from our lovely NH waters. What is the best way to get the stains off, Thnaks Bill


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## southern Maine diver (Jan 29, 2006)

Hey Bill...

 It depends on what the stains are... were the bottles recovered from salt water?  Are they covered with barnacles, limpets or pink coraline algae?  Were the bottles recovered  from fresh water?  A river ?   River scum is different than any hard calcium deposits that cover a bottle from salt water.

 Different solutions for different growth. The acid bath eats away the hard calcium growth on a bottle recovered from salt water.  Other solutions work on river scum on bottles recovered from fresh water.  I need a bit more information on what you have and where you recovered it.[:-]

 Keep diving and digging,

 Wayne[&:]

 Photographs would help and they also make great "before" and "After" posts for our members to take a look at...


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