# ATTENTION muriatic acid users! A warning!



## Wheelah23 (Jun 28, 2011)

DO NOT USE MURIATIC ACID ON PORCELAIN STOPPERS! I ruined two local porcelain stoppers for the Hutter closure by doing this. The stenciling on the top is now so faded as to be almost unreadable. They were rusty, and Lime-Away says not to use it on old porcelain, so I thought acid would work well... WRONG! It ruined them [][][]

 I hope I can find replacements, but one of them was to an extremely rare local blob [][]


----------



## cowseatmaize (Jun 28, 2011)

Sorry Conner but you should have asked, I could have told you that. Even a transfer under glaze is not safe in that stuff. Any pottery type ware is a no no in a strong acid, especially if it's crazed. Lime Away is a more dilute form of a few different acids and other ingredients.


----------



## GuntherHess (Jun 28, 2011)

got to be careful putting hydrochloric acid (muriatic) on any ceramics. It may not affect glass but it can do a number on other stuff


----------



## glass man (Jun 28, 2011)

A friend put some bottles in a five gal bucket with some acid in it..in an out building.The next day anything that could rust was rusted..lawn mower etc.So evidently even the vapors it puts off in a closed place rusts metal..JAMIE


----------



## andy volkerts (Jun 29, 2011)

[]Your right, and it will rust stuff from about fifty feet away in a big barn or shed[]


----------



## RICKJJ59W (Jun 29, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  cowseatmaize
> 
> Sorry Conner but you should have asked, I could have told you that. Even a transfer under glaze is not safe in that stuff. Any pottery type ware is a no no in a strong acid, especially if it's crazed. Lime Away is a more dilute form of a few different acids and other ingredients.


 
 "Lime away its the bomb"


----------



## RICKJJ59W (Jun 29, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  andy volkerts
> 
> []Your right, and it will rust stuff from about fifty feet away in a big barn or shed[]


 
 or a basement[]


----------



## Wheelah23 (Jun 30, 2011)

I thought it was safe to use because I first tried it on a stopper with no stenciling... There were no ill effects. Oh well, derp and learn. []


----------



## suzanne (Jun 30, 2011)

Real Lemon lemon juice works great on porcelain.  Just drop your hutter's into a coffe cup of it and go back in a few hours to check on it.


----------



## CALDIGR2 (Jun 30, 2011)

It will damage the stenciling only if it is weak and/or poorly glazed. I have acid bathed many hundreds of bottles with Hutter stoppers and only the poorly made ones suffered ill effects. Zip, zam zoom, the wasted rusty bail disappears, along with any rust on the rest of the bottle. Use it ONLY out of doors in a large space that is free and clear of obstruction.


----------



## Wheelah23 (Jun 30, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  CALDIGR2
> 
> It will damage the stenciling only if it is weak and/or poorly glazed. I have acid bathed many hundreds of bottles with Hutter stoppers and only the poorly made ones suffered ill effects. Zip, zam zoom, the wasted rusty bail disappears, along with any rust on the rest of the bottle. Use it ONLY out of doors in a large space that is free and clear of obstruction.


 
 That seems to be the case here. One of the stoppers' stenciling was completely removed, while one only faded a little bit. I'm still not going to try it on others, but it only ruined one of them, to be honest.


----------



## epackage (Jun 30, 2011)

This sucks Connor because I know you had a few nice local's...


----------



## Wheelah23 (Jun 30, 2011)

The Giblin is the one that got only a little faded. That was the more common one []

 The super rare J. Henderson is the one that's unreadable. Of course that's the way it works... The worst part is that the glaze was unaffected. They're still just as shiny as before. It's just the stenciling that's eaten away. And to add insult to insult to insult to injury, the base part of the Henderson stopper, where it says "PAT'D K. HUTTER", etc., was completely unaffected. Only the top, where it has the important information, was ruined [:'(]


----------



## epackage (Jun 30, 2011)

Sorry buddy, I know how you feel, I cherish my original stoppers..[]


----------



## splante (Jul 13, 2011)

you most likley covered this but is the  murittic acid ok on embossed bottles? What is the ratio and length of time to let them soak? I am assuming it would destroy ACL bottles>


----------



## GuntherHess (Jul 13, 2011)

it wont hurt embossing on glass bottles.


----------



## CALDIGR2 (Jul 13, 2011)

Years ago we dug the site of a brewery in Stockton, CA that had literally thousands of porcelain stoppers. I brought home enough to fill a 25 gallon paper drum and cleaned all of them in muriatic diluted 25% by water. The rust was gone, but the stoppers were unharmed. They were slowly sold for 25Â¢ each.


----------



## Wheelah23 (Jul 13, 2011)

I guess it makes sense that only the poorly made ones were ruined. 

 I used a solution of probably 1/4 acid, the rest water... It works wonders on rusty/dirty bottles, though!


----------



## splante (Jul 14, 2011)

thanks wheelah thats sound like a safe ratio for me to try it out


----------



## Wheelah23 (Jul 14, 2011)

I wouldn't try it on ACL's... Just my guess. I leave 'em in for abut a week, just to be sure the job gets done. It won't damage embossed bottles, but from now on, I'm not going to risk anything else.


----------



## CALDIGR2 (Jul 15, 2011)

As I stated before, QUALITY porcelain stoppers are not harmed in the least bit by muriatic baths. The one on the right has benefited from a cleaning in acid, the left is as found and packed with rust. Can you see any detrimental effects from cleaning?


----------



## Wheelah23 (Jul 15, 2011)

That might be the case. But I guess I can't really tell the quality of the stopper's stencil until AFTER it's faded away. [8|]


----------



## CALDIGR2 (Jul 15, 2011)

Stoppers aren't anything to panic over, so if they are faded out so be it. You lose a HUGE 50Â¢ or a buck, tops.


----------

