oxalic acid, what is it?
- Thread starter Frankthetank
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why are alot of people afraid of oa? I use it without gloves all the time. I put my hands in the oa bath when taking out parts and my hands don't burn.I do wear eye protection though. 
hahahhaha. I'm serious though. I do stick my hands without gloves and I do not get any acid burns.
i don't wear gloves either. But I do wash my hands right after getting parts from the stuff.
Only thing i think might be dangerous is first mixing in the bleach when the water is hot (I try not to breath then).
Only thing i think might be dangerous is first mixing in the bleach when the water is hot (I try not to breath then).
Ok Ive seen a lot of threads on Oxalic Acid. Here's is what I know & I don't know. I bought some at my local Hardware store & returned it. After I pulled a MSDS OFF OF Google. That is a Materials safety data sheet..For myself I didnt like what I saw so I returned The oxalic acid .. I wouldn't poor this in the ground based on the MSDS. The plus is Ive been told by several people it works well & its cheep to buy..
What I use is evaporust .. You can buy this at most Auto supply stores or on line this is what the military uses to clean rust off of its equipment. .It works great & its citrus based safe to use as far as I can tell. I still wouldn't dump it on the ground though. The down side is its $20.00 a gallon. or $80.00 for 5 gallons.But its will do a pile of parts & then some.You can buy a small jug for $8.00 about to play with to see how you like it. On rusty or pitted chrome it works well. To make the rust go away on peeling chrome. I would NOT use either product it will unpeel some peeling chrome like a banana .On cad it works great but you may have to use it then clear coat the part to avoid flash chrome in some cases.In other words if you dont clear coat it on cad parts it may rerust quickly ..For what its worth thats my 2 cents.
PS that CAP thread is great Im going to try the Citric Acid powder my self ..That looks like a cheep version of evaporust.
What I use is evaporust .. You can buy this at most Auto supply stores or on line this is what the military uses to clean rust off of its equipment. .It works great & its citrus based safe to use as far as I can tell. I still wouldn't dump it on the ground though. The down side is its $20.00 a gallon. or $80.00 for 5 gallons.But its will do a pile of parts & then some.You can buy a small jug for $8.00 about to play with to see how you like it. On rusty or pitted chrome it works well. To make the rust go away on peeling chrome. I would NOT use either product it will unpeel some peeling chrome like a banana .On cad it works great but you may have to use it then clear coat the part to avoid flash chrome in some cases.In other words if you dont clear coat it on cad parts it may rerust quickly ..For what its worth thats my 2 cents.
PS that CAP thread is great Im going to try the Citric Acid powder my self ..That looks like a cheep version of evaporust.
As far as the citric acid goes, it is hard to find aside from eBay and a local vitamin store that wants almost 11 dollars a pound I couldn't find it at walmart oe kmart. I checked the vitamin/pharmacy areas and the canning areas. Looks like I might have to go through eBay. I was planning on usingvthe oxalic acid but ibthink I'm going the cap route instead.
Here's some extra information specifically for the Australian members on here looking for Australian sellers:
I searched around for wood bleach, but only found ready to use liquids that are less than 10% oxalic acid and often contained other acids too. Web searching came up with the same results. What I eventually did find is the pure crystal form is sold as an industrial laundry stain remover over here.
So far one seller (wholesale) that I've found is http://www.totalsupplysolutions.com.au/ ... removal-in
I searched around for wood bleach, but only found ready to use liquids that are less than 10% oxalic acid and often contained other acids too. Web searching came up with the same results. What I eventually did find is the pure crystal form is sold as an industrial laundry stain remover over here.
So far one seller (wholesale) that I've found is http://www.totalsupplysolutions.com.au/ ... removal-in
Have you considered simply using aluminum foil and Coke? That's what I use to clean all my rusty chrome. It is 100% safe, cheap, and available at every grocery store in the world. Wad up the foil, pour Coke on the part and on the foil and start scrubbing.
My understanding is the tiny amount of phosphoric acid in the Coke reacts chemically with the aluminum and rust to melt it away. Also, you can scrub the heck out of chrome with aluminum without fear of scratching the chrome ever. Chrome and steel are much harder than aluminum.
Vinegar is stronger than you think. It will make any pits in your chrome deeper. I left a hammer head in vinegar over night once to try to clean it up and the outer 1/8 inch of steel had turned to mush by morning. Seriously strong.
My understanding is the tiny amount of phosphoric acid in the Coke reacts chemically with the aluminum and rust to melt it away. Also, you can scrub the heck out of chrome with aluminum without fear of scratching the chrome ever. Chrome and steel are much harder than aluminum.
Vinegar is stronger than you think. It will make any pits in your chrome deeper. I left a hammer head in vinegar over night once to try to clean it up and the outer 1/8 inch of steel had turned to mush by morning. Seriously strong.
In regard to citric acid, is it bad when you drop a part in and it starts fizzing(bubbling)?
I dropped my seat post clamp and one spoke and nipple to test before I drop all the spokes in there and that's what started to happen with said peices. All the chrome seems to be fine.
I dropped my seat post clamp and one spoke and nipple to test before I drop all the spokes in there and that's what started to happen with said peices. All the chrome seems to be fine.
