Muriatic Watch Out

[Dive4bottles]

I'm getting some mixed messages on the use of Muriatic acid to get sea growth off bottles. I purchased a bottle of it but woman of the house would not allow it's use anywhere on the premises. I was just going to go ahead and set up an acid bath anyway since she never sets foot in the shed where it would be, but then I saw some posts about how the fumes will do some nasty stuff on metal objects. The container is a 5 gallon plastic bucket with a lid. The shed space is shared with several old metal-cased electronic slot machines that belong to a relative who's storing them there. Needless to say, I don't need both the woman of the house and her brother dancing on my head if something happened.

Sooo... I've heard that vinegar or Lime Away will work well, but do you dilute it, or use it full strength? How long do you leave them in the bath? The bottles are heavily encrusted. I have some others that I hand-cleaned with a lot of elbow grease, but I'm looking for some solutions that will make the job a little easier and quicker w/o too much expense.

 

[bigkitty53]

Welcome to the forum Dive4Bottles,
Vinegar is diluted to 5% acidity when it's bottled.On the admittedly rare occaisions I've used it,it was full strength and didn't hurt the glass in any way.It just takes longer to dissolve the calcium,etc. deposits.

Hope this helps,

KAT

 

[Bottle Diver]

Hey Dive4bottles:

Nice milk bottle there. I would agree with bigkitty, whenever I use vinegar, I go full strength. A diluted mixture will get off coral encrustations after a long soak, but those barnacles need full strength, and sometimes require some gentle "tapping" with a knife or other edge even after that. They create one amazing adhesive!

Good luck.

 

[Dive4bottles]

RE: Acid, vinegar, after pic

Went down to the nearby Cash & Carry store (kinda like a mini Costco, but no membership needed) and got a case of vinegar. Works fine if you don't have the time to watch them closely and/or fuss with the rubber gloves, baking soda rinse, goggles, and all that. I let it sit in the vinegar bath for 3 or 4 days. Doesn't appear to harm the glass at all and really softens up the barnacles. They are tough sob's, for sure. It still could use a good "pro" polishing to really shine it up. Note the 3-digit phone # on the bottle. I think vinegar will be my prefered "acid" bath, much easier and safer to work with.

 

[Dive4bottles]

One of the other bottles in my collection. It had several really tough barnacles on it that I initially tried getting of with a diluted bleach soak and elbow grease but several still wouldn't budge (but the bleach made them nice and white). This is after a soak in straight vinegar for several days.

 

[Bottle Diver]

There is nothing wrong with using vinegar, I tend to use it a lot in the winter, when I can't really find an area with good ventilation for the muriatic.

 

[Dive4bottles]

Vinegar fits well with my lazy streak (don't have to watch them so close or fuss with the other stuff) and she-who-must-be-obeyed is also content with it.

 

[IRISH]

I just found an 1850's black beer in a winecooler full of Hydrochloric Acid (40% Acid 60% water, I use it on rust covered bottles) that I'd left behind the cellar door (it's leaning on the wall, not hung in the doorway [8|] ), I put it there a month or so ago and put a pile of plain blacks in front of it then forgot about it [8D] , there is no etching on it at all so I wouldn't worry too much about leaving them overnight.

 

[nanny_n_buppa]

Hey folks,
Has any one ever heard of putting a tooth in a cup of Coca Cola and have it dissolve over night? I have actually used it to flush out a plugged car radiator and heater core. I bet it would work on alot of different build ups on glass, obviously it won't eat the glass because it used to be bottled in glass. The acid in Coke is phosphoric acid. I have a Sawyer's Crystal Blueing bottle that still has blueing compound dried on the inside of the bottle. I don't dare to clean it for fear of losing the blueing, who knows, maybe it is a lost formula.
Have fun!!!

 

[Dive4bottles]

I use Coca-Cola in my rum drinks. I don't have any need to dissolve teeth overnight, I dump the bodies in the ocean. I would think it would clog up a radiator with all that sticky crap and also leave a sticky residue on bottles. I take my vehicle to pros to work on, I won't touch it. Straight vinegar works fine and is much cheaper.