[Greenbuilding] calcium & lime removal (was re: Fixture Folly)

[Benjamin Pratt]

I did suggest vinegar in my last post, but in a much less detailed way.

On Tue, Dec 20, 2011 at 1:34 PM,  <bill.allen at verizon.net> wrote:
> Thanks, Vinegar I have:-)
> Bill in NY
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: RT <archilogic at yahoo.ca>
> Sender: greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
> Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:21:49
> To: GBioEL<greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Reply-to: archilogic at chaffyahoo.ca,
>  Green Building <greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Subject: [Greenbuilding] calcium & lime removal (was re: Fixture Folly)
>
> bill.allen wrote:
>
>> What "acid" do you use?  I haven't found anything common that works.
>>> use an acid to get rid of all the calcium and lime deposits
>
> Acetic acid (aka vinegar) does the job, just not as quickly as muriatic
> acid solutions but it's not as corrosive as muriatic acid either.
>
> ie If you use an electric kettle the heating elements will likely develop
> a thick calcium coating over the years. Pouring enough vinegar into the
> kettle to completely submerge the elements and leaving it to soak
> overnight or for a day is usually enough to dissolve a thin layers of the
> calcium or lime. If you listen closely you can hear a faint "s-s-s-ssss"
> as the vinegar does its stuff.  If the coating is really thick, you may
> need to refresh the vinegar and repeat the soaking. Corollary: If you
> don't hear the "ssss"-ing, then the vinegar is spent and could stand
> refreshing.
>
> Similarly, soaking mineral-encrusted plumbing parts in vinegar will clean
> them.
>
> For mineral coatings on surfaces where soaking is impossible or
> impractical, soaking a rag or paper towel in vinegar and applying it like
> a poultice around or on the affected part or surface and re-wetting with
> vinegar as necessary to prevent the poultice from drying out, usually does
> the trick.
>
>
>
> --
> === * ===
> Rob Tom
> Kanata, Ontario, Canada
>
> < A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a  >
> (manually winnow the chaff from my edress if you hit "reply")
>
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-- 


b e n j a m i n p r a t t

professor art+design
the university of wisconsin stout