Easy removal of tarnish on metals using VIAKAL

[PJL]

I have been cleaning some very badly tarnished 20's components. I tried various products including Brasso but it was hopelessly slow and messy so I started experimenting with acid containing cleaning products we had in the house.

'VIAKAL' IS TRULY A MIRACLE - designed for removal of limescale it is an acid suspended in a gue and applied with a toothbrush it is unbeleivably effective at removing tarnish. Bakelite is acid resistant and I noticed no ill effects but no guarantee's - VIAKAL claims to be OK on most metal finishes except silver, gold, copper and aluminium (variable capacitors!) but I would play cautious. Plated items come back shiny, brass dull but the black tarnish is gone...

Peter

[paulsherwin]

I think any limescale removing product would have similar results - it's like removing tarnish from a coin by dipping it in Coke (Coke is mildly acidic). The Cillit Bang commercial famously shows a coin being dipped in the fluid and coming out shiny. You don't have to pay Cillit Bang prices - people like Aldi do limescale removing bathroom spray for about a pound a go.

Paul

[Mike Phelan]

It all depends on what you are trying to remove tarnish from.

You need to remove any lacquer first - cellulose thinners or Nitromors will do this.

If it's brass or copper, citric acid / lemon juice / Coke will usually do the job. Clock cleaning fluid (a mixture of ammonia, oleic acid and detergent) is even better.

As for silver, just dip it together with a small piece of aluminium in some washing soda (sodium carbonate) solution.

For aluminium, stick it in the dishwasher.

If you look at the matt brass finish in the pins of a 13A plug, this is done by dipping the metal in nitric acid for a few seconds, washing it off, then repeating the process in chromic acid. Don't try this at home unless you know what you are doing.

suspended in a gue

Eh? Sorry, that's got me!

[chipp1968]

I understand it MIke , GOO, as in the Goo that the acid is suspended in , like a gel maybe

[Herald1360]

Or maybe it's just less sticky than glue

Chris

[Radio_Dave]

Am I the only one who's had some major disasters when using an acid to clean brass

I always seem to dissolve the zinc from the copper and turn the brass a pinky, red colour

David

[PJL]

OK...OK...my spelling is normally good...yes a high viscoscity suspension which prevents the acid from running off the item...goo?

The moment is lost now...30 minutes with chrome cleaner and brasso trying to remove encrusted black tarnish from chromed brass acheived very little. Just 5 minutes of light brushing with viakal and it was done. Not much chrome left but I doubt the acid was responsible.

[Mike Phelan]

Gorrit, Chipp! Thanks - I was reading it like cue! D'oh - was never good at that sort of thing - difficult for an Archivist as well ...

PJL
I think removing chrome from brass with an acid would be difficult, apart from using the "top three".
I wonder what the black stuff was? Possibly lacquer?


How do you find a systems' analyst? They look at the obituary column and ask why they all died in alphabetical order!

Mike

[Paul_RK]

Viakal is a product that, though I've never used, I've never forgotten, since seeing it on the shelves of a local supermarket years ago with its then slogan "Viakal - Lime To Shine" carelessly rendered by whoever was printing the shelf labels as "Viakal - Lime To Slime". Or was that just a very clever marketing ploy?

Paul

[Nickthedentist]

Originally Posted by Radio_Dave

Am I the only one who's had some major disasters when using an acid to clean brass

I always seem to dissolve the zinc from the copper and turn the brass a pinky, red colour

Yes. When servicing old and tatty taps on baths and basins, I tend to remove the brass headgear and jumper and dunk it in acid to clean off decades of limscale, before greasing and reassembling. The resulting pink colour is immaterial to me as it's hidden below the tap's chromed cover, but I'd like to know how to avoid it for visible components.

Nick.

[unitelex]

Originally Posted by Mike Phelan

For aluminium, stick it in the dishwasher.

Diswasher salts dissolve Aluminium to an extent, so would advise some caution with anything with a fine structure being put in the Dishwasher to clean.
Also, not sure if any Aluminium salts would end up on the dishes - possibly unhealthy?

[Nickthedentist]

Originally Posted by unitelex

Also, not sure if any Aluminium salts would end up on the dishes - possibly unhealthy?

There is some theoretical corrrelation between aluminium and alzheimer's (though I've forgotten the details ), but I'm sure it would be no worse than using an aluminium saucepan.

[Mike Phelan]

Originally Posted by unitelex

Diswasher salts dissolve Aluminium to an extent, so would advise some caution with anything with a fine structure being put in the Dishwasher to clean.
Also, not sure if any Aluminium salts would end up on the dishes - possibly unhealthy?

True - they contain sodium carbonate and/or sodium hydroxide, both of them etch aluminium, which bring things like IF cans up a treat.
Aluminium oxidises immediately on contact with air, then.

As I don't do this every day, or use them in cooking, and don't put anything else in the dishwasher at the same time, I think I am reasonably safe! Verb sap ...