Oxcilic Acid Jar Can Cleaning

[dgcans]

Hello, I am new to can cleaning but I've heard that soaking single cans in a jar with oxcilic acid is a good way to do it. I picked up some fresh cans from the woods last night and most of them are 70's cans. Although I picked up a few flats. The 70's cans are going to be my "experimental" cans so it doesn't matter what happens to those. I have rubber gloves and I'm going to try using warm water. I'm also doing this outdoors and I'll try to get all the dirt off the can. I have a few more questions so hopefully someone can help me out.

Q1: What kind of mixing ratio should I use for a 16oz jar?

Q2: Do I need to seal the top of the jar with a lid?

Q3: Does it matter if there is dirt inside the can?

Q4: Does the mixing ratio vary between cleaning 70's cans and older cans such as flats?

If I'm missing something else important please let me know and tell me your ways of cleaning cans too! I'm ready to try anything!
Thanks, Dennis

[bantam10]

Hello, I am new to can cleaning but I've heard that soaking single cans in a jar with oxcilic acid is a good way to do it. I picked up some fresh cans from the woods last night and most of them are 70's cans. Although I picked up a few flats. The 70's cans are going to be my "experimental" cans so it doesn't matter what happens to those. I have rubber gloves and I'm going to try using warm water. I'm also doing this outdoors and I'll try to get all the dirt off the can. I have a few more questions so hopefully someone can help me out.

Q1: What kind of mixing ratio should I use for a 16oz jar?

Q2: Do I need to seal the top of the jar with a lid?

Q3: Does it matter if there is dirt inside the can?

Q4: Does the mixing ratio vary between cleaning 70's cans and older cans such as flats?

If I'm missing something else important please let me know and tell me your ways of cleaning cans too! I'm ready to try anything!
Thanks, Dennis

Q2: Do I need to seal the top of the jar with a lid? Yes. The more you keep the heat in the longer the solution will last.

Q3: Does it matter if there is dirt inside the can? Remove it because the more dirt there is on the cans, the more it will weaken the acid. Also remove all dirt clumped to the lids and on the label. Don't use a hard brush though, you can scrape through the rust.

Q4: Does the mixing ratio vary between cleaning 70's cans and older cans such as flats?

This is my personal way of doing it so opinions may vary....

I usually soak several cans at once. I use a steel cooking pot that holds probably 2 gallons of water and 8 cans. 4 or five teaspoons is my ratio. Anyway, I soak flats along with fairly clean tabs, just check on the tabs after 30 mins. You should then be able to tell if and how longer they should be in there for.