#1) Wear Gloves!
Believe it or not, you can leave your cans in Oxalic acid for days - without them turning green, if you keep them out of the sunlight. I put some cans in Thursday night and just took them out on Sunday night. They were in my garage the whole time. Granted, had they been something I really cared about, I wouldn't of left them for that length of time. Most were mystery cans and they did clean up OK.
Hot acid is best for cans fresh out of the dump. We usually mix anywhere from a half a coffee cup to a cup of acid to a 3 gallon bucket. Buckets with handles are good to mix your acid in, because they are easy to move. If you use a cooler or cat litter box, it's too heavy and/or likely to spill.
I check cans about every hour and do a quick scrub with a tooth brush to remove some of the dirt and crud. If I have some really rare dumpers soaking, I will pull them out after 2 hours or so. I'll give them a good scrub and then they go into a bucket of fresh water and I stick the garden hose in that bucket with the flow at a trickle - this way fresh water is going into the bucket the whole time. After about a half an hour, I take them out to dry.
Most cans will need an additional acid bath. The first soaking gets rid of the easy stuff. The second soaking can bring the can up another half a grade or so.
I normally soak all my cans overnight, but the nice thing about oxalic, is you dont have to wait 24 hrs to see results - the acid starts to work in an hour or less. And from there - you can decide how long you want to let the cans soak.
Oxalic Tips
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- Cap-Sealed
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Oxalic Tips
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ED S
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Re: Oxalic Tips
Hey Ed! I just went and picked up 50 lbs of Oxalic. Last time is used the stuff was over 25 years ago so I wasn't real sure how I should mix it up so this helps.
I plan on testing it out on some of those Buds Jay and I found over the weekend to see if I can get it right. Any other advice anyboby has is much appreciated.
I plan on testing it out on some of those Buds Jay and I found over the weekend to see if I can get it right. Any other advice anyboby has is much appreciated.
I dump cans and cars, if you find old cars & trucks while dumping, please let me know.
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Re: Oxalic Tips
Ed,
I used your "recipe" and was very pleased. The Ace-Hi was a real nice improvement. (I think that one came From Michael Boardman). The Old Crown had been cleaned before and the Blatz is still soaking. This was my first time using Oxalic, but not my last.
I used your "recipe" and was very pleased. The Ace-Hi was a real nice improvement. (I think that one came From Michael Boardman). The Old Crown had been cleaned before and the Blatz is still soaking. This was my first time using Oxalic, but not my last.
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Re: Oxalic Tips
Id forgotten about the excitement of pulling cans that were barely readable before a couple of hours in an oxalic acid bath and finding displayable cans there. I used a little over half a cup of acid to about five quarts of hot water. I've been extremely pleased with the results thus far. I've turned several barely readable cans into decent traders.
My question here: is this mixture too strong, or just about right? I saw the first post in this thread talking about mixing to a 3 gallon bucket. I'm not filling that cheap bucket I have that full and bringing it through the house to get it outside!
One more thing: is it better to run my acid bucket outside in the sun or in the garage (with the door open of course, to allow adequate ventilation?
My question here: is this mixture too strong, or just about right? I saw the first post in this thread talking about mixing to a 3 gallon bucket. I'm not filling that cheap bucket I have that full and bringing it through the house to get it outside!
One more thing: is it better to run my acid bucket outside in the sun or in the garage (with the door open of course, to allow adequate ventilation?
Collector of fine rust, craft cans, and anything related to New Orleans area breweries past and present.