Still amazes me using Barkeepers Friend for rust removal
08-10-20, 02:26 PM
#26
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I used a too-high concentration (since I didn't know) in an unventilated space. I coughed. Maybe my eyes burned. I didn't really suffer, but hearing about it later, I might have taken some years off my life. That was a few years ago, and I'm still OK so maybe I will be OK. But no one should do what I did.
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08-10-20, 03:00 PM
#27
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Oxalate stones
Oxalate stones are beautiful.
but look like they wood be extremely painful.
move had a couple of stones, not an experience I’d risk again.
But you would have to drink it to risk them.
but look like they wood be extremely painful.
move had a couple of stones, not an experience I’d risk again.
But you would have to drink it to risk them.
08-10-20, 11:50 PM
#28
Junior Member
I used a too-high concentration (since I didn't know) in an unventilated space. I coughed. Maybe my eyes burned. I didn't really suffer, but hearing about it later, I might have taken some years off my life. That was a few years ago, and I'm still OK so maybe I will be OK. But no one should do what I did.
08-11-20, 02:32 AM
#29
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Asked a biochemist friend. Said she’d never heard about it when used as a cleaner.
Oxalic acid - when consumed - can react with calcium ions in the blood and form calcium oxalate kidney stones. This can be bad news if you’re in the habit of bingeing on rhubarbs.
But even those are merely described as ”slow to dissolve”.
Looked up an industrial cleaner based on oxalic acid.
The Safety Data Sheet on that said explicitly that ”it degrades easily”, and ”bioaccumulation unlikely”.
While the SDS prescribed gloves for working with the industrial strength stuff, occasional exposure didn’t merit any sterner warning than ”wash hands prior to having a meal”.
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08-11-20, 04:43 AM
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Tom, I’m sure you were exposed to far more carcinogens living in New Jersey than from the consequence of a sniff of oxalic acid.
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08-11-20, 08:33 AM
#31
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Where did you hear that?
Asked a biochemist friend. Said she’d never heard about it when used as a cleaner.
Oxalic acid - when consumed - can react with calcium ions in the blood and form calcium oxalate kidney stones. This can be bad news if you’re in the habit of bingeing on rhubarbs.
But even those are merely described as ”slow to dissolve”.
Looked up an industrial cleaner based on oxalic acid.
The Safety Data Sheet on that said explicitly that ”it degrades easily”, and ”bioaccumulation unlikely”.
While the SDS prescribed gloves for working with the industrial strength stuff, occasional exposure didn’t merit any sterner warning than ”wash hands prior to having a meal”.
Asked a biochemist friend. Said she’d never heard about it when used as a cleaner.
Oxalic acid - when consumed - can react with calcium ions in the blood and form calcium oxalate kidney stones. This can be bad news if you’re in the habit of bingeing on rhubarbs.
But even those are merely described as ”slow to dissolve”.
Looked up an industrial cleaner based on oxalic acid.
The Safety Data Sheet on that said explicitly that ”it degrades easily”, and ”bioaccumulation unlikely”.
While the SDS prescribed gloves for working with the industrial strength stuff, occasional exposure didn’t merit any sterner warning than ”wash hands prior to having a meal”.
Good point, @nlerner, and I also live in NYC (when there isn't a pandemic) which is also toxic.
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Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
08-11-20, 10:39 PM
#32
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@dabac, interesting. I heard it from a pharmacist friend. Maybe I don't need to be so cautious, but I will try to be reasonable.
Or using commercial stuff hours daily.
But as far as I can tell, the danger lies in getting it INTO you, not onto you.
So keep being cautious, but let go of your worry from years before.
Over here, the only generally known concern regarding oxalic acid relates to preparing food items high in oxalic acid in aluminium cooking vessels. Not b/c of the oxalic acid, but b/c of the aluminium they dissolve.
08-12-20, 05:40 PM
#33
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@dabac, thanks. That's assuring. Of course, it was stupid of me not to look up how much strength to use. I had the industrial stuff, and the fumes made me cough, so I was over some limit, but I won't be doing it again. So if I have the industrial stuff in granulated form, how much of that to how much water should I use?
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
08-12-20, 10:53 PM
#34
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People say to remove rust stains from wood, you'd add 1oz of the solid acid to 1pt water. I've seen guides with similar concentrations for metal as well, but measured in tablespoons per gallon which is a little less quantitative. As a scientist I had to do the calculation to get to concentration units I understand. That represents roughly a 0.5M solution. That seems reasonable. We clean things in the lab with 1M HCl (a much stronger acid) and that won't hardly burn your skin and really doesn't fume much at all.
The fumes from any acid will irritate your lungs and bronchi and cause you to cough, but the damage should be short-lived as long as you don't go breathing it regularly.
The fumes from any acid will irritate your lungs and bronchi and cause you to cough, but the damage should be short-lived as long as you don't go breathing it regularly.
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Owner & co-founder, Cycles René Hubris. Unfortunately attaching questionable braze-ons to perfectly good frames since about 2015. With style.
Owner & co-founder, Cycles René Hubris. Unfortunately attaching questionable braze-ons to perfectly good frames since about 2015. With style.
10-22-20, 04:06 AM
#35
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Does it only work when letting the parts SOAK in it for a longer time or can you also "apply" it with a brush or something similar (while such part may still stay attached to the bike)?
10-22-20, 05:17 AM
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I've used it in liquid form on a rag to clean up rusty spokes, handlebars, ect. Spokes I follow up with Never Dull wadding.
10-22-20, 05:42 AM
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I had some bird crap on my car that had dried on, so I quickly grabbed a scouring pad and a water hose to clean it off. Unfortunately, said scouring pad had just been used to clean some stainless steel pots with, you guessed it, Barkeeper's Friend.
Wrecked the otherwise perfect paint job on my car. It may buff out, but that's taking a lot of work.
Wrecked the otherwise perfect paint job on my car. It may buff out, but that's taking a lot of work.
10-22-20, 05:48 AM
#38
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Hmm, rhubarb.
Pie
Crunch
Strudel
rhubarb-strawberry preserves
If I can figure out how to use it to clean bikes....
Bacon grease as a chain lube just doesn’t last.
Pie
Crunch
Strudel
rhubarb-strawberry preserves
If I can figure out how to use it to clean bikes....
Bacon grease as a chain lube just doesn’t last.
10-22-20, 04:12 PM
#39
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The acid in the cleaner needs to be on there wet for a while. I tried wrapping wet paper towels around but it does not work like soaking. Not sure what you are trying to get rust off but I thought these rod brakes were going to take a lot of time. Just a few minutes rubbing with ball of aluminum foil made a good start.
