Cleaning equipment.....?

[graemeingermany]

What is best to use I have a ceramic cookpot, 2 buckets and about 5 glass vials that have had Ap also a vial that has had Hcl-clorix in them. They are stained green with traces of acid and also rustfrom the processor.... I want good quality gold so how is it best to clean this equip..

Thanks in advance for all replies

 

[lazersteve]

The best way to keep you labware clean is to quickly clean it after each use. If you let the the stains remain and dry, they are much harder to remove.

The rule of thumb when cleaning is to use a similar solvent that was used to create the staining. For example, if you use AP in a beaker and the stain was left behind, try HCl or a clean solution of AP.

Rust is easily removed with muriactic acid.

For more difficult stains try H2SO4 + Hydrogen Peroxide.

Heating the cleaning agent will sometimes assist in the removal of the residues.

You should always use a good quality scrubbing brush to assist with the removal of sediments and caked on debris. Be sure the brush is made of a material that will resist the cleaning agents.

If you know what the stain is composed of you can Google the material name to find solvents for the material.

Soap and hot water works good as a final clean up, but through rinsing is required to remove all traces of the soap before using the labware.

Lastly, a fresh clean coffee filter can occassionally be used to affect removal of stains and crusts inside test tubes and beakers. Wad the filter up and push it tightly into the dry tube/beaker, then rotate the piece around the filter while putting force on the filter. This can in effect scrape off crusts and sediments from the walls (or bottom ) of the piece.

Steve

 

[Hgvhgv]

Nice tips.
Thanks a lot.

 

[jeneje]

For more difficult stains try H2SO4 + Hydrogen Peroxide.

A word of caution here for someone who has never done or used this process. This will make what is know as "Piranha" You do not want to get this on you. Use all of your personal protective equipment. Piranha is some nasty stuff.

It will however clean the most stubborn stains from glassware.

Maybe Steve can give us some mixing instruction and a short description on how best to use for cleaning please.

Thanks
Ken

edited for spelling correction. Thanks Kurt.

 

[kurtak]

It called "Piranha" (like the fish) not Praha

The fact that it is named after a "very aggressive" flesh eating fish should be warning enough to tell you that it is a very dangerous solution to work with

it will eat paper towels (wiping up spills) & cloth (shirt sleeves & pants legs) & I would not trust handling it with thin nitrile gloves

Ware heavy duty chem resistant gloves (as pictured) & plastic chem resistant apron when working with piranha solutions --- Edit to add; - as well as a full face shield - & fumes will eat your lungs so fume control is very important (from wiki - Mixing the solution is extremely exothermic. If the solution is made rapidly, it will instantly boil, releasing large amounts of corrosive fumes. Even when made with care, the resultant heat can bring solution temperatures above 100 °C)

Read & understand what it is you are working with :arrow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piranha_solution

Note; - the word "explosion" is used several time in the wiki article

Kurt

 

[jeneje]

Thanks Kurt for correcting me on the spelling,,,,

Ken

 

[mike6]

Wear heavy duty gloves, not "ware" :lol: