For the past month or so, I've been using a vinegar and salt mix, heated in my microwave, to clean away oxides and flux that accumulate on my pieces during the soldering process. It really works! Here are before and after shots to give you a sense of how well:
As far as I can tell, salt and vinegar pickle works on sterling, brass, copper and nickel silver. It does leave a pinkish residue on my brass pieces, but that's also the case when I use Sparex. However, I find it easier to clean the "pink" off brass that's been cleaned with the vinegar-salt solution.
In any case, it's safer on your lungs and the environment. I think I'll be cleaning out my crock pot and using this mix exclusively. Thank you Emily and Jo!
xo,
Angela
how much vinegar to how much salt? what's the ratio? do you have to keep in a crock pot or can I just keep re-heating it. how does it smell?
ReplyDeletethank you!!
Hey Rachel!
ReplyDeleteI put about 1/2 to 1 cup of white vinegar in a large jar, heat it in the microwave for about 2 minutes, then pour in some sea salt. (Use gloves or a towel when you take it out--the jar and steam are hot.)
I don't have exact measurements for how much salt I use. I'm guessing about 6 tablespoons. The beauty of this method, in my observation, is that it doesn't need to be exact. I've even tried apple cider vinegar and that works okay too.
I do re-use the mixture, microwaving each time I need it. It lasts quite a while. I haven't tried the crock pot method yet, but according to the posts I referenced in my blog, it seems to work fine.
As for the smell, it's a very strong vinegar scent. I don't mind it much. I guess it depends on how averse you are to vinegar. :)
Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes for you if you try it.
I just saw this method while trying to find an alternative pickling solution myself and after adding 6 tablespoons to a cup of distilled white vinegar, I thought it looked a bit salty. Upon reading the blog by Emily Wiser I found that she recommends a teaspoon of salt to 2 cups of vinegar. That's a huge difference. I just thought I would share that.
DeleteYou're not going to want to reheat in the microwave again if you've already pickled metal in the solution. Think about how a metal spoon reacts in the mircowave...sparks/fire. And you're definitely not going to want to reuse that microwave with food if you've put the used pickle in that microwave.
ReplyDeleteNot an expert on metalurgy or food safety by any means but I honestly can't think of reason why it would matter if you used the microwave to reheat the solution. While I do somewhat understand how the microwaves just kind of reflect off of metal causing sparks, there's really not much metal that is going to be deposited in the solution during pickling and I don't see much of an issue with using my kitchen microwave for this purpose and then warming my supper in it because I was in my shop/studio too long and missed dinner again. Because other than a possibly lingering aroma of vinegar there's really no contaminants left behind that are going to contaminate my food. Not giving a green light for that practice but I am going to continue to share a microwave between shop and kitchen
DeleteHi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate hearing from you!
I haven't ignited sparks or fires by reheating the used solution, but that doesn't mean it can't happen or hasn't happened to someone else. Your suggestion to not use the same microwave for food is a concern I haven't thought of before--but it's a really important one. It's probably ideal to have a dedicated "shop" microwave or crock pot for this purpose. Feel free to share your specific experiences or cite sources that discuss the problems with this method. Thanks for taking the time to comment!