Show plating, anodizing, & finishing Q&As since 1989 An ongoing discussion beginning back in 2005 ... 2005 Q. By mistake yesterday I splash with the mop a few drops of Muriatic Acid [affil. link to info/product on Amazon] solution (water diluted) on the freezer of a house we were repairing the grout, we didn't notice the accident until today that the owner of the house call us a let us know she have small yellow marks on the stainless steel door of the freezer. What can I use to remove those stains? Andrew Costas 2005 A. Fine grain steel wool, work with the grain/finish. The stains shouldn't be too deep (you can also use brillo pad). Marc Banks 2005 A. DO NOT use steel wool or Brillo Pad unless you want to have a rust problem. Use only a NON iron containing material like Scotchbrite(TM) or fine grain emery paper or the like. Lee Kremer Stellar Solutions, Inc. McHenry, Illinois
2006 Q. We are remodeling our home and have just discovered what we think are tiny acid stains in our brand new sink. They are numerous, tiny and appear to be pitting the surface and have not come out with the usual commercial products available. What can you suggest as a next step? Kate McCaw March 18, 2008 A. I've had experience removing muriatic acid stains from stainless steel. A metal finishing specialist once told me to use "Barkeepers Friend", a cleanser readily available in stores, with a cloth or sponge. It's non-invasive and is the best first step. I was amazed how well it works with a little elbow grease and a few applications. I've used it a couple times without the need for abrasive pads like emery cloth or sandpaper. These would only be second options as they can change the grain of the finish. Spread the word. It's a little known secret that works. Tom Black August 30, 2010 Q. I sprayed my gas stove with Mr Muscle kitchen Cleaner, became busy with some other work, went out on errands and forgot all about it till I returned home late at night! I was shocked when I went to switch on the gas to find it all stained. I tried CIF, more Mr Muscle, plain soap and water - and even ash! nothing worked - the stains make the stove look so dirty - please help someone and tell me how to get the shine back! tonee Patil April 22, 2011 Q. Stainless steel kick plates on mahogany-colored wooden doors look impressive in any business setting, until floor finish or stripper from adjoining CVT or seamless floor covering is accidentally splashed onto the bottom of kick plate. Cleaning crew tries Windex, which has ammonia, and leaves all kick plate shining except for the bottom that is stained. Keep working on the panel and eventually it takes on brownish streaks with or against the grain. Seemingly the more the panel is wiped, the worse it gets. Brownish scares me. Makes me wonder if it is starting to rust. Had a similar problem with grab-bars in hospital restrooms. Everything had to sprayed or wiped with a germicidal cleaner/disinfectant for infection control. The product does a good job killing germs, but it also kills the luster of the stainless steel grab-bars. First little brown spots appear. Is it possible that stainless steel is not always stainless, or can those brownish stains be worked out? I saw an empty Mineral Shock bottle sitting around somewhere. Would that item possibly be on of the suggested cures, and worthy of purchase? Don Corbin Adv. For all those questions regarding acid staining damage on stainless steel surface, Scratch-B-Gone is the proven solution for the discoloration and rust stains. Makes fast resolve to this unsightly problem while protecting the surface from re-staining. Barry Feinman BarrysRestoreItAll Carlsbad, California July 30, 2021 Q. Had some grout cleaner splash on a customer's refrigerator! It does not hold a magnet but I'm pretty sure it's 'print proof'. Is your product safe to use on a smudge proof stainless steel? Antonio Durazzo Did maids or someone else cause stainless appliance to blacken?August 6, 2014 Q. I was wondering what chemical reaction would cause a stainless steel oven to turn black in areas on the outside? The owner is blaming my company, but we don't carry acidic chemicals in our supply. I do know that the painters had been there as well and had a pump sprayer with them (most likely of muriatic acid but I am unsure). It looks as though something was sprayed on it and dripped down between the knobs. It is black almost as if it were burnt. Would bleach cause that, or something with bleach in it? The owner claims it turned black very quickly. From what I have read, bleach would have to be used over and over or left on for a long period of time. We were only there once, and whatever the young lady used was wiped off right away. Susan Ellis July 2014 A. Hi Susan. A photo would help, and if the owner is not willing to let you take a photograph, I don't think you should be willing to offer anything when you don't have reasonable grounds to suspect an error on your own part. Looking at the "trails" may help indicate their origin. If the trails are only below the knobs, it's hard to blame painters, tilers, or anyone else but you or the homeowner or some other janitorial service. Bleach is bad for stainless; the stronger it is, the worse. Some other cleaners like "Zap" and "CLR" and "Lime Away" are also probably bad for stainless. Good luck. Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E. Striving to live Aloha finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey August 6, 2014 Q. The blackening starts at the top ledge of the oven above the knobs, where some people set trinkets
or salt and pepper shakers. The trails are wavy and run down between the knobs. The blackening is similar to what happens to aluminum when it comes in contact with muriatic acid. As you can kind of see in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ts0XRbBlF5Q I'm not sure if the owner will let us take pictures or not, he is pretty irate. He said he was going to send before and after photos, but has not provided those. The property was kept unlocked for several days so that repairmen, painters and cleaners could come in. Susan Ellis [returning] August 25, 2014 A. Susan, Stainless that is regularly cleaned with bleach will suffer eventually, but the corrosion will be more evenly distributed. The other common thing is muriatic acid floor cleaners giving off fumes that attack the lower portions of stainless steel appliances. Ray Kremer Stellar Solutions, Inc. McHenry, Illinois January 7, 2016 Q. I'LL BE QUICK WITH MY QUESTION, DOES MURIATIC ACID WORK AS A CLEANING PRETREATMENT FOR STAINLESS STEEL PARTS? FROM WHAT I READ, IS NOT RECOMMENDED. SO WHAT CAN YOU GUYS RECOMMEND? REGARDS, THANK YOU IN ADVANCE. HASSAN TELLO January 2016 A. Hi Hassan. Is this one small part for personal use, or is it a factory run? Whether a pretreatment is good depends on the final finish that you are pretreating for: will you be painting, plating, or powder coating it, or passivating it please). What kind of "cleaning" does it need? Acids are not used for "cleaning" anyway, alkalis and detergents are used for that. Get back to us please. Thanks. Readers: You never do anyone a favor by being "quick with your question" because abstract questions can almost never be answered properly. All a 'quick question' achieves is it requires someone else to ask all the who, what, when, where, why questions -- and most readers will just ignore the question instead :-( Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E. Striving to live Aloha finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
April 3, 2016 Q. I splashed muriatic acid on a stainless steel fronted dishwasher and stove and there are now black spots along the bottom six or eight inches of the appliances. how can I remove these spots? Debra B Choate March 28, 2017 Q. Help I cleaned my mother-in-law's stainless steel sink with toilet bowl cleaner, and where the cleaner was you can see marks. Can someone please help me fix this? I don't want her to come home and see this ugh. Thank you so much. Anna McCarthy April 2, 2017 A. Try cleaning the sink with Brillo pads and water. Go slow and easy until you blend in the discolored areas. Jeffrey Holmes, CEF Spartanburg, South Carolina April 12, 2017 A. Anna, Ray Kremer Stellar Solutions, Inc. McHenry, Illinois May 5, 2017 Q. A pool chlorine tablet was set on the divider between my new stainless steel sink. It now appears the stainless steel has been corroded. Is there any way to repair this? Marian Foster November 16, 2017 Q. How to remove black stains in my stainless steel sink? I've put some muriatic acid to remove the yellow stains in tiles; I put the chemical in stainless steel sink. After a few minutes the stainless steel sink absorbed dark stain and it is very difficult to remove. Please help. mike ayolp November 2017 Hi cousin Mike. Have you tried any of the solutions already proposed above? Our helpful responders probably dislike simply repeating themselves over-&-over; so please tell us if you tried any of the proposed solutions and how it went :-)Thanks and Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E. RET Striving to live Aloha finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey February 24, 2018 I'm a believer. My GOSH! I accidentally spilled Muriatic acid onto our stainless steel kitchen sink. It left large dark brown stains. I was sick to my stomach... enter Barkeepers Friend [affil. link to info/product on Amazon]. HOLY MOLY, it cleaned it all away. I couldn't believe my eyes. I read about it online and glad I found the recommendation. NO JOKE, this stuff is amazing.,K Andronica October 31, 2019 Q. I was stripping my kitchen floor, it came out nice, but I then realized that the stripper splashed on my stainless steel refrigerator. It seems like it stripped the first layer of the stainless steel. Can someone help me make my refrigerator looking like new again. It's only a year old. Edward Davis Disclaimer: It's not possible to fully diagnose a finishing problem or the hazards of an operation via these pages. All information presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor the policy of an author's employer. The internet is largely anonymous & unvetted; some names may be fictitious and some recommendations might be harmful. If you are seeking a product or service related to metal finishing, please check these Directories: How do you remove acid corrosion from stainless steel?Use a 10%–15% phosphoric acid-based solution in warm water. Spread cleaner evenly, wait 30–60 minutes, then neutralize the acid with an alkaline cleaner or diluted ammonia. Rinse with clean water.
How do you remove chemical stains from stainless steel?In a bowl, mix dish soap and baking soda until it is a paste. Take a soft cloth towel, sponge, or old toothbrush and soak it in the paste you made. Make sure it is saturated. Wipe the stains over and over and do this gently until you see the stains disappear.
How do you remove HCL stains?Step 1: If the acid stains are fresh or recent, take a generous amount of baking soda to sprinkle over the stain. Whereas if the acid stain is old, you can make a thick consistency paste of baking soda with water and apply it on the stain to cover the whole area. Step 2: Wipe it off after a few minutes with a cloth.
How do you remove chemical stains from a stainless steel refrigerator?PureWow. Vinegar. One of the easiest and most effective ways to polish stainless steel is to gently apply white vinegar or apple-cider vinegar onto the stain and gently rub with a soft cloth. ... . Baking soda and dish soap. ... . A non-abrasive stainless-steel cleaner or polisher.. |