On Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:51:48 GMT, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Steve wrote:
"george (dicegeorge)" wrote in message
...
Where can I buy some dilute acetic acid from?

I've bought some Peelaway from the internet
to remove paint from plaster mouldings,
it's made of Sodium Hydroxide, an alkali
and it says i need dilute acetic acid to wash down afterwards.
The kit even includes Litmus paper to check its been neutralised!

I think its vinegar but that would stain the plasterwork wouldnt it?

[g]
White vinegar is basically acetic acid and water. You can use it to
neutralise the sodium hydroxide. Depending on its concentration,
it can be quite agressive, so take suitable care.

Do not use malt vinegar - it also contains acetic acid but will smell
and stain.

FWIW, the modern chemical name for acetic acid is ethanoic acid.

Bloody hell. I'm not putting that on my chips..

Why did they change it then? And who said they could? :-)

Don't worry - it's well diluted with dihydrogen monoxide.
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.

Steve wrote:
No sure. I found an old bottle which says "The Original Cross & Blackwell
Sarson's Vinegar Distilled Malt". The label also says 'traditionally
brewed" so mine can't be the"non brewed" kind! I don't think it really
matters though - if its the colourless, clear type (looks like water) it
should be fine.

If it's vinegar, it's brewed alcohol that's been oxidised (usually from beer
if it's malt, or any kind of distilled alcohol if it's spirit). If it's
non-brewed condiment it's food-grade industrial acid (probably from oil)
that's been watered down.

Either should be fine. It will smell vinegary by definition (the smell is
the acid evaporating, so you can't avoid it).

Theo

Stuart Noble wrote:
george (dicegeorge) wrote:
Where can I buy some dilute acetic acid from?

I've bought some Peelaway from the internet
to remove paint from plaster mouldings,
it's made of Sodium Hydroxide, an alkali
and it says i need dilute acetic acid to wash down afterwards.
The kit even includes Litmus paper to check its been neutralised!

I think its vinegar but that would stain the plasterwork wouldnt it?

[g]

Is it oil based paint you're removing? Alkali strippers won't touch
emulsion.
whoops
i think its emulsion which someone smothered the moulding with..
so the peelaway might not work...
[g]

george (dicegeorge) wrote:


Stuart Noble wrote:
george (dicegeorge) wrote:
Where can I buy some dilute acetic acid from?

I've bought some Peelaway from the internet
to remove paint from plaster mouldings,
it's made of Sodium Hydroxide, an alkali
and it says i need dilute acetic acid to wash down afterwards.
The kit even includes Litmus paper to check its been neutralised!

I think its vinegar but that would stain the plasterwork wouldnt it?

[g]

Is it oil based paint you're removing? Alkali strippers won't touch
emulsion.
whoops
i think its emulsion which someone smothered the moulding with..
so the peelaway might not work...
[g]

It may break up the emulsion because of the prolonged soaking, but won't
dissolve it. I'd test a (very) small area first

On Sep 12, 1:25*am, "george (dicegeorge)"
wrote:
Stuart Noble wrote:
george (dicegeorge) wrote:
Where can I buy some dilute acetic acid from?

I've bought some Peelaway from the internet
to remove paint from plaster mouldings,
it's made of Sodium Hydroxide, an alkali
and it says i need dilute acetic acid to wash down afterwards.
The kit even includes Litmus paper to check its been neutralised!

I think its vinegar but that would stain the plasterwork wouldnt it?

[g]

Is it oil based paint you're removing? Alkali strippers won't touch
emulsion.

whoops
i think its emulsion which someone smothered the moulding with..
so the peelaway might not work...
[g]

emulsion forms a very thin film, so is less troublesome re bulk. If
there's bulk there and its not oil paint, its likely to be distemper.
That's lime based and removes with acid.

A good way to get acetic and other things most chemists dont stock is
to look for a chemist's thats been there for decades and ask,
explaining what you'll do with it. Reasonable chance they'll still
have some things in stock from decades ago, and a person that would be
happy to sell such things, once they know you know how to handle the
stuff.


NT

PeterC wrote:
On Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:51:48 GMT, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Steve wrote:
"george (dicegeorge)" wrote in message
...
Where can I buy some dilute acetic acid from?

I've bought some Peelaway from the internet
to remove paint from plaster mouldings,
it's made of Sodium Hydroxide, an alkali
and it says i need dilute acetic acid to wash down afterwards.
The kit even includes Litmus paper to check its been neutralised!

I think its vinegar but that would stain the plasterwork wouldnt
it?

[g]
White vinegar is basically acetic acid and water. You can use it
to neutralise the sodium hydroxide. Depending on its
concentration, it can be quite agressive, so take suitable care.

Do not use malt vinegar - it also contains acetic acid but will
smell and stain.

FWIW, the modern chemical name for acetic acid is ethanoic acid.

Bloody hell. I'm not putting that on my chips..

Why did they change it then? And who said they could? :-)

Don't worry - it's well diluted with dihydrogen monoxide.

Phew, thanks heavens for that. Hang on a minute! Isn't that lethal?


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Stuart Noble wrote:
george (dicegeorge) wrote:
Where can I buy some dilute acetic acid from?

I've bought some Peelaway from the internet
to remove paint from plaster mouldings,
it's made of Sodium Hydroxide, an alkali
and it says i need dilute acetic acid to wash down afterwards.
The kit even includes Litmus paper to check its been neutralised!

I think its vinegar but that would stain the plasterwork wouldnt it?

[g]

Is it oil based paint you're removing? Alkali strippers won't touch
emulsion.

Nitromors shifts emulsion, use it all the time to get emulsion paint off
copper pipes.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 07:51:56 GMT, The Medway Handyman wrote:

White vinegar is basically acetic acid and water. You can use it
to neutralise the sodium hydroxide. Depending on its
concentration, it can be quite agressive, so take suitable care.

Do not use malt vinegar - it also contains acetic acid but will
smell and stain.

FWIW, the modern chemical name for acetic acid is ethanoic acid.

Bloody hell. I'm not putting that on my chips..

Why did they change it then? And who said they could? :-)

Don't worry - it's well diluted with dihydrogen monoxide.

Phew, thanks heavens for that. Hang on a minute! Isn't that lethal?

Well, the water companies are doing their best to eliminate it from the
pipes before it reaches us, so there must be something wrong with it. If it
were saleable they'd charge us for it.
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.

NT wrote:
On Sep 12, 1:25 am, "george (dicegeorge)"
wrote:
Stuart Noble wrote:
george (dicegeorge) wrote:
Where can I buy some dilute acetic acid from?
I've bought some Peelaway from the internet
to remove paint from plaster mouldings,
it's made of Sodium Hydroxide, an alkali
and it says i need dilute acetic acid to wash down afterwards.
The kit even includes Litmus paper to check its been neutralised!
I think its vinegar but that would stain the plasterwork wouldnt it?
[g]
Is it oil based paint you're removing? Alkali strippers won't touch
emulsion.
whoops
i think its emulsion which someone smothered the moulding with..
so the peelaway might not work...
[g]

emulsion forms a very thin film, so is less troublesome re bulk. If
there's bulk there and its not oil paint, its likely to be distemper.
That's lime based and removes with acid.

A good way to get acetic and other things most chemists dont stock is
to look for a chemist's thats been there for decades and ask,
explaining what you'll do with it. Reasonable chance they'll still
have some things in stock from decades ago, and a person that would be
happy to sell such things, once they know you know how to handle the
stuff.


NT
White Vinegar is the acetic acid I need, thanks,
I will try a big supermarket for it tomorrow,
its used for trendy green organic cleaning,
plus rubber gloves etc.

But someone here said alkali strippers wont touch emulsion.
There are thick layers of emulsion on the mouldings,
it took me an hour to clear up a foot of it with plastic scraper water
and toothbrush.

Peelaway1 label says it will remove
any combination of household paints and varnishes containing oil, lead,
polyurethane or water
so i'm hoping it will work.

I will apply a thin layer on a test patch out of view,
and then cover it with the gauze
and try and peel it off after an hour or two.

here's a photo of it
http://www.dicegeorge.com/psb/psimg/...aster-snug.jpg

[g]

george (dicegeorge) wrote:


NT wrote:
On Sep 12, 1:25 am, "george (dicegeorge)"
wrote:
Stuart Noble wrote:
george (dicegeorge) wrote:
Where can I buy some dilute acetic acid from?
I've bought some Peelaway from the internet
to remove paint from plaster mouldings,
it's made of Sodium Hydroxide, an alkali
and it says i need dilute acetic acid to wash down afterwards.
The kit even includes Litmus paper to check its been neutralised!
I think its vinegar but that would stain the plasterwork wouldnt it?
[g]
Is it oil based paint you're removing? Alkali strippers won't touch
emulsion.
whoops
i think its emulsion which someone smothered the moulding with..
so the peelaway might not work...
[g]

emulsion forms a very thin film, so is less troublesome re bulk. If
there's bulk there and its not oil paint, its likely to be distemper.
That's lime based and removes with acid.

A good way to get acetic and other things most chemists dont stock is
to look for a chemist's thats been there for decades and ask,
explaining what you'll do with it. Reasonable chance they'll still
have some things in stock from decades ago, and a person that would be
happy to sell such things, once they know you know how to handle the
stuff.


NT
White Vinegar is the acetic acid I need, thanks,
I will try a big supermarket for it tomorrow,
its used for trendy green organic cleaning,
plus rubber gloves etc.

But someone here said alkali strippers wont touch emulsion.
There are thick layers of emulsion on the mouldings,
it took me an hour to clear up a foot of it with plastic scraper water
and toothbrush.

Peelaway1 label says it will remove
any combination of household paints and varnishes containing oil, lead,
polyurethane or water
so i'm hoping it will work.

I will apply a thin layer on a test patch out of view,
and then cover it with the gauze
and try and peel it off after an hour or two.

here's a photo of it
http://www.dicegeorge.com/psb/psimg/...aster-snug.jpg

[g]

Good looking stuff. I can understand why you want to restore it.

For all I know Peelaway may contain things other than sodium hydroxide
to lift emulsion but, if it doesn't work, you could try one of the new
Eco strippers

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...80&src=froogle

Ludicrously expensive of course but you may find a wood finishing trade
place will have their own version. "French polish suppliers" in yellow
pages?
As a cheap d-i-y experiment you could try loading a section with thick
wallpaper paste and leaving it overnight. The soaking action plus
gravity might pull the top layer off.
Whatever you use it's gonna be a labour of love I fear :-)