Colonel wrote:
Sorry, pal, I think you're mistaken. HF is some NASTY stuff...
it eats through GLASS.
Sure you're not thinking of HCl?

============

You are thinking logically, and not all marketers and consumers
do the same.

I can remember somebody giving me some household rust &
lime remover. This was 25-30 years ago and it was in a small
brown plastic bottle. It contained a rather non-trivial concentration
of HF, which shocked the crap out of me. And the warning on
the label was very casual.

I don't know if it is still marketed, but I do remember seeing it
marketed long after I received that bottle. I believe than solutions
greater than 1% HF have been outlawed about 5 years now for
household use. Personally, I feel that 1% HF shouldn't be
marketed for household use. HF is extremely dangerous and
few people read or heed warning labels.

Also, hasn't something just as nasty as HF been used in the acid
core for household aluminum solders? I've got some old aluminum
solders (20 years old) which have no warnings of any sort on them
and I feel very positive that they have a nasty florine compound in
their core.