On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:20:14 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

I had a bunch of crud in my muriatic de-rust bucket & I strained it
through a (old) kitchen strainer. You know, the woven-wire basket with
a handle kind.

I thought it was made with SS wire, but I got a very vigorous reaction
with the acid. WTF! I know the wire isn't aluminum, it couldn't be
zinc (food contact), what is it? Tin? Does tin react with HCl? Would
they make strainers with pure tin, not tin coated steel? If so,
wouldn't SS be cheaper (I found tin ingots on the web for $12/lb)?

Puzzled,
Bob

Puzzled too. How do you know that the wire isn't aluminum?

Iron/steel usually requires elevated temperatures to react with HCl at
any reasonable rate.

When the wire reacts with clean muriatic acid, is the solution
colored?

Terry