"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message
...
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

Older, or cheaper food strainers are made of tin-plated steel wire. Newer
and/or better ones are made of stainless.

Tin reacts with HCl, but not vigorously. The dilution usually called
"muriatic" will strip the tin off of old tin cans but it actually attacks
the steel more aggressively, so you get a mottled result. The tin will
disappear before the steel can is perforated. Or the old ones behaved that
way.

I learned that by trying to strip the tin off of some tin-can metal, several
decades ago. I used hardware-store muriatic acid.

--
Ed Huntress