The other day on the television was a program about old money saving tips.
So instead of buying all these new chemical type cleaners, you use
traditional methods. For instance to clean teapots and strainers etc, soak
in bicarbonate of soda mixed with white vinegar.

One thing that puzzled me and i have heard this before, is that they said to
sharpen scissors; keep cutting into a number of cooking aluminium foil
sheets, folded up on each other.

So essentially you are cutting into layers of aluminium. Can anyone think
how this would sharpen scissors? My immediate reaction is you are just
going make the scissors blunter quicker.

In message , john brook
writes
The other day on the television was a program about old money saving tips.
So instead of buying all these new chemical type cleaners, you use
traditional methods. For instance to clean teapots and strainers etc, soak
in bicarbonate of soda mixed with white vinegar.

One thing that puzzled me and i have heard this before, is that they said to
sharpen scissors; keep cutting into a number of cooking aluminium foil
sheets, folded up on each other.

So essentially you are cutting into layers of aluminium. Can anyone think
how this would sharpen scissors? My immediate reaction is you are just
going make the scissors blunter quicker.



The same program that saves throwing bread away by heating up the oven
and turning it into croutons


--
geoff

On Apr 29, 4:37*pm, "john brook" wrote:

The other day on the television was a program about old money saving tips..
So instead of buying all these new chemical type cleaners, you use
traditional methods. For instance to clean teapots and strainers etc, soak
in bicarbonate of soda mixed with white vinegar.

One thing that puzzled me and i have heard this before, is that they said to
sharpen scissors; keep cutting into a number of cooking aluminium foil
sheets, folded up on each other.

So essentially you are cutting into layers of aluminium. * Can anyone think
how this would sharpen scissors? *My immediate reaction is you are just
going make the scissors blunter quicker.

aluminium hardness: 2.75 mohs, shear modulus 26 gpa
So I cant see the ali affecting the steel scissors at all. Perhaps it
might partially fill nicks in the blade, but even if it did, its so
soft it wouldnt improve the blade for long.

Reacting bicarb with vinegar to neutralise both: what use is sodium
acetate?

Cutting a bedsheet and re-sewing it - once standard practice, but most
sheets bobble badly long before they wear through, and no info was
given about picking good ones, and of course there are cheaper quicker
ways to get sheets anyway now.

Make do & mend is a nice idea, but the quality of information hasn't
impressed me that much.


NT

On Apr 30, 2:47*pm, Tabby wrote:

aluminium hardness: 2.75 mohs, shear modulus 26 gpa

Mohs don't come in quarter units.

Reacting bicarb with vinegar to neutralise both: what use is sodium
acetate?

Quite an important one actually. Tea strainers these days are made of
stainless steel. However old kitchen implements were often brass or
copper. _Copper_ acetate, or verdigris, is toxic. You can make
verdigris by soaking copper in vinegar. As was known in Victorian
household manuals, using vinegar in combination with bicarb does
indeed reduce its effectiveness, but it also avoids the risk of
poisoning the scullery maid.

In message
,
Tabby writes
On Apr 29, 4:37*pm, "john brook" wrote:

The other day on the television was a program about old money saving tips.
So instead of buying all these new chemical type cleaners, you use
traditional methods. For instance to clean teapots and strainers etc, soak
in bicarbonate of soda mixed with white vinegar.

One thing that puzzled me and i have heard this before, is that they said to
sharpen scissors; keep cutting into a number of cooking aluminium foil
sheets, folded up on each other.

So essentially you are cutting into layers of aluminium. * Can anyone think
how this would sharpen scissors? *My immediate reaction is you are just
going make the scissors blunter quicker.

aluminium hardness: 2.75 mohs, shear modulus 26 gpa
So I cant see the ali affecting the steel scissors at all. Perhaps it
might partially fill nicks in the blade, but even if it did, its so
soft it wouldnt improve the blade for long.


I recall my mother saying that the best way to sharpen scissors was to
cut with them. But what to cut (if anything), I can't remember.

When you think of how the blades of scissors, garden shears and similar
tools work, they should be essentially self-sharpening.


--
Ian

"Tabby" wrote in message
...
On Apr 29, 4:37 pm, "john brook" wrote:

The other day on the television was a program about old money saving
tips.
So instead of buying all these new chemical type cleaners, you use
traditional methods. For instance to clean teapots and strainers etc,
soak
in bicarbonate of soda mixed with white vinegar.

One thing that puzzled me and i have heard this before, is that they said
to
sharpen scissors; keep cutting into a number of cooking aluminium foil
sheets, folded up on each other.

So essentially you are cutting into layers of aluminium. Can anyone
think
how this would sharpen scissors? My immediate reaction is you are just
going make the scissors blunter quicker.

aluminium hardness: 2.75 mohs, shear modulus 26 gpa
So I cant see the ali affecting the steel scissors at all. Perhaps it
might partially fill nicks in the blade, but even if it did, its so
soft it wouldnt improve the blade for long.

The usual way to sharpen scissors if you don't have the proper tool is to
"cut" a milk bottle.

On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:11:17 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:


I recall my mother saying that the best way to sharpen scissors was to
cut with them. But what to cut (if anything), I can't remember.

Emery or sandpaper.

--
Frank Erskine

In message , Frank Erskine
writes
On Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:11:17 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:


I recall my mother saying that the best way to sharpen scissors was to
cut with them. But what to cut (if anything), I can't remember.

Emery or sandpaper.

Presumably very, very fine?
--
Ian

On 5/1/2011 1:53 AM, Andy Dingley wrote:
On Apr 30, 2:47 pm, wrote:

aluminium hardness: 2.75 mohs, shear modulus 26 gpa

Mohs don't come in quarter units.

Reacting bicarb with vinegar to neutralise both: what use is sodium
acetate?

Quite an important one actually. Tea strainers these days are made of
stainless steel. However old kitchen implements were often brass or
copper. _Copper_ acetate, or verdigris, is toxic. You can make
verdigris by soaking copper in vinegar. As was known in Victorian
household manuals, using vinegar in combination with bicarb does
indeed reduce its effectiveness, but it also avoids the risk of
poisoning the scullery maid.

What does it do to the scale?

In article ,
"dennis@home" wrote:

One thing that puzzled me and i have heard this before, is that they said
to
sharpen scissors; keep cutting into a number of cooking aluminium foil
sheets, folded up on each other.

The usual way to sharpen scissors if you don't have the proper tool is to
"cut" a milk bottle.

I remember hearing that too, in the 60s (when we had milk bottles -- big
fat buggers.

When I eventually tried it, I couldn't really make the scissors fit the
bottle except round the neck rim. I didn't notice any difference to the
scissors.

These days, I put it down to being a remedy for poor steel used in
economically priced scissors in the Old Days. You can buy fantastic
sharp scissors down the Pound Shop these days.

John

On 5/1/2011 4:53 AM, dennis@home wrote:

The usual way to sharpen scissors if you don't have the proper tool is
to "cut" a milk bottle.

It may be "usual", but does it work?

"Gib Bogle" wrote in message
...
On 5/1/2011 4:53 AM, dennis@home wrote:

The usual way to sharpen scissors if you don't have the proper tool is
to "cut" a milk bottle.

It may be "usual", but does it work?

Not with hardened blades it doesn't.

On Apr 30, 10:14*pm, Gib Bogle wrote:

What does it do to the scale?

Sod all. Vinegar won't shift scale anyway, you need formic or
sulphamic acid for that. However here we're talking about tea
staining, not a calcareous scale, and buffered vinegar still seems to
deal with that OK.

No, I don't understand the chemistry either. However I warn you that I
know an obsessive-compulsive who will, and if you want clarification,
you'll get clarification and I'll make you read it. All of it.

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Apr 30, 10:14 pm, Gib Bogle wrote:

What does it do to the scale?

Sod all. Vinegar won't shift scale anyway, you need formic or
sulphamic acid for that.


I de-scale the kettle with citric acid.
Its cheap from a brew shop and is food safe.

On 5/1/2011 11:04 AM, Andy Dingley wrote:
On Apr 30, 10:14 pm, Gib wrote:

What does it do to the scale?

Sod all. Vinegar won't shift scale anyway, you need formic or
sulphamic acid for that. However here we're talking about tea
staining, not a calcareous scale, and buffered vinegar still seems to
deal with that OK.

No, I don't understand the chemistry either. However I warn you that I
know an obsessive-compulsive who will, and if you want clarification,
you'll get clarification and I'll make you read it. All of it.


No no, anything but that, please, anything ...

On 01/05/2011 00:04, Andy Dingley wrote:
On Apr 30, 10:14 pm, Gib wrote:

What does it do to the scale?

Sod all. Vinegar won't shift scale anyway, you need formic or
sulphamic acid for that. However here we're talking about tea
staining, not a calcareous scale, and buffered vinegar still seems to
deal with that OK.


I just descaled the nylon strainer in my kettle with vinegar. A five
minute soak was all it took.
I use sulphamic for the shower head but citric works just as well IME

On May 1, 12:28*am, "dennis@home" wrote:

Sod all. Vinegar won't shift scale anyway, you need formic or
sulphamic acid for that.

I de-scale the kettle with citric acid.
Its cheap from a brew shop and is food safe.

Agreed - Not quite so effective, but it makes up for that in cheapness
and availability.

I'd point out though that vinegar is "food safe" too, but not safe
after reaction with metals. I doubt copper citrate (of which I know
nothing) would be too healthy.

On May 1, 10:38*am, stuart noble wrote:
On 01/05/2011 00:04, Andy Dingley wrote:

On Apr 30, 10:14 pm, Gib *wrote:

What does it do to the scale?

Sod all. Vinegar won't shift scale anyway, you need formic or
sulphamic acid for that. However here we're talking about tea
staining, not a calcareous scale, and buffered vinegar still seems to
deal with that OK.

I just descaled the nylon strainer in my kettle with vinegar. A five
minute soak was all it took.
I use sulphamic for the shower head but citric works just as well IME


almost any acid works on limescale. Its the other materials present
that determine which is best, and which to avoid. Citric seems
unnecessarily expensive.


NT

On 01/05/2011 23:15, Tabby wrote:

almost any acid works on limescale. Its the other materials present
that determine which is best, and which to avoid. Citric seems
unnecessarily expensive.


But available everywhere in small amounts. 69p per 150 gms last time I
looked. Enough to do a wc bowl

On May 2, 1:09*pm, stuart noble wrote:
On 01/05/2011 23:15, Tabby wrote:

almost any acid works on limescale. Its the other materials present
that determine which is best, and which to avoid. Citric seems
unnecessarily expensive.

But available everywhere in small amounts. 69p per 150 gms last time I
looked. Enough to do a wc bowl

Where are you paying that? I ought to look around, but its something i
rarely buy.


NT

On Mon, 02 May 2011 13:09:04 +0100, stuart noble wrote:

On 01/05/2011 23:15, Tabby wrote:

almost any acid works on limescale. Its the other materials present
that determine which is best, and which to avoid. Citric seems
unnecessarily expensive.


But available everywhere in small amounts. 69p per 150 gms last time I
looked. Enough to do a wc bowl

Better to buy it from a food shop rather than a chemist - a lot cheaper.
And you don't get the suspicious glances, refusal to sell more than two
packs, and the snide comments.



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 02/05/2011 14:18, Bob Eager wrote:
On Mon, 02 May 2011 13:09:04 +0100, stuart noble wrote:

On 01/05/2011 23:15, Tabby wrote:

almost any acid works on limescale. Its the other materials present
that determine which is best, and which to avoid. Citric seems
unnecessarily expensive.


But available everywhere in small amounts. 69p per 150 gms last time I
looked. Enough to do a wc bowl

Better to buy it from a food shop rather than a chemist - a lot cheaper.
And you don't get the suspicious glances, refusal to sell more than two
packs, and the snide comments.



Off the shelf in my local chemist along with the bicarb and epsom salts.
The only time I was questioned in Sainsburys I said I was refining
heroin and the assistant said I didn't look the type.

On May 1, 12:04*am, Andy Dingley wrote:
On Apr 30, 10:14*pm, Gib Bogle wrote:

What does it do to the scale?

Sod all. Vinegar won't shift scale anyway,

It certainly does.

MBQ

On May 2, 4:35*pm, stuart noble wrote:
On 02/05/2011 14:18, Bob Eager wrote:

On Mon, 02 May 2011 13:09:04 +0100, stuart noble wrote:

On 01/05/2011 23:15, Tabby wrote:

almost any acid works on limescale. Its the other materials present
that determine which is best, and which to avoid. Citric seems
unnecessarily expensive.

But available everywhere in small amounts. 69p per 150 gms last time I
looked. Enough to do a wc bowl

Better to buy it from a food shop rather than a chemist - a lot cheaper..
And you don't get the suspicious glances, refusal to sell more than two
packs, and the snide comments.

Off the shelf in my local chemist along with the bicarb and epsom salts.
The only time I was questioned in Sainsburys I said I was refining
heroin and the assistant said I didn't look the type.

funny boy


NT