New discovered way to clean aluminum

[FD_Hoover]

I shared this tag awhile back.  I have been hearing back from a few WAGS members who have tried this method and have said works better than expected.  The full tag is posted on the members only side under Griswold original labels

[Cheryl Watson]

This is an update to the information provided out on our FaceBook page last month:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/56688022987/permalink/10155970325922988/

Regarding the use of Oxalic Acid to Clean Aluminum.

I received another Baby Aluminum piece today... just came in the mail around 3:30 PM.   So this is what I did after unpacking the item....

1.  Sprayed with Dawn Power Dissolver, top and bottom, and let sit for about 4 minutes, as I was seeing some oil/grease build up.

2.  Washed with plastic scrubby sponge, rinsed well.

3.  Decided to grab a small plastic sandwich sized container to mix up some hot water and oxalic acid (wood bleach) to soak the new baby in, as the dark/blackish discoloration was....yuck, and I envisioned 4 hours of hand polishing, probably 6 applications or more.

4.   Filled Container with Hottest Temp Tap Water, added 2 teaspoons of Oxalic Acid, plopped the baby into the drink !  (sitting on kitchen counter @ room temp)

5.  Returned 1 HOUR later, and pulled from solution to check, and immediately one swipe had me diving for the 0000 steel wool pad, which I cut in half, and ran some water over, and squirted with Dawn Dish washing liquid,and proceeded to scrub under warm running water. (Do not use a coarser grade of steel wool... it will leave scratches!)

Could not believe my eyes!  Basically, one hour and 10 minutes or so after arrival.... it went from this:

[Cheryl Watson]

To This:
after 4 minutes of scrubbing, rinsed and dried with a paper towel!
 
I used a container with snap on lid to contain any fumes, which are a MAJOR PROBLEM if you boil on the stove as per instructions on the original tag.  If boiling the item... 5 minutes MAX!

NO POLISHING YET!

I am blown away!
 
I have worked with quite a few aluminum pieces, and I have another 'really really bad one, on the way in, that will likely need a Self Cleaning Oven cycle first.... 

What you see is soaked, soap and water cleaned, and paper towel dried....  NO POLISH... which I will do later tonight, using "Mother's"  to give it some protection... 

[Chuck Rogers]

I'm so glad that Griswold shared this info on their tags, and that Farold was able to dig this label out of an antique store, and post it. A lot of aluminum will be saved for sure.
Thanks Farold :)

[FD_Hoover]

Thanks chuck.  I had actually passed on this tag almost a year ago since it was aluminum.  Once back in the area I seen it was still there and took a closer look taking time to read it.  Surprised it set in the display case that long.  It was very reasonably priced

[Cheryl Watson]

To update backwards....

When Farold posted this on Facebook,back on February 10, the antennae immediately went straight up, because Oxalic Acid is a major component of BarKeepers friend, and I had purchased Wood Bleach (which is Oxalic Acid), to soak my rust spattered clothing,  the Cast Iron Scrub down Splatter that was causing me to muck up a lot of my clothing!  I  discovered several years ago when researching how to remove the rust from my shirts, that Commercial Laundries use Oxalic Acid as a stain remover.....

So, I grabbed my container of Wood Bleach, and immediately began to experiment with my Newest Arrival, the Rare Wagner Aluminum Toy Skillet lid.   

First experiment was performed by boiling the solution on the Stove with the lid in the solution.

I immediately discovered that the fumes filling my kitchen were NOT GOOD, and immediately removed the pan outside to the Deck, and open air.

(Future boiling will occur ONLY Out of Doors.... based on my respiratory reaction, some toxicity is involved. :( )

But even after removing from direct heat, the 'action' continued with great results.  The Stainless steel pot... not so good... as the black gunk now transferred to the bottom was near impossible to remove.  Good thing it was my least favorite Modern junk Revere Ware.   

I have a couple of SS stock pots that I picked up at auctions/thrift stores, over the past few years, to have handy to create a Mini Electro for smalls, so I will utilize one of those for Boiling pieces out doors.

This is the 'action' of the Toy Aluminum Skillet in the 'soup', even after removing from the stove, and taking outdoors:

https://youtube/S7LTfQcPG8s


Below, a Pic of the inside of the pot,,,, most of the residue I was able to scrub out with BKF, but there is still a cloudy film.....