Ferric Countertop

[Mark Williams]

Short of light sanding,does anyone know a way to remove ferric chloride stains from formica countertops.



Mark

 

[Mark Williams]

After several failed attempts I discovered that Hydrofluoric acid (aka)rust stain remover worked like a champ. The stains disappeared on contact.

Mark

 

[fitzo]

In case you're not aware of it, hydrofluoric acid is extremely hazardous to skin, and I am very surprised they use it as rust remover. HF has the very bad property of continuing to rot skin very deeply after exposure, and you cannot fix it by washing it off. Very dangerous stuff. Lots of rust removers are oxalic acid. I'd try that instead, but still wear gloves. Actually, i'd start with venegar, and see if acetic acid is sufficient to dissolve the FeCl. BTW, HF is the only acid that really attacks glass, too.

 

[alasome]

Yep, very nasty stuff; maybe he meant hydrochloric acid? Not near as bad as hydroflouric (and a lot more readily available). Hydorchloric is also called muriatic acid (I think I spelled that right)

Anthony Lasome

 

[Mark Williams]

Nope its Hydrofluoric.

Mark

and my finger are white and crusty as we speak

 

[Fox Creek]

Fitz is correct. It is Hideous stuff, but surprisingly it appears in all sorts of over the counter products. The trick is that it is in very small concentrations and bound up with other compounds that limit its dispersion. You can buy glass etching paste at crafts supply stores for instance. Concentrated Hydrofluoric acid has to be stored in a lab bottle that is lined with parafin.

 

[Centaur]

I work in the semiconductor industry, and I can honestly say that HF is some truely nasty stuff. The problem is that you do not always know that you've been exposed to it. It sometimes does not burn the skin like sulphuric, hydrochloric, or nitric acids. What it does is attack the calcium in the bones nearest the exposure site.

If you'r going to use HF, be damn careful. I'm sure the strength of the solution you're using is nowhere near the stuff I used. I always used double gloves.