What can I soak barbs in to remove dye staining?

JonJ678

JonJ678

JonJ678

Soldato
Joined
22 Dec 2008
Posts
10,369
Location
England
I'm thinking white wine vineger, as that probably won't attack the metal (it's steel, stainless, or nickel coated brass. Not found a magnet yet). Should I remove the O rings first?

On a similar note, can I soak acrylic/entire radiators in the same stuff? Diluted vineger, hot?

Seems better to ask the forums before starting trial and error
 
white wine vinagar is to expensive to waste on cleaning.
Distilled Malt Vinegar - it's clear in large glass jars about £2 or £3
See the advanced sticky - use it neat in the rads

Not good for clear acrylic or O-rings - soap and water (no acids or aprasives)
Double rinse with di-ionised water,

tomato ketchup is also good on barbs and copper blocks - use with a toothbrush
 
Last edited:
lol... yes the day I walked into Tesco's and ONLY brought 3 litres of clear Malt Vinagar and 6 litres of deionised water I got a funny look at the till
 
Yea, I went in once and just bought 3 bottles of clear malt vinegar... did look a bit strange haha. Does the job great though, and mine only cost something like 50p a bottle
 
it is acid - but also 50%ish sugar so not good for rads.

might be ok on blocks as you scrub them clean again, but ketchup is better as the sugar in it, is still minerilised (solid) so its an acid with abbrasives - perfect for cleaning metals.
 
I've seen elsewhere a guy left one of his blocks in a tub of lemonade to remove deposits. The thing I don't like about this is the lemonade would also be in contact with the lapped base of the block, which I would have thought you don't want to be attacked or etched by acid, vinegar or otherwise. I personally would want the base as pristine as it was when it was supplied, not potentially riddled with extra micropores from the acid, potenially filled with solidifed lemonade residue. I know you re-lap the base but why bother when applying ketchup just to the block innards is just as good.

One of these days someone is going to have to do a write up on which brands of sauce are best for block cleaning. Like would Regae Regae sauce be better than Chop?

Not sure about the solidifed sugar in ketchup myself though, none of the ketchup I buy is crunchy. I believe the use of ketchup is down to the fact that it contains vinegar rather than its abrasive properties. If you want mild abrasion use toothpaste.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom