Muratic Acid solution? How too for a DIY?

I need to make some muratic acid up like the detailers use.. Long story short I have had my boat washed by many a detailer and when my swim steps and tabs look like shit because of electrolysis they spray that shit on there and it gets them to a nice uniform "silver" color. So I think I finally have found a long term solution to keeping them looking that way even after the annodizing is shot to hell... but I need to get them to be a uniform color before I do anything.

So how do you mix this stuff? Where do you get it? Once it's in the spray bottle, can you leave it in there? Or will it dissolve the spray bottle and ruin the sprayer etc?

RD

I think Home Depot carries it. Or any pool supply store. Curious about this as well

Home Depot, Lowes any DIY store. You can mix with water in spray bottle. Not sure on how long will last. Used to out in big sprayer to etch concrete.

2 gallons for $11 at hd. Just bought some last week. I filled a squirt bottle last week and still good. I use it straight to clean my props and my toilet in Parker. Cut it 50/50 if using for hull wash ect.

All Muriatic Acids are not the same. The stuff home depot sells is or was a 14% solution. Read the label when going to purchase.

I would try a 10-1 mix and see how it works. Don't store the MA in your garage, it will corrode things that you would not think of.

Wheeler said:

All Muriatic Acids are not the same. The stuff home depot sells is or was a 14% solution. Read the label when going to purchase.

I would try a 10-1 mix and see how it works. Don't store the MA in your garage, it will corrode things that you would not think of.

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Yep, what wheeler said. I use it in my pool all the time. No way I would play around with that stuff.

RiverDave said:

So how do you mix this stuff? Where do you get it? Once it's in the spray bottle, can you leave it in there? Or will it dissolve the spray bottle and ruin the sprayer etc?

RD

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Why not use Ducky?

Below is Racey's (not so) secret formula.

"If you want to let the product do the work for you, get some Muriatic Acid from the local hardware store or pool supply place. Put about 1/2 a cup in 3 or 4 inches of water in a 5 gallon bucket. Keep the hose ready and running wipe it on with a rag and immediately rinse away heavily. Keep it away from chrome, aluminum, and anodizing, but it won't hurt stainless, in fact it will strip the water spots from that too. You can litterally feel the rag cutting the water spots with the lightest pressure."

"I normally do it without gloves i just make sure to continually keep rinsing my hands off. But rubber dish washing gloves work well. Nothing comes close to the power of strong acid."

Ps; Ace Hardware has Muriatic Acid, about 8 bucks per gal.

Wheeler said:

All Muriatic Acids are not the same. The stuff home depot sells is or was a 14% solution. Read the label when going to purchase.

I would try a 10-1 mix and see how it works. Don't store the MA in your garage, it will corrode things that you would not think of.

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Learned that the hard way.. Hinges, handles, etc...

Wheeler said:

All Muriatic Acids are not the same. The stuff home depot sells is or was a 14% solution. Read the label when going to purchase.

I would try a 10-1 mix and see how it works. Don't store the MA in your garage, it will corrode things that you would not think of.

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This x 3

HD & Lowes sell the 14% stuff. Pool supply stores sell 31%.

Also, EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, when mixing fill your water FIRST, THEN SLOWLY add the acid to the ratio you want.

Other way around can go boom in a very bad way.

And no, the acid mixture will not dissolve the plastic bottles. However, if there are any metal parts in the spray mechanism it will corrode them in a flash.

t&y said:

Learned that the hard way.. Hinges, handles, etc...

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Not to mention the bed of your truck.

My neighbor in parker is a long time boat guy. They other day when I was detailing my boat he came over and squirted this stuff all over the transom on my stainless steel parts. All he did was squirt it on and immediately sprayed off with a hose. The stuff was called bolex which is a industrial toilet bowl cleaner. it has a tiny bit of acid you could tell once you sprayed off the bolex and it got on your feet it tingled a bit. Good stuff and works great and quick. He said don't let it sit on aluminum very long because it could dull it. Needless to say I bought a few bottles after

Conquest30' said:

My neighbor in parker is a long time boat guy. They other day when I was detailing my boat he came over and squirted this stuff all over the transom on my stainless steel parts. All he did was squirt it on and immediately sprayed off with a hose. The stuff was called bolex which is a industrial toilet bowl cleaner. it has a tiny bit of acid you could tell once you sprayed off the bolex and it got on your feet it tingled a bit. Good stuff and works great and quick. He said don't let it sit on aluminum very long because it could dull it. Needless to say I bought a few bottles after

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Searched for it on the net and found this.

AMREP R92512CT Bolex 23 Percent Hydrochloric Acid Bowl Cleaner, 32 Oz. Bottle, 12/carton at Walmart.com.

Misty Bolex Toilet Bowl & Urinal Cleaner:
Dissolves organic encrustations, scale and stains
Contains blend of detergent, inorganic acid, wetting agents and rinse additive to keep toilet bowls and urinals bright and clean
Regular use helps clean traps and lines
Ideal for industrial and commercial janitorial cleaning applications
Cleans, deodorizes, descales
Highly concentrated
Thin viscosity

Muriatic acid is hydrochloric acid. Same stuff.

Sounds like Bolex is 23% MA with some blue dye.

Yep, that'll work.

spotondl said:

This x 3

HD & Lowes sell the 14% stuff. Pool supply stores sell 31%.

Also, EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, when mixing fill your water FIRST, THEN SLOWLY add the acid to the ratio you want.

Other way around can go boom in a very bad way.

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Not sure I understand why Acid and water would go boom...

RD

RiverDave said:

Not sure I understand why Acid and water would go boom...

RD

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You never can tell what might be in your tap water.

RiverDave said:

Not sure I understand why Acid and water would go boom...

RD

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It's more of a Mentos & soda type reaction.

A large amount of heat is released when strong acids are mixed with water. Adding more acid releases more heat. If you add water to acid, you form an extremely concentrated solution of acid initially. So much heat is released that the solution may boil very violently, splashing concentrated acid out of the container!

spotondl said:

It's more of a Mentos & soda type reaction.

A large amount of heat is released when strong acids are mixed with water. Adding more acid releases more heat. If you add water to acid, you form an extremely concentrated solution of acid initially. So much heat is released that the solution may boil very violently, splashing concentrated acid out of the container!

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Just think of your pool, always add acid to water, not water to acid.

I was a chemist for many years... I always remember the rule as A&W rootbeer = Acid into Water.

Adding water to acid is exothermic and can blow up in your face.