Any sail boats in your area? Oxalic acid was (if it still is not) the bleaching agent of choice among sialboat owners for cleaning their sails... When I lived in the Annapolis area of Maryland every Drugstore sold it and every marina had it in stock in many sizes... Drugstores should be able to order it for you in any part of the country... Also works well on convertible vinyl tops...you just have to have the hose ready...LOL
Bob G.
Sure. The result would be the same.
When you say hydrogen peroxide is "readily available" and "cheap as dirt" I of course think of those brown plastic 16oz bottles they sell everywhere, from WalMart to Walgreens. There are two problems:
1) That's only a 3% solution. You would have to use it full strength. So, not sure it would much cheaper, if at all. 2) The reason it's in a brown plastic bottle is that it's unstable. Has a short shelf life. The powdered sodium percarbonate keeps much longer, as long as you keep the lid on it to keep the moisture out.You can buy much stronger hydrogen peroxide at some pool and spa supply stores, but it's expensive - and at high concentrations is somewhat dangerous to handle.
Sodium percarbonate is easy to find. It's the active ingredient in OxyClean and other oxygen-based cleaners which line the supermarket shelves (but as I said, those products contain a lot of filler - they are not 100% sodium percarbonate). Most pool and spa stores carry "oxygen shock" which is sodium percarbonate. Many mail-order places sell it. Type the words "oxygen" and "deck" and "bleach" into your internet search engine, and you'll get hundreds of hits.
WalMart and Meijer used to carry it in their laundry products aisle but they no longer do. I also checked two or three other chain stores and they don't carry it either. Haven't checked Kroger yet - but I will. While I'm there, I'll also look for "20 mule team Borax" which WalMart also stopped stocking (I've had good results using a Borax and vinegar solution for spraying on treated pine and vinyl siding to prevent/destroy mildew and algae).
Speaking of WalMart, is it just my wild imagination, or do I sense a slight change in their business model? Besides Arm and Hammer Washing Soda and 20 Mule Team Borax, there are other low-volume products I have seen disappear from their shelves recently. In the past, I had the impression they wanted to be all things to all people. Now lately I seem to perceive a trend to eliminate some of the low-volume stuff. They may save a nickel in the near term, but people may start to re-discover other stores. That may be a good thing.
What other stores? Mal Wart ran them out of business.
Pete C.
How dangerous do you think it is, then?
Type the words "oxalic acid" and "poisonous" into your search engine, read the articles, and judge for yourself.
I do not deny that there are many chemicals out there disguised as home products. You just need to know what is what.
For example, concentrated sulfuric acid is available as drain cleaner at most hardware stores. As a chemical from a scientific supply house, it is almost impossible to buy. Aside from charging a lot. In addition to ordinary shipping costs, firms like UPS charges an extra $25 hazardous shipping costs. Even so, a company Wilkem Scientific would not ship chemicals to me personally because of liabilty. I was able to get a particular pH meter from Wilkem not available from other suppliers because of DEA restrictions.
Bill
-- Ferme le Bush
Of course! It was never removed from the market, but the amount of phosphate was reduced or eliminated in many products a with concern for increasing algae growth in many water ways.
Lowes, here, ran out at the time I needed some, so they order some for me. Luckly I checked at a local paint store and bought the same size box for about $1 less.
Yep you can get sucked into buying the silicate product if you don't carefully read the box. Personally I think it is fraud to call the silicate product TSP, design the box to look like the actual TSP product, and then put "substitute" in small letter. But, actual TSP is still sold.
OTOH, the silicate product (substitute TSP) washes off more easily than TSP, but it also clean a little less well than TSP. Take you choice.
I checked it today and no where on it could I see anything to indicate it was not the real TSP.
If you want acid, you need to find a drug dealer. Be aware this is an illegal drug. Once you get the acid, drop a few hits, wait till you get off, then enjoy cleaning your dick.
That varies by state.
This varies by state.
Have some coffee and read that post again.
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