How to clean a radiator?

[Jonathan Sachs]

Any suggestions on how to clean an old-fashioned steam radiator? The spaces between the coils are filthy, and my vacuum cleaner's wand won't fit in there!

Also, one of the radiators has a "humidifier" gadget -- a metal trough inside the coils with a reservoir at the end for pouring in water. It's filthy and covered with a heavy layer of scale, and I don't know how to remove it to clean it. Do I just have to pull hard to get the thing out? Or does it have to be disconnected somehow?

[Eric in North TX]

[Philip Lewis]

Put a pan or towel underneath to catch any water and use a damp bottle or (clean) toilet brush.

[...]

Hard to say without seeing it... but again, I'd try a bottle brush, perhaps a wire brush. A little white vinegar might help loosen the scale...

Of it's really rusty, and you can't get to it with a brush, look up methods for cleaning old tools with electrolysis. In this case, however, you would use the resevoir as the "bucket".

good luck

[m Ransley]

Narrow vac tools usualy come with the unit, once I took an old metal extension piece and hammerd it thin to fit in the radiator.