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Wow - Muriatic Acid is some noxious stuff

S

spidey07

No Lifer
Getting ready to close the pool and never needed to use Muriatic Acid (Hydrochloric). This stuff is 31.5%, 20 Baumme. Has a damn pH of under 1. I took proper precautions and had eye protection, no gloves though.

The smell of this stuff was the most caustic/corrosive smell I've ever been in contact with and my nose never came anywhere near it or the vessel I used to pour it into. Still, even with my face being upwind it hit me, the vapor.

It wasn't just a "yeah, that's a strong corrosive smell", but a "get your body and face the hell away from it NOW!" smell. That shit is going to be tucked away into a special place in the garage, don't want that anywhere near anything.
 
Ha, that was one of my first experiences with it too, as a 12 year old pouring it in a poorly ventilated garage. Never did it that way again. After gagging and running outside, I was actually a bit surprised at how it still had a kind of vinegar smell, just a bazillion times stronger.

EDIT: Protip: Old, heat-exposed bags of chlorine shock powder are even worse.
 
Hazardous-Material-Industrial-Signs-RTK17BBVPLY2WY-lg.jpg


You mean to tell me you didn't read the Hazmat info? It clearly says "avoid breathing fumes". 🙄
 
I used it to clean my garage floor. Opened the garage and poured the stuff on straight from the bottle. It was really cool to watch my floor sizzle, and see a fog forming over the floor. It came out awesome.
 
I also used it to clean some horrible oil leaks on my garage floor. The stuff was so strong that you could see parts of the concrete disintegrated. It did a helluva job cleaning though.
 
Strong pure acids and bases are the best cleaning agents. Mix them together for serious fun. 😀 (don't really)
 
Lemon law said:
Yes hydrocloric acid is some real nasty stuff, but it can't hold a candle to the florine based variety.
Click to expand...

Do they sell hydrofluoric acid in regular stores? That stuff is seriously dangerous, even low molarity it will eat away at almost anything.

EDIT: Apparently, "dilute hydrofluoric acid is a component of household rust stain remover and in car washes in 'wheel cleaner' compounds" (Wikipedia). I learned something new today.
 
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Crono said:
Do they sell hydrofluoric acid in regular stores? That stuff is seriously dangerous, even low molarity it will eat away at almost anything.

EDIT: Apparently, "dilute hydrofluoric acid is a component of household rust stain remover and in car washes in "wheel cleaner" compounds" (Wikipedia). I learned something new today.
Click to expand...

You can also get it for etching glass. Hydrofluoric acid is more toxic, but it's not one of the strongest acids.

You want the strongest stuff you can buy at a hardware store, try Rooto professional drain cleaner. It's 93% sulfuric acid.
 
Of corse I knew to avoid fumes. I took every precaution not to but still got a whif. It's not like it made a vapor. I poured it into the pool down wind and still caught some.
 
spidey07 said:
Of corse I knew to avoid fumes. I took every precaution not to but still got a whif. It's not like it made a vapor. I poured it into the pool down wind and still caught some.
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You know what gear you need to get next time...

cooking-suit.jpg


(took too long for a Breaking Bad reference)
 
astroidea said:
I also used it to clean some horrible oil leaks on my garage floor. The stuff was so strong that you could see parts of the concrete disintegrated. It did a helluva job cleaning though.
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In the construction industry it's used to dissolve concrete.
 
Burns the skin a bit too. Oh the joys of cleaning masonry! We typically used it to eat the mortar off of brickwork, cleans it up very nicely. I only made the mistake of standing directly over the container when opening it once, though I'm sure I've inhaled quite a bit over time. Its nothing to worry about in comparison to things like xylol used to clean off caulk.
 
I remember playing with hydrochloric acid in grade 9 science class. That stuff was intense. It was my first time even seeing acid so I had no idea what to expect. Was fun though, some of the reactions were pretty crazy. Sulfuric acid was fun too. Thinking about it now, I'm surprised they never made us wear gloves or mask/face shield of some kind.
 
Crono said:
Do they sell hydrofluoric acid in regular stores? That stuff is seriously dangerous, even low molarity it will eat away at almost anything.

EDIT: Apparently, "dilute hydrofluoric acid is a component of household rust stain remover and in car washes in 'wheel cleaner' compounds" (Wikipedia). I learned something new today.
Click to expand...

The company I work for sells ultra pure HF (along with HCL and H2SO4). The electronic devices LOVE the environment. Cisco switches are not acid proof, shocklingly 😛.
 
Red Squirrel said:
I remember playing with hydrochloric acid in grade 9 science class. That stuff was intense. It was my first time even seeing acid so I had no idea what to expect. Was fun though, some of the reactions were pretty crazy. Sulfuric acid was fun too. Thinking about it now, I'm surprised they never made us wear gloves or mask/face shield of some kind.
Click to expand...

The concentrations were nowhere near this. Hell I took a ton of chemistry in college now I know why the vent hood was used.

Bleach! I can still taste it.
 
DrPizza said:
I used it to clean my garage floor. Opened the garage and poured the stuff on straight from the bottle. It was really cool to watch my floor sizzle, and see a fog forming over the floor. It came out awesome.
Click to expand...

Alright smarty pants. You should know what that vapor was and why it super duper bad.

I was pouring hcl into chlorinated water at 8 ppm Cl.
 
Back in the 70's we used to clean pool walls (drained pools) with muriatic acid. That stuff will stop your lungs. We'd come running out of the pools trying to catch our breath. Went through a pair of tennis shoes a week. We had no idea or training on the hazards.
 
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