Hydrofluoric Acid to clean wheels?

[FUNX650]

I've posted this before...

Honeywell is the World's largest manufacturer of HF acid.
Here's their brochure for medical treatment of HF:

http://www.honeywell-pmt.com/sm/hfac...2012-final.pdf

Doesn't hurt to have one of these kits around when using products containing HF acid.
Something to use, at least until the EMTs arrive.




Bob

[Audios S6]

I just started using a wheel cleaner that has butoxy ethanol and potassium hydroxide. I know nothing about these chemicals. Are they harsh? The directions state let dwell 20 sec then rinse. I found I need to agitate most of the time but it seems like a strong cleaner. Its not sold at AG but a MSDS is available if someone knowledgeable can PM me please. Thanks

If it contains potassium hydroxide it is still very harsh, but on the other side of the pH scale (like 13+), it would still be considered corrosive. A tiny bit less nasty than sodium hydroxide. Only real benefit of potassium hydroxide is that it doesn't tend to 'yellow' the way sodium hydroxide can. Still many better options out there. However, one well liked super degreaser does contain potassium hydroxide.

If you want a cost effective wheel cleaner that is a bit safer (still a touch risky for some material finishes) look for something with a metasilicate derivative.

[MarkD51]

Was this the stuff Heisenberg was using to melt down people who crossed him, Jesse threw Crazy 8 in the Bathtub, and it ate through bathtub, floor, etc? LOL

[kevincwelch]

Was this the stuff Heisenberg was using to melt down people who crossed him, Jesse threw Crazy 8 in the Bathtub, and it ate through bathtub, floor, etc? LOL

Chemical disincorporation indeed.

[David Hayward]

I have no input on this stuff as a wheel cleaner but I am a first responder with my company as an add on job basically to my main duties. In the lab they use this stuff pure. And in that a form a single drop on your skin can ruin your day. The trouble is it doesn't burn your skin. It absorbs into the spot at attacks your bones. A small drop could go unnoticed and then become extremely painful as the day goes on. So please don't use this stuff lol. We are trained as first responders on how to start initial treatment on contacts with this it's just no good to use.

[scrubs147]

Down here in Florida we have tons of ant hills. Whenever working around an area where there's a lot of ants I'll use it on the ground... works great for pesky insects.

[FUNX650]

Down here in Florida we have tons of ant hills. Whenever working around an area where there's a lot of ants I'll use it on the ground... works great for pesky insects.

No environmental or health issues, then, with HF-acid seeping into the ground-water/water-table...
down there in Florida?

Bob

[PiPUK]

I just started using a wheel cleaner that has butoxy ethanol and potassium hydroxide. I know nothing about these chemicals. Are they harsh? The directions state let dwell 20 sec then rinse. I found I need to agitate most of the time but it seems like a strong cleaner. Its not sold at AG but a MSDS is available if someone knowledgeable can PM me please. Thanks

Potassium hydroxide is caustic potash and, as stated by Audios S6, it is pretty nasty. Sodium and potassium hydroxides are effectively the alkaline equivalents of hydrofluoric and hydrochloric acid. Superb cleaners and common in many non-acid wheel cleaner. If you search on the topic, you will see that I think that caustics are best kept out of routine detailing as they are too aggressive (they will damage many more sensitive finishes). Butoxy ethanol is a solvent which people have expressed concern about with paint work. However, most of the time it will be used at low levels and it is then diluted to a point where the level is miniscule. I have never observed any harm which I would attribute to the butoxy ethanol, most of the harm I see with products containing it will be down to other ingredients (the caustics are much much more likely to do harm).

[jfelbab]

My experience with Hydrofluoric Acid.

A few years back I was working in a historic part of Milwaukee. The building I was working was adjacent to a Muni parking lot. The owner of the building I was working in decided to hire a building restoration firm to spray diluted Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) on the building's exterior to clean (etch) the brick and mortar. Of course, they did this on some really windy days and hundreds of cars were hit with the spray.

The HF they were using, while diluted, was literally melting some glass windshields and made pits in others. After a few calls to the environmental agencies and local TV stations they decided to finish the restoration using a sand blaster. They followed this up by spraying some kind of silicone sealer on the brick and morter. This, the sand and silicone, also, wound up on the cars.

Unfortunately, there were lots of people who drove by the building while they were spraying and even more who parked in the muni lot who never knew what had happened to their vehicles.

My glass became severely pitted, my paint developed a white oxidation so deep that it couldn't be buffed off and all the exposed metal parts corroded. The insurance company had to replace all my glass, exposed metal and repaint the car.

I subsequently found that HF is among the strongest and most corrosive acids known and is assigned a class 8 hazardous waste. For reference, nuclear waste is a class 9 hazardous waste. Several people have died from HF contact. It is nothing I'd want in proximity to me or my vehicles. Hydrofluoric acid poisoning: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

[HateSwirls]

I use the Meguiar's Wheel Brightener with great results, I use it 3:1.
The wheels have to be really dirty before I use it, my wheels are always well protected to in most cases just soap and water is all I need for my wheels, not so for some of my customers wheels though, baked on brake dust can take a long time to clean but not with the WB, really dissolves it quickly.

Just use common sense, not a bad idea to wear eye protection, a mask, gloves, that goes for a lot of wheel cleaners, even some of the all purpose cleaners can be harmful to you.