[Jewelry making - Article 01633] - Re: [Orchid] Safe pickle?

[R . E . Rourke]

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Helen,

    Precisely..It is all relative... 

    (i don't know where the sterilization and antiseptic portion came
    in..i think that was Re: a post on alcohol!) Matter-of-fact after
    writing yesterday's post on Sparex and Ph down, I decided to clean
    out my chemical storage unit and eliminate old, unusable or
    unnecessary products lurking under lock and key... I found a bag of
    sparex..so it's relatively new in the scheme of Krohn's switch from
    cans to (way-too-thin and with an ineffective closure system) plastic
    bags.. 

    Since I have 3 types of pickle in use always (my own stripping
    strength recipe, fairly strong Nitric acid, and flux glass removal
    strength Sodium bisulphate ) I figured rather than toss the Sparex
    I'd replenish the NaSo4. 

    . Upon adding it to warm water in a clean ceramic liner from a
    slow-cooker, and stirring until dissolved I was left with a pot of
    solution of which the entire surface was covered with a thick dark
    brown clay sludge... again. ! &. Can or bag- the product is
    inconsistent at best... regardless of packaging. And as usual, "Al"-
    perhaps a chemist, but the "tech support" person with Krohn said
    "it's just soap", "lay a paper towel over it and it usually soaks it
    up". Then he asked what it looked like when i opened the bag ( "white
    granules" was my reply), and proceeded to tell me that" in summer
    this happens because of heat. and humidity". I asked" in a climate
    controlled environment at 15-33% humidity, and an ambient temperature
    between 60-68 degrees F, how could that possibly be effecting the
    product's stability. He said " before it gets to you it's stored in
    our warehouse and it gets hot in there in summer"..these are verbatim
    quotes by the way... I said" So you're saying this is this is
    basically Sodium Bisulphate and soap then, right?", "well, the soap
    is for cleaning" I asked for cleaning what? It means at least an
    extra step or two for me and my studio " he was quiet for a moment,
    and then said " how much Sparex do you use?", I said at one point I
    was going through about 40 pounds a year. He then suggested I buy it
    in a 45 Lb drum. I questioned the consistency of the product and he
    said "there are no gaurantees with sparex". I suggested that that
    wasn't a great sales pitch, and asked him" why then does Sodium
    Bisulphite for pools - which has the same percentage of acid and
    fillers as sparex never turn brown, or appear like brown sugar once a
    container is opened?". He said, "its heat and humidity. (. in a very
    gruff unpleasant, unwilling to actually do anything to make it right
    - like replacing bad product, or providing a fresh sample, etc. ),
    and sometimes the ingredients are a little different". I asked,
    "different... how, in the kind of soap, or other fillers or do the
    fillers change periodically"..Damn if he didn't accuse me of trying
    to get the "secret formula" out of him- again- I'm certain he did not
    remember my call about three years ago regarding the same thing, or
    his response, attitude, etc. I said, anyone can look at the MSDS and
    find out the ingredients, itt's not like rocket science or even
    advanced chemistry , just repacked chemical and filler..He said to
    "call [ him] back if there is any more problems with it". And that
    was the end of the conversation... 

    Which supports my point that Krohn is not a very customer oriented
    company, the tech support guy that told me 3 years ago they were
    using clay as a filler, is now saying it's soap, and that "all
    jewelry gets rinsed after pickling anyway right..and that pool Sodium
    Bisulphite is different from their s"... 

    So if you believe everything one reads..or hears..then relativity on
    its own merits is questionable..
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