You can strip galvanized coating off steel using regular household vinegar. I saw a video that used muriatic acid and another that used citric acid. Muriatic acid only took a few minutes of bubbling and smoking to clean the metal, but it required rubber gloves, eye protection and a respirator. The citric acid took several minutes long with less bubbling and less protective equipment required.
But I don't have either of those substances, so I wanted to see if I could use a weaker acid like vinegar to accomplish the same thing.
It worked. It took several hours instead of mere minutes, but it did work. Household vinegar removed all the galvanized coating off washers, nuts and screws down to the bare metal. And more importantly, I didn't have to wear rubber gloves or a respirator to use it.
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| You can see the bare metal at the bottom of the washer. The top is still galvanized. All I did was submerge half the washer in regular 5% household vinegar for a few hours. This is a simple and safe way of making galvanized metal safe to weld and sand. |
I already use vinegar for a lot of things, so I usually have a couple of
gallons on hand. I use it as a weed killer, glass cleaner and rust remover. I
use it to etch copper for my craft projects, and I've even made a circuit
board by etching with vinegar.
