H Cl and H 2 O
Muriatic acid, or hydrochloric acid is found in dilute form in the human stomach. The betaine hydrochoride found in the human stomach can be 100,000 to 1 million times more acidic than water. It is a highly corrosive, mineral acid. The alchemist Jabir Ibn Hayyan (also known as Geber) discovered it in the eighth century. Historically it was known as Spirits of Salt and Chlorane. Geber discovered the chemical when he mixed salt and vitriol (sulfuric acid). In the United Kingdom it is still called Spirits of Salt when it is sold as a cleaning agent. It is also used to produce heroin, cocaine and methamphetimine. It is not unusual for a meth bust to produce the tell tale white plastic bottles which hold muriatic acid. I have had to show my identification when buying muriatic acid and at one time, if I remember correctly I had to sign a paper of intent when I purchased it.
Rest assured, my reason for purchasing muriatic acid was for cleaning and unplugging a toilet.
Muriatic acid is a 10% to 30% solution of hydrochloric acid and water, depending on what one intends to do with the mixture. Alot of times it is used to clean brick. If you are a an experimental sort and wish to mix your own, rather than buy it in the bottle from your local hardware store, always remember to add acid to water, never water to acid.
The advantages of using muriatic acid is that it will clean up oils, rubber, and paint without scrubbing.
Reasons to not use muriatic acid would be the potential for injury. Eye protection while using this acid is highly recommended by every piece written on the subject. Muriatic acid is dangerous, especially if you get it in your eyes. It it is splashed on the skin, you must immediately wash the area. You might experience a rash, but having used this chemical before and gotten on my skin, I can attest that I did not blister. In fact, I didn’t get a rash either.
Muriatic acid literally eats rust and can be used in a very diluted form to clean stainless steel, but any softer type of metal would not be advised. This acid does fine with PVC, that is it won’t eat plastic. In fact it is packaged and sold most usually in a plastic bottle.
Alot of people use it to clean their pools.
It is often used on a small scale in manufacturing household cleaning products, gelatin and other food products. It is also used in the production of leather.
Sources: Routesetter.com www.kalispell.com www.2stopmeth.org
