100% citric acid may be purchased from Bryant Laboratory,
1-800-367-3141. It’s about $10/lb.
100% citric acid may be purchased from Bryant Laboratory,
1-800-367-3141. It’s about $10/lb.
Thanks for the Rene…John Burgess just very kindly
and quietly informed me that citric acid is not distilled but
crystallized…as if I actually know the difference, so the rest
of you needn’t jump on the band wagon here…I do know the
difference between a tourbillon and a karussel !
Terry Parresol in central Florida surrounded by orange groves ( 40 acres
behind my house don’t you know )
Horologist
Goldsmith
lousy chemist
I didn’t see the initial inquiry about citric acid but I got my
current supply from my pharmacy (Walmart) for around $7.00 /lb.,
any pharmacy should have it or can get it in a days time. At
school though we get it in 50lb bags, through the Universities
food venders. Citric Acid is used in baking as an acidifier. I
just ordered a couple more pounds though my Food Coop at around
$3.50/lbs. The price seems to vary according to labeled use, not
the actual product (Anhydrous Citric Acid, USP). (Truth,
Justice, and the American Way of PROFITS). Hope this helps a few
others.
The Calendar says it’s Spring, so my five year old wants to go
swimming at the beach NOW!
Dear Pam, Thank you for saying so as I often wonder if I am
boring people or what as more than half my posts never seem too
appear… I will be brief: Horologist : one who studies Horology (
don’t you just love it !)
Horology is quite simply the study of the art and science of
timekeeping. One needn’t be a watchmaker to be an Horologist just
have the interest.
A Tourbillon…ahh this is great stuff. stated simply this is a
watch which has an escapement which is mounted usually in a cage
type setup which is pivoted and it revolves ( the escapement
which itself is running at 18 to 36 thousand beats per hour is
oscillating around a centered pivot) …visualize the cage also
revolving and you’ve got it…a tourbillon revolves a complete
rotation once a minute.(usually) This setup was designed
centuries ago to eliminate positional errors in a watch.
Now a Karrusel simply stated is similar to a tourbillon except
it ( the cage as it were) revolves once in 52.5 minutes instead
of once a minute…I could go on for pages…this is good enough.
To be able to spot the difference is difficult unless you know
what you’re looking at…By the way if any of you in Orchid land
has either type and want to sell them I would be interested. And
yes Pam the orange trees are in full bloom
Terry Parresol
A Tourbillon..ahh this is great stuff. stated simply this is a watch which has an escapement which is mounted usually in a cage type setup which is pivoted and it revolves (
Since the heading was Citric Acid, perhaps you can tell us what
happens to a tourbillon falls into some of it.
kp
$10.00/lb for Citric Acid relatively expensive. Santa Fe
Jeweler’s supply (800-659-3835) carries one and two pound cans of
citric acid powder (they call it “Citrex”) for $4.75 and $7.50
respectively. You can also purchase an 8 oz. package from King
Arthur Flour (800-827-6836) (they call it “sour salt”) for $3.25.
I purchased some from King Arthur and have been using it in
place of sparex. So far, it has worked very well. Distilled
vinegar and kosher salt (heated) also works, but takes much
longer.
Neda Morvillo
Hello All, I’ve been thinking about citric acid as a replacement
for pickle. I noticed a bottle of shampoo in the bathroom called
"Citre Shine" It is a revitalizing shampoo. Those of you who have
seen my head will know that I have little recent experience with
hair products. At any rate, I was intrigued. The ingredients were
a mix of many fruit extracts. from tangelo to key- lime. And now
for the really silly part. I mixed it with an equal amount of
water and have been using it as pickle for two weeks. It works
fine! Pearls go in it with no ill effects as well as fingers. I
thought you might find this interesting. Tom Arnold
Kathy, I was responding to a question from someone else and
wasn’t paying attention to headings…Sorry
and as for the tourbillon in citric acid…don’t know…I’ll try
it today and see if it damages the steel…probably not !
Terry Parresol
“Citre Shine” It is a revitalizing shampoo. I mixed it with an
equal amount of water and have been using it as pickle for two
weeks.
Tom,
Do you heat up the solution?
Linda Crawford
Linda Crawford Designs
http://www.jps.net/lcrawford
@Linda_Crawford
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” -Carl Jung
Hi, Linda, I’ve just been using it at room temp. I gave up on
hot pickle because I was always letting it run dry. A very smelly
mistake. The shampoo is probably too slow for commercial use, but
it smells nice. Tom Arnold
According to the MSDS (HR17029), Citric Acid in powder form is ONLY
"irritating", to skin, eyes, or if concentrated dust (15 mg/m 3?) is
inhaled. No chronic effects to repeated exposure, No Carcinogenic Effect.
Disposal of Spills seems merely to neutralize, dilute and flush. It doesn’t
seem to be ignitable, and so is non explosive.
far milder than most foods I eat. Read an MSDS on flour or vegetable oil
and you’ll think they’re to dangerous to touch much less have in your home!
My first reading of Citric Acids MSDS caused me to laugh at OSHA’s
overboard, hyper cautious approach.
Plus it’s seems to me to be very effective and easy to use (unless boiled
dry in the Crock Pot, then just add water, stir and reuse till exhausted).
I love the stuff, since I have three young children in my home!
Safely yours, efw.
Karen, Citric acid is a food item, but it is used mostly as a flavoring in
very small quantities. (The one I remember best was the fruit drink mix
crystals they used to pack in the old military C ration kits. But large
amounts of it can be bad for the teeth. This is the acid which is found in
lemons (which by the way is why cream of tarter plus lemon juice can be
used in a pinch to clean kitchen silverware). My dentist told me he has
seen children who get hooked on sucking lemons and whose teeth literally
fall out. He says the calcium of the teeth is dissolved by the juice. So it
is best to not eat it unless it is labeled as food grade citric acid and
one has a recipe which specifies a small limited amount. Geo.
Thank you for the on the safety of citric acid – I was
starting to worry that the pickle substitute I was so happily using at
home was not as safe as I originally thought (I also have a small child at
home).
However, I have a question about citric acid that I’m hoping someone out
there can answer. I use citric acid powder, dissolved into water, in a
small crock pot. Some time ago, I made some of this solution and used it
only a little. Therefore, I did not want to throw it out. So I just left
it sitting in the crock pot (unheated, obviously). I did not need to use
it again for a couple of weeks. When I finally went to use it again, I
noticed something very strange. The solution had crystallized (for lack
of a better way to describe it) on the top of the crock pot, and on the
counter around where the crock pot was sitting. Incidentally, it took
quite a while to clean it off – it was really stuck to the counter!
I am wondering why this happened, and whether this indicates that there is
some continued exposure to the solution even while it sits cold. Can
anyone shed some light on this?
Thanks in advance -
Neda Nassiri Morvillo
Since citric acid is organic, little things will grow in your rinse water.
Sugar water (glucose) will crystalize in a saturated solution as well. If
you use hot water on a sponge, it should help it “melt” some for cleaning.
Karen Christians
M E T A L W E R X
416 Main St.
Woburn, MA 01801
781/937-3532
http://www.metalwerx.com/
@metalart
Current Artwork:
Karen, A little sodium bisulfite (used as a canning/food/fresh fruit
preservative) should stop the things that are growing in your citric acid.
Sodium bisulfite is the ingredient which is unfortunately added to most
apple cider in the US nowadays…preventing it from acquiring that tasty
fizz. 
-Pete-
Hey, guys…not to worry about citric acid toxicity . Ever hear of sour
salt? Used in recipes for borscht, sweet&sour dishes, sauerbraten
(instead of vinegar) ,etc. Ingredient? Pure citric acid. It’s what puts
the pucker in lemon juice. It does what an acid is supposed to do, but
in small amounts it’s not at all toxic. >D<
sopdium bisulfite is a very common swimming [pool treatment and is also
known to us as Sparex 2 SA little citric added to the sodium bisulfite
acts as a bnooster catalist and makes for a low priced pickle although
sparex is cheap enough for the average bench silversmith lasts a long
time with average usage Leon Kusher lkusher@aol.com
I don’t know about the swimming pool solution, but Sparex, according to
the label on the can is sodium bisulphate, not sodium bisulphite…a
different chemical. Jerry in Kodiak
Karen
What is growing in your pickle surely is possibly crystals of citric a=
cid.
When you use citric acid as pickle, you heat it and as citric acid pic=
kle
is a watery solution some of the water will evaporate (this happens ev=
en
if you let it stand unattended at room temp.).
When it cools down, you then have what is called an oversaturated
solution. This will cause crystals to be formed mainly on the surface =
and
at the sides of your pickling vessel (is that what you call a crockpot=
?).
Stirr and add some more distilled water, and you can continue using it=
for
a long period.
By the way, you might also experience that flux which has been removed=
by
the pickle is forming crystals on the surface etc. I mainly use sulphu=
ric
acid as a pickle and have had this experience a few times, and with H2=
SO4
it definitely is not citric acid.
Kind regards
Niels L=F8vschal, Jyllinge, Denmark
@L_F8vschal
Sodium bisulfate in the pool supply business is usually called PH Down or
something to that effect. Its all I ever use and never gives me that oily
film that Sparex sometimes does. Gini in St. Petersburg