Hi all, Here’s a question for those who know stones and
chemicals. I have a piece of what I believe to be Nephrite Jade,
pale splotchy greenish white. Will soaking it in muriatic acid
etch or otherwise react with the stone?J.A.
Hi John, I don’t know what muriatic acid is. Coult you let me
know? But what I do know is that jade is a chalk based stoned and
therefor vulnerable for acids. But if you grind it with some
waterproof paper 1200. and polish it on a wolbuf with
silverpolish it wil shine again. Martin N
John-- I have used a maximun 50% solution of muriatic acid to
clean the surface of nephrite jade many times. It has not etched
or damaged the jade and works well to remove surface crud like
barnacles, etc. Good Luck. Scott
Dear Martin: I’m not sure of the chemical compound make-up of
muriatic acid, but I know that my husband was a masonry
contractor and he always used it to wash his fireplaces, or
anything he had made of brick or stone with muriatic acid. It
is used to wash away the mortar deposits. Do not use it on
concrete blocks or poured concrete because it will corrode. You
can probably get it at Home Depot or a tile shop. Terry would
buy it in ten gallon jugs, but I imagine you can purchase it in
smaller quantities. Also, it smelllllllllls!, so always use
more than adequate ventilation when using muriatic acid. Andrea
Guyot
Guyot Brothers
G’day Martin.
The modern name for Muriatic acid is Hydrochloric acid. But you
are wrong about the nature of jade; it is not ‘chalk based’ it
is actually a complex calcium magnesium silicate It is in
fact, resistant to hydrochloric and other acids (except
hydrofluoric acid) Silver polish will indeed help polish jade
after one has used a succession of grades of wet-and-dry papers
on it. But I use a 9 inch plywood disc with a leather disc glued
on to it. I spin the disc at about 800 revs per minute and
paint on it a slurry of tin oxide and water. Any faster than
800rpm and you’ll get covered in tin oxide! Even at that speed
you need to wear an apron. It is necessary to press hard on the
disc, and even get the jade quite warm, for the best polish
arises when the work starts to drag on the disc. This method will
get you a ‘shine’ you can see your face in.
Muriatic acid is a somewhat impure grade of Hydrochloric acid.
HCl. Do not breathe the fumes1 Preferably use only outdoors!
Margaret @Margaret_Malm