|
Post by Tweetiepy on Mar 2, 2005 15:24:52 GMT -5
ARE YOU "LYEing" ;D Man I crack myself up! Stefan, I think you're just TRYING to be funny to get to GOD status!!! I've gotten my second bbl running and i haven't peeked in 2 days (dying to though)
|
|
|
Post by Alice on Mar 2, 2005 16:51:33 GMT -5
Brett I was told not to use Oxy Clean. It produces gas and you'll end up with a mess everywhere (may even damage your machine).
|
|
|
Post by Cher on Mar 2, 2005 17:17:48 GMT -5
Ooo I missed that one. Where did you hear not to use Oxy-Clean? I was thinking of trying it.
Shame on you Stefan ... I'm sure that was "no pun intended" right? ;D ;D
Cher
|
|
|
Post by Alice on Mar 2, 2005 17:22:23 GMT -5
Docone said not to use it in the other soap thread
|
|
deepsouth
fully equipped rock polisher
He who rocks last rocks best
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,256
|
Post by deepsouth on Mar 2, 2005 19:39:38 GMT -5
I use liquid sunlight soap of the dishes type, it works well for me and I am amazed how dirty the water is that comes off the barrel at the end of the wash cycle.
Never use a caustic or bleachcontaining soap my supplier said.
Jack
|
|
|
Post by Alice on Mar 2, 2005 20:16:46 GMT -5
Thanks Deep It's good to know what everybody uses, and what can or can't be used.
I Think I'll go with Cascade or with Ivory snow (or equivalent) I don't want to use something that may get too sudsy
|
|
rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
|
Post by rollingstone on Mar 3, 2005 2:58:33 GMT -5
Geez, you guys......
The reason for using a cleaner between stages and after the final polish is to GENTLY!!!! clean the stones of trapped grit and haze. What many people seem to be suggesting here is to use terribly harsh chemicals that may permanently damage your rubber barrel and quite possibly your stones. TSP??? Wow, that's used as paint stripper! Lye??... hard to imagine a harsher chemical! (BTW, the lye in common bath soap is no longer reactive, since it is chemically combined with lard or equivalent, so the end product is gentle, not harsh.) But pure lye by itself is terribly corrosive.
In the good old days, like 15 years ago, Ivory Snow Flakes were a mild laundry soap recommended for washing baby clothes, and was also recommended for the washing stages/burnishing for rock tumblers.
Then they stopped making this product around the late 1980's. The replacement products seem to have settled down to either shavings from a bar of Ivory Snow bath soap (which take about an hour or two to fully dissolve in a tumbling barrel), or 20 Mule Team Borax. Borax is just a very soft mineral, sodium borate, which has a Mohs hardness of something like 2 (much softer than any stone you will ever tumble), so while the borax doesn't have any "soap" properties, it will also never scratch your tumbled stones, and it contains no harsh chemicals to wreck your rubber barrel. Either of these products is fine to use, and my Lortone tumbling guide also suggests another laundry soap, "White King", of which I know nothing about.
You definitely want to avoid any product than can damage your stones or rubber barrel, and this means any product with chlorine in it, such as most common dishwash or laundry cleaners. My Lortone guide specifically says....
"Do not use any liquid detergents, dishwasher powders, or products that contain bleach or additives as these products will damage the barrel and ruin the polish (of the stones)."
So, please, stick with simple soaps without additives, or use Borax, and save yourself from etched (wrecked) barrels and stones.
And for Alice2072, Borax is easy to find here in western Canada, so I'm betting you can find it in Quebec too. It's in the laundry detergent section of any major supermarket here.
|
|
|
Post by mrbrett on Mar 3, 2005 8:28:25 GMT -5
Rollingstone I think some people are having a hard time finding boraxo and are trying to find an alternative. I wonder if baking soda would work. Its in toothpate to help brighten your smile. Maybe it can also brighten your rocks.
Brett
|
|
|
Post by Alice on Mar 3, 2005 8:40:26 GMT -5
rollingstone Thanks for your post, and saving me from making a big mistake.
As for the Borax. It's nowhere to be found in our supermarkets. Honest.
I'm not he first Quebecer to be looking for it apparently. But I will try Ontario as I'm not too far from the border (about 20 minutes away). Something tells me that it's a language law thing, or the Quebec health department is removing a lot of things from our shelves if they find it being a health hazard in any miniscule way.
|
|
|
Post by Alice on Mar 3, 2005 9:03:52 GMT -5
This is our largest, most popular grocery store (it's pretty much the same size as Loblaws). The other grocery stores don't have a web site, but I've checked and came up with nothing. maybe a second set of eyes will help. Click on "English", go to on-line grocery shopping, and look for house hold, then laundry detergents. ALL of their stock is on line throughout Canada. iga.caAlice P.S. RollingStone, What store do YOU buy Borax from? Also... Ivory is no longer recommended for babies because it's one of the most hash soaps you can put on delicate skin (despite what old advertising may say). It dries your skin out! Dove is what is recommended now (which contains moisturizers). Just letting you know.
|
|
|
Post by Alice on Mar 3, 2005 9:09:13 GMT -5
Brett, I have read that you should add baking soda to your grit. It's supposed to neutralize any gases that may form. and also stops foaming.
I don't know if this really works, as I've never tried it. But it makes sense. Alice
|
|
chassroc
Cave Dweller
Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
Posts: 3,586
|
Post by chassroc on Mar 3, 2005 9:24:53 GMT -5
Me thinks people worry too much about grit contamination between stages. From coarse to medium to fine , I doubt that you need to clean very hard...My reasoning is that AO grit breaks down into finer grit as time goes by, especially if you are tumbling hard stone (e.g., agate). My experience with certain stones is that you do not have to be real careful early in the cycle. As you get toward polish, things change dramatically
|
|
|
Post by Tweetiepy on Mar 3, 2005 10:34:33 GMT -5
Should we be using Dove now to clean our rocks *I'm getting very confused now - too much information is foaming up in my soap filled brain* I'll probably stick to the shaved Ivory bar soap - since I struggled & gagged through the grating process I think it should be used on my rocks - there's NO WAY I'm ever gonna wash with that stuff - sorry to all the Ivory users, but I cannot stand that smell!
|
|
|
Post by Alice on Mar 3, 2005 10:56:11 GMT -5
Tweety I wouldn't put Dove in with your rocks because of the moisturizers. You don't want a film of "oil" on your rocks. Ivory seems to be the best seeing that there's no "oil's" in it.
I just made reference to Ivory bar soap and babies skin. That it's very harsh for skin, but for general cleaning it works well.
|
|
stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
|
Post by stefan on Mar 3, 2005 11:18:18 GMT -5
Is this thread the same as the other thread about Borax? Now I'm confused- Check out the other thread- I left a reply with a link to a site that recommend PALMOLIVE dish detergent (liquid)- Hmmm Wonder what would happen with just rocks pellets and plain old water?
|
|
MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
Posts: 154
|
Post by MichiganRocks on Mar 3, 2005 11:42:31 GMT -5
Hey man, this borax is great stuff! Get a load of what NASA had to say about it:
|
|
stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,095
|
Post by stefan on Mar 3, 2005 11:46:09 GMT -5
Sooo Borax is the cradel of life? WOW cool! so using Borax will bring our rocks to life?
|
|
Pdwight
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 619
|
Post by Pdwight on Mar 3, 2005 11:55:19 GMT -5
I havent tumbled in a while but when I was on a regular basis I used 1/2 teaspoon of Cascade Complete for my burnishing stage and my rocks came out great. You can get this stuff anywhere.
Diwght P
|
|
MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
Posts: 154
|
Post by MichiganRocks on Mar 3, 2005 11:56:09 GMT -5
Hey Alice, I talked to guy from Ontario and he has bought "20 Mule Team Borax" at Walmart. He thought that he found it in the department with dyes. Could be as borax is also used to improve the action of dyes.
Ron
|
|
|
Post by mrbrett on Mar 3, 2005 12:14:25 GMT -5
I cannot find it anywhere in google that says they sell it in Canada. You could always try www.borax.com and email them. Sorry couldn't help more. Brett
|
|