when brasso isnt enough , my taps are minging.

[robgil]

can anyone suggest a way to descale brass with out the copper in the brass reacting and turning it pink?
i have picked up what i believe to be erdwardian aston taps , perhaps even late victorian hopefully and they have a lot of limescale deposits on them. things like mr muscle turn bare brass pink when used so i think i need something not so strong.
any ideas?

this is them.

and this is them awaiting a descale , polish and rebuild.

 

[Nigel Watts]

I immerse my chrome and stainless steel tap components in vinegar to get rid of limescale. Not tried it on brass taps though.

Clock restorers use an ammonia-based solution to clean brass plates, wheels and other parts. They are immersed and left for up to an hour or so. Heavy tarnish which would require vast amounts of elbow grease can effectively be removed in this way. The cleaning solution is kept and reused many times and is said to get better the more it is used (less harsh,I guess). Final polish is achived by brushing with chalk. Again, never used this on taps or against limescale.

http://www.hswalsh.com/Clock_ConcLRspan_classerrorTextspan_.aspx?i=HF6015&t=192

 

[Gervase]

Tomato ketchup or Coca Cola.

 

[MdB]

A method not to be used on anything valueable is to cover with plumbers flux and then heat with a blow torch. Sorted out our bell a treat though I doubt it did it much good...

 

[Penners]

Whence cometh the verb, "to ming"?

I don't even know what it means. :?

 

[robgil]

cheers guys , some good ideas there. flux is really good at lifting tarnish in order to get a good base to solder on but will it lift limescale?
for tarnish i use good old t-cut and a polishing mop, its basically brasso but cheaper.
i think i will give the vinegar a try , mixed with water. a nice weak mixture to begin with. i have also heard that if its mixed with salt it works better.
mix white vinegar with salt into a paste then apply to the limescale.

 

[Penners]

Tomato ketchup or Coca Cola.

Gervase - welcome back!

I have complete confidence in your advice, but do you know why those substances work? What's the active ingredient?

 

[robgil]

Whence cometh the verb, "to ming"?

I don't even know what it means. :?

'not too pleasing to the eye' i think it means.
although beer goggles usually takes care of that.

 

[Jill]

How about lemon juice, possibly rubbing half a lemon over the surface. Google "Using lemon juice to remove limescale" One article refers to using it for cleaning brass.

 

[Nigel Watts]

New to me too. Found this on the net:

"Verb, present continuative tense of ming, q.v.

1. smelly
2. ugly
3. drunk, (usu. used in relating last night's events)
4. generally distasteful, Someone who is minging is also a minger, q.v.

This word is widely used in the North of England and Scotland.
"I went to the pub last night and it was so smokey, my clothes are minging!"
"He's thinks he looks great but he's minging."
"My mate's dog drank a whole bowlful of rum and he was minging!"
"Chuck that kebab out, it's minging!" "

Is the "g" soft, as in "singing" or hard as in "singeing"?

A cut lemon sprinkled with salt is great for cleaning that essential kitchen accessory for perfectly whipped egg white - an untinned copper bowl.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

It's a hard g as in a brummie "sin-g-ing".

First came across the term when I was living in Glasgow in the mid-90s. "She was so minging I was greeting" (crying)

 

[Cloudscape]

to ming (third-person singular simple present mings, present participle minging, simple past and past participle minged)
(British slang) to be unattractive (person or object)
(British slang) to be foul smelling

I've used weak caustic soda on limescale and tarnish. Afterwards, the metal doesn't show any discolouration. If you have ceramic insets, this might be too strong. It's nasty stuff.

 

[Nigel Watts]

I've used weak caustic soda on limescale and tarnish. Afterwards, the metal doesn't show any discolouration. If you have ceramic insets, this might be too strong. It's nasty stuff.

I admit my A level chemistry is very rusty but I dont think Sodium Hydroxide reacts with Calcium Carbonate (surely the reaction works the other way round - Calcium Hydroxide plus Sodium Carbonate makes Calcium Carbonate and Sodium Hydroxide)

Dont you need an acid to shift the Calcium Carbonate?

 

[Cloudscape]

Caustic soda seems to remove everything - paint, tarnish (adds its own, but this is easily polished away), gunk... everything. It'll also remove skin, fingers, hands... :shock:

 

[worms]

I'm not sure of the derivation of "minging" but it was definitely in common use in Glasgow in the 70's, meaning smelly, stinking. Sometimes used in reference to unpleasant food, but not as a reference to the attractiveness of someone, unless they were literally smelly. And definitely a soft 'g' in the middle and the second one essentially missing, so mingin', like singin'. Interestingly, unlike many Glasgow slang terms it does not seem to be rooted in older Scots.

 

[Jon Maine]

Tomato ketchup or Coca Cola.

Gervase - welcome back!

I have complete confidence in your advice, but do you know why those substances work? What's the active ingredient?

Fruit acids and vinegar in ketchup, apparently stronger in Daddies brown sauce although ketchup is potent.

Coke has phosphoric acid in it, it has been put in the picture for causing osteoporosis in females although not proven I believe but makes sense to much acid will dissolve things with an alkali base such as limescale calcium or maybe bones too.

 

[Jon Maine]

to ming (third-person singular simple present mings, present participle minging, simple past and past participle minged)
(British slang) to be unattractive (person or object)
(British slang) to be foul smelling

I've used weak caustic soda on limescale and tarnish. Afterwards, the metal doesn't show any discolouration. If you have ceramic insets, this might be too strong. It's nasty stuff.

Not to forget minger or minga.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=minger

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=minga

 

[Cloudscape]

Nor indeed the Emperor Ming...

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Nor one of these:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Interestingly, unlike many Glasgow slang terms it does not seem to be rooted in older Scots.

Urban dictionary has this:

" the word minger originally came from scottish gaelic, meaning 'septic vagina' "

So maybe we also know where to put robgil's taps to clean off the tarnish??!! :shock: