Help with Removing Calcite Deposit

gawashman

gawashman

New member
Homeowner called me to clean his brick home. He was particularly interested in removing the "white" calcite deposit. Use water and tested it for solubility. It would not come off using mild scrubbing action along with water. I tried White Scum Remover by Prosoco. Did not budge. Homeowner tried a calcite pre-soak himself but with no luck. Any ideas???
 

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Heard a guy tell me to use vinagar one time...

don't know never tried it, maybe someone else did??
 
gawashman said:
Homeowner called me to clean his brick home. He was particularly interested in removing the "white" calcite deposit. Use water and tested it for solubility. It would not come off using mild scrubbing action along with water. I tried White Scum Remover by Prosoco. Did not budge. Homeowner tried a calcite pre-soak himself but with no luck. Any ideas???
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Call Rex with Pressure Washer Products now or whenever you like :). He is available 24/7 and his advise is FREE, but always priceless. He is the chems and machines guru in the industry. His cell is: 727-424-6600

D.
 
Rex suggested that I try phosphoric acid, citric or maybe oxalic. He thinks maybe it is iron that has been bleached. I think phosphoric works pretty well on hard water spots, which is possibly what I maybe looking at. Trial and error time.
 
innovativewash said:
Use a solution of 4-1 of NMD-80 from Eacho chem let dwell for 5 min and rinse.
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If this is accually calcite you can use a calcite presoak treatment and re-apply as needed. Be careful not to get this on you it will burn you.
 
gawashman said:
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Customer tried a calcite pre-soak and he said it did nothing.
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Did you ever get that off the brick? What was it? How did you remove it? I have a brick bank with very similar stains along the lower portion I think caused by the sprinklers and hard water/iron?
 
OkanoganPressureWash said:
Did you ever get that off the brick? What was it? How did you remove it? I have a brick bank with very similar stains along the lower portion I think caused by the sprinklers and hard water/iron?
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Have not returned to the site yet. But I am planning to try phosphoric acid...Will keep you all posted.
 
gawashman said:
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Have not returned to the site yet. But I am planning to try phosphoric acid...Will keep you all posted.
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Please do! :yes: I wonder about Muriatic acid? Nasty stuff I heard and will ruin metal but not sure about your situation? Have you looked into it? I hear phosphoric evaporates fast?
 
EacoChem Calcite Presoak - followed by the recommended NMD80 works beautifully. Don't ever put straight muriatic acid on bricks if you don't have masonry knowledge.
 
If it is new brick it might take a couple of applications to get it all out. A couple applications meaning once now and once again when it comes back in a week, month...whenever. It is called efflorescence and it is seeping out of the brick as moisture evaporates. To prevent it from coming back there are a few options: (a) Seal the brick (b) Make sure that if the back side of the brick is laid against soil that it has been properly water proofed. Option (b) usually requires more work.
 
gawashman said:
Rex suggested that I try phosphoric acid, citric or maybe oxalic. He thinks maybe it is iron that has been bleached. I think phosphoric works pretty well on hard water spots, which is possibly what I maybe looking at. Trial and error time.
Click to expand...

We have a lot of old brick building out here too lot's of water stains from sprinklers (likely iron deposits-yellowish). I hear the white could be two things...mineral deposits or effervescence. Also, I hear that on brick it will come back again if not sealed after it's removed? Not sure? I hear good things about oxalic acid too!
 
There are so many different kinds of white stains and they all seem to be lumped together as efflorescense. Mike and I (EachoChem) talked about this at length, and we have a client that has a multitude of different kinds of white stains. Some are Calcite, some is efflorescense, and some is older efflorescense that requires a harsher acid. Eacochem has the acids that are mixed with detergents to allow for penetration.
I dunno I'm still experimenting with several products.
 
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