caustic stripper

Using caustic soda beads without a surfactant simply won't work. You need soap. Adding typical dish washing liquid can work, but you will be rinsing for hours to get the soap out of the wood. If you can find a low-foaming surfactant you will be much better off.

When considering the concentration, you can go pretty strong with a caustic. The guys who do this are trying to save money, but they often don't.

For one example, one super-strong caustic stripper made for decks I know of costs between $2.50/gallon and $3.18 /gallon (depending on quantity purchased). When complete and proven products cost you that little (and come with support from the supply house) it seems like an easy "solution" :groucho: (I couldn't stop myself from making that pun.)

If you want to use cleaners designed for wood, there are many to choose from. My suggestion is to try several reputable products and stick with the one that works best for you. If you want the strongest products, you can determine the sodium hydroxide content just by looking at the MSDS. That won't tell you anything about the surfactants, but it will sure help you compare relative power. I put our MSDS right on the web store so you won't have any problem finding it. Other supply houses may make you ask for theirs. Go ahead and ask, and then you can compare pretty easily.

BTW, no one may want to answer your original question because you are edging into home-brew chemistry and you are going to use it on a home-owner's property. The potential for a bad ending is pretty high.
 
thanks for the insight Pete. I checked out some of your products im diggin it. Im thinking ill leave the beads for concrete and buy some product thats been proven to work. thanks again
 
Great Answer Pete
Using caustic soda beads without a surfactant simply won't work. You need soap. Adding typical dish washing liquid can work, but you will be rinsing for hours to get the soap out of the wood. If you can find a low-foaming surfactant you will be much better off.

When considering the concentration, you can go pretty strong with a caustic. The guys who do this are trying to save money, but they often don't.

For one example, one super-strong caustic stripper made for decks I know of costs between $2.50/gallon and $3.18 /gallon (depending on quantity purchased). When complete and proven products cost you that little (and come with support from the supply house) it seems like an easy "solution" :groucho: (I couldn't stop myself from making that pun.)

If you want to use cleaners designed for wood, there are many to choose from. My suggestion is to try several reputable products and stick with the one that works best for you. If you want the strongest products, you can determine the sodium hydroxide content just by looking at the MSDS. That won't tell you anything about the surfactants, but it will sure help you compare relative power. I put our MSDS right on the web store so you won't have any problem finding it. Other supply houses may make you ask for theirs. Go ahead and ask, and then you can compare pretty easily.

BTW, no one may want to answer your original question because you are edging into home-brew chemistry and you are going to use it on a home-owner's property. The potential for a bad ending is pretty high.
 
Straight caustic beads will knock the surfactant out of dawn in a heartbeat.It becomes more liquid and stringy.With that being said a solution of pottasium hydroxide will work great with a surfactant added.It works much better on grease as well.
 
Straight caustic beads will knock the surfactant out of dawn in a heartbeat.It becomes more liquid and stringy.With that being said a solution of pottasium hydroxide will work great with a surfactant added.It works much better on grease as well.

Great Info Hal
 
Using caustic soda beads without a surfactant simply won't work. You need soap. Adding typical dish washing liquid can work, but you will be rinsing for hours to get the soap out of the wood. If you can find a low-foaming surfactant you will be much better off.

When considering the concentration, you can go pretty strong with a caustic. The guys who do this are trying to save money, but they often don't.

For one example, one super-strong caustic stripper made for decks I know of costs between $2.50/gallon and $3.18 /gallon (depending on quantity purchased). When complete and proven products cost you that little (and come with support from the supply house) it seems like an easy "solution" :groucho: (I couldn't stop myself from making that pun.)

If you want to use cleaners designed for wood, there are many to choose from. My suggestion is to try several reputable products and stick with the one that works best for you. If you want the strongest products, you can determine the sodium hydroxide content just by looking at the MSDS. That won't tell you anything about the surfactants, but it will sure help you compare relative power. I put our MSDS right on the web store so you won't have any problem finding it. Other supply houses may make you ask for theirs. Go ahead and ask, and then you can compare pretty easily.

BTW, no one may want to answer your original question because you are edging into home-brew chemistry and you are going to use it on a home-owner's property. The potential for a bad ending is pretty high.

Good points Pete, I never recommended using raw chemicals alone. As I have said in the past it takes more than just flour to make biscuits, it takes other ingredients also. You also need to know the proper amounts. Same goes for mixing chemicals. You might look at the MDSD but you will not know the exact quantities. Many chemicals also need to be blended in certain sequence in order to mix properly.
 
Good points Pete, I never recommended using raw chemicals alone. As I have said in the past it takes more than just flour to make biscuits, it takes other ingredients also. You also need to know the proper amounts. Same goes for mixing chemicals. You might look at the MDSD but you will not know the exact quantities. Many chemicals also need to be blended in certain sequence in order to mix properly.

Can you send your msds sheets to my email Steven I want to post all the sheets in one place on pwi ronppw@aol.com


Text me anytime for question 480-522-5227 Larry Millette won the last months free iPad !!!
 
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