I want to put copper as inclusions in my fused work. I've been reading and found people who soak the copper in warm lemon juice for about 15 minutes. Other people use vinegar.
Other than a pickling solution, which of the two works best for you?
what are you attempting to do by cleaning it? are you removing corrosion, or just the brown oxidation? a lot of the normal brown-ness will go away. if you're trying to get shiny copper instead of black or red tinting when fused between glass layers, paint on some clear enamel.
I wanted to keep the shiny copper color. I've been reading about how cleaning the copper really well helps. I had read about using the clear enamel but wanted to see if there were other alternatives.
Any kind of acid will pretty much clean metals like copper. I always just bypassed the pussy-wimp stuff and went straight to dilute Muriatic acid. Commercial Muriatic that you can buy at the hardware store is made of 50% Hydrochloric acid. I'd dilute it down to about 10% or less. More concentrated, it can clean concrete or tile etc. Wouldn't SOAK metal in it. Just a quick wipe (followed a rinse) should do the trick. Wiping worked well for all those "Copper Tubing" Garden stakes I made. If you have some "Tarnex" you could try that…same stuff.
Now…Metal is going to re-oxidize again after cleaning (starting immediately), so you do need to paint it with a clear acrylic to keep it shiny. Think Hydrochloric or Acetic acid…never sulfuric (which will effectively EAT your metal). This info is courtesy of High School Chemistry 101.
I have some acid in the outside shed. I occassionally have to add acid to the swimming pool water to adjust the pH of the water. Its probably Muriatic acid since the odor is similar to when I was teaching Chem. and diluting concentrated Hydrochloric acid for the students to use.
I was planning on cleaning the copper as the last step before capping it and putting into the kiln. I just didn't want anything stinky in the house since I'm having enough problems with sinus allergies.
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Wouldn't SOAK metal in it. Just a quick wipe (followed a rinse) should do the trick. Wiping worked well for all those "Copper Tubing" Garden stakes I made. If you have some "Tarnex" you could try that…same stuff.
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