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-----Using muriatic acid to clean drinking glasses and flatware
Quickstart:
Although muriatic acid can remove carbonate salts, safer materials can as well.
Water stain removers would be the best choice for glass, but the whitish look of old drinking glasses is usually gradual etching of the glass by dishwashing detergents, so water stain removers are unlikely to be effective.
Muriatic acid can cause stainless steel to discolor and pit. Muriatic acid seems inappropriate for such consumer applications.
Q. We put some drinking glasses and flatware in some muriatic acid ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] thinking it would remove the water stains, etc. Then washed them in dish soap. However, the flatware came out black looking and the glasses stayed the same. Can you help? Thanks.
GAIL HUNTER- BELLEVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA
2002
A. Hi Gail. I hope this muriatic acid idea was your spouse's, not yours 🙂
I originally thought that some of our glasses were water stained too. But they're not, the glass is etched from age, abrasion, and dishwasher detergents that are too strong. Such etching is not a stain that is going to come off.
As for the flatware, you don't say whether it's stainless or silver; but if it's silver, try the method in thread 4785.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
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