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Five year old creates Chernobyl experiment

2002

I've read here that you can clean pennies with vinegar ⇦in bulk on eBay or Amazon [affil link] and salt. Please tell me what is the ratio. Also can I clean a very large amount of pennies at one time (like in a bucket) with this solution? My five year old poured water into our "penny bank", a 5 gallon water jug, 2-3 weeks ago. There were over 600 pennies saved in the jug. Now it's a nasty looking greenish brown mess. And there is a slight odor, hard to explain. Nonetheless, I need to clean this up. Also, can I complete this cleaning wearing plastic gloves (I have the surgical kind at home) or will the different chemicals eat through the plastic? Thanks!

Kai aka Flustered mother of 5 year old future genius.

Kai Alimayu
- Memphis, Tennessee, USA

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As you probably know, pennies used to be made out of copper. But after a penny became such a small measure of money they had to start making them of copper plated zinc instead because it was requiring more than a penny's worth of copper to make a penny. Copper plated zinc is a mess after exposure to water as the zinc pits begin to protrude through the copper skin, and then galvanic action hastens the destruction of the zinc. If you or a friend has a gemstone tumbler (basically a coffee can that rolls on its side on motor driven rubber belts) I think you'll be able to 'automate' the cleanup. But I don't think there is any easily available chemical that will clean up the mess. I'd pore the water down the drain, rinse the mess a few times, then set to work with a small scrubbing brush of some type and some cleansing powder. Then spend those suckers right quick.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
(Ted can offer longterm or instant help)
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2002

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