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Anonymous
making an old tea urn food safe. 2016-07-31 18:28:56 Post No. 1030884
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making an old tea urn food safe. 2016-07-31 18:28:56 Post No. 1030884
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Hey /diy/, I've got an old tea urn (at least I think it's a tea urn) that I'd like to clean up and make safe to use. But I need some help in returning it to its former glory.
Firstly, it’s got some solidified water sediment in it which is proving difficult to remove. I've tried vinegar, some sort of descaler and finally hitting it with a pressure washer which got rid of most of it, but the last bit refuses to budge. So I’m thinking of hitting it with a wire brush to break it off, but I'm worried that may damage the metal finish, which brings me to my next question. The outside is, I think, copper plated and the inside looks like galvanized zinc but I don’t know enough about identifying metal to say for certain. What would I need to do to make sure it’s food safe? Does it need some form of lacquer/coating or is it good to go “as is” and would hitting that sediment with a wire brush damage any existing coating?
Many thanks for your help gents.
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>>1030884
fill with hot water+citric acid
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>>1030884
Doubtful it's zinc lined; the stuff is not human compatible. Most copper pots were tinned inside iirc.
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>>1030884
>What would I need to do to make sure it’s food safe?
Find a local water quality chemist in your area.
Boil some water with a touch of vinegar in there for an hour.
Take a sample, give to the water quality lab.
Get back the report, if you find Cd, Pb, U, Th, and shit in your water-- well fug! That's not healthy.
Also, be sure you're destroying a valuable antique....
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>>1030980
This guy gets it. Only way to be sure is to test the vessel or water.
I'd boil some type of mild acid to scale it. Vinegar will work.
Once it it descaled fill it with water, let the water sit for a few days and have the water tested.
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