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Acid cleaner ruined my appliances

The tile installer used an acid cleaner to remove the epoxy grout residue from my tile floors. It took the finish off all of my new kitchen appliances! Is there anything that will restore the finish? The builder put a paste of baking soda and water on them but it didn't work. The appliances are streaked and discolored.

Diane Shields
consumer - Hampton, N.H., USA
February 14, 2008

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This is a tragedy, Diane, and you are not the first victim of it.

Apparently there are two ways to deal with tile grout cleanup:

-- the way I've always done it, which is to wash it up with damp sponges a half dozen times, and then another half dozen times, and then another half dozen times, dumping and refilling the bucket endlessly, and then many more times until your arms feel like they are falling off, all before it dries . . .

-- or to dissolve it with dilute acid. The problem is that muriatic acid is not really a liquid, it's a gas dissolved in water. It fumes, and the fumes are highly corrosive. You don't have to splash the appliance with the acid, it just has to be in the general area. I hope the builder is well insured because I really hate to say it but these same fumes may also got inside the electronics and wiring of the appliances.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 15, 2008

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Ted is absolutely correct that hydrochloric or Muriatic acid is very corrosive as is C-L-R and bleach. But lucky you! Scratch-B-Gone removes this discoloration very quickly. If chemicals got into mechanism dilute with baking soda [in bulk on eBay or Amazon [affil links] mix with water to neutralize acidity. Best

Barry Feinman
BarrysRestoreItAll

Carlsbad, California

February 18, 2008

I am in a construction warranty period and the contractor had to redo some grout. He used muriatic acid in his clean up water but will it damage the finished wood it got on or remove the color from the new grout?

Lucretia Wilferth
consumer/ house flipper - Fredericksburg, Texas
February 19, 2008