The most closely Guarded secret in Gundom what is that yellow stuff

[Master Blaster]

I want to know what the yellow chemical on the lead away cloths is?

So what the heck is that yellow stuff, that removes lead?

 

[jjmorgan64]

we're sworn to secrecy

 

[yankytrash]

I don't think Kleen-Bore would tell us, but I always thought it was Sal Ammonium. My mother used to use it to clean the soldering iron when she was doing stained glass, and to polish the lead up to make it look shiney.


Unless...........
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Quick, somebody call Kleen Bore and tell'm you just accidentally swallowed 12 Lead Away patches and you need to know what's in it, NOW!

 

[jrhines]

Don't know if this will help, but FYI,

Sal Ammoniac
Synonyms: amchlor, ammoneric, ammonium muriate, darammon, sal ammonia, salammonite, salmiac
Molecular formula: NH4Cl
Physical data
Appearance: white crystalline powder
Melting point: ca. 340 C (sublimes)

I remember a soap bar sized block of it in high school sheet metal shop, to help tin the irons.

 

[mete]

Ammonium compounds remove copper from a barrel ( keep it off your brass), not lead. Could it be a chelate ? chelates are organic compounds which grab on to metal atoms such as EDTA which they give you when you have lead poisoning.

 

[Master Blaster]

I was thinking that the yellow color and the slight sulfur odor may indicate that it is a sulfur compound, but I dont know which one it could be.

 

[LIProgun]

I considered that question at least 10 years ago and never found the answer. However, my eventual conclusion was that the action was mechanical, and not chemical. That is, I suspect what is at work is a mild abrasive, and not chemical action.

If somebody ever finds out the real answer, I'd love to know what it is.

 

[Al Thompson]

Some one on TFL posted a detailed explanation.

 

[stans]

It is nothing more than pixy dust.

 

[Al Thompson]

I can't find it. I "think" it was something like sodium hydroxide - but can't quite remember. Or is that the stuff in air bags?

 

[Ledbetter]

Don't rely on this

It's called "that yellow stuff that removes lead."

Interestingly, if you look at the contents of a bottle of Hoppe's Lead Remover, it is also yellow.

Hope this heps.

 

[coonan357]

I believe its Sodium hydroxide ( Lye) as for the stuff in airbags thats sodium bicarbonate (baking soda ) but most use a wire shaving type (metal) explosive to fill the bag .

 

[Master Blaster]

Thanks Coonan, but I doubt that its Lye, I've worked with lye in highschool chem lab, and it has an affinnity for water the cloths would be soaking wet if it were sodium hydroxide, cause I store mine in a humid environment. Lye would also cause unplesant burns to the skin and there would be a strong caution on the label.

I burned a small piece, and it smells like sulfer and burns with a blue flame, so its some type of sulfer compound.

 

[landon74]

The stuff in airbags I believe is Sodium Azide, which I don't believe would be what is on the Leadaway cloths as it is extremely toxic.