Sciencemadness Discussion Board

removing acid oxidation from aluminum

prometheus1970 - 26-11-2010 at 18:11

I'm using an aluminum toolbox (like you'd find in the back of a pickup truck) as my workbench and spilled some sulfuric acid/nitrate salt/ bicarb solution on it and it turned white where the liquid spilled. It's not the end of the world (I don't really care, it still works as well as ever), but my wife is really picky about taking care of stuff and it would make my life easier if there were some fairly easy way to reverse that result. Any ideas?

[Edited on 11-27-2010 by prometheus1970]

kclo4 - 26-11-2010 at 18:38

Treat the entire case with the same mixture?
I doubt you will be able to get the Al finish to look the same ever again - though, maybe just polish it up?

Justin - 26-11-2010 at 19:40

I don't know if this will help or not but you could use some spray on bedliner on it. Maybe you could remove it by taking a wire wheel on an angle grinder to it?