NB: Oxalic acid on carpets

[Ruffles]

Anyone know of oxalic acid will damage a wool carpet?

SWMBO spilled some tea under an armchair. The leg of the chair has a steel insert which has left a rust stain.

I guess I should try it on some spare carpet but it's in the loft and I'm feeling lazy....

 

[sailorman]

Anyone know of oxalic acid will damage a wool carpet?

SWMBO spilled some tea under an armchair. The leg of the chair has a steel insert which has left a rust stain.

I guess I should try it on some spare carpet but it's in the loft and I'm feeling lazy....

Kleeneze do a very good stain remover called
wipe out stain remover

i would not use oxalic on it but for now warm water & washing up liquid + paper towels to blot up the excess

 

[VicS]

Oxalic acid should be fine. But try first to ensure that it does not affect the colour.

http://www.rauf.com/Removal_of_stains.html

 

[Ruffles]

Oxalic acid should be fine. But try first to ensure that it does not affect the colour.
http://www.rauf.com/Removal_of_stains.html

I guess there's so many dyes it's impossible to make any guarantees. Even commercial stain removers always say test first.

 

[TradewindSailor]

I'd be very wary ...... I think it would bleach the carpet.

 

[VicS]

I think it would bleach the carpet.

A little worried, hence the advice to test first, about affecting the colours but bleaching I cannot see.
Please explain the chemistry you think will be involved.

 

[TradewindSailor]

A little worried, hence the advice to test first, about affecting the colours but bleaching I cannot see.
Please explain the chemistry you think will be involved.

I'm no chemist ...... so I'll not attempt to explain the chemistry. I understand very little about how bleaching occurs. Maybe 'bleaching' is the wrong term ...... but some formulations of oxalic acid seem to destroy stains in just a few minutes. I thought that this was a bleaching process, rather than removal of the offending materials that produced the stain.

What are your thoughts? It would be good to learn something today

 

[VicS]

Generally bleaching, at least in the sense in which we know it in connection with hypochlorite bleach, involves oxidation of the colouring dyes.

Oxalic acid is in fact a reducing agent but it removes rust stains by dissolving and chelating the iron as the trioxalatoferrate(III) complex ion.

The broad meaning of the word bleach is of course simply making white or lighter in colour so in that sense oxalic acid is a compound that is used for bleaching certain materials. Straw, I believe, and stained wood although I have no idea of the chemistry involved.

Lemon juice is another substance recommended for removing rust stains from fabrics, citric acid in it also forming a complex with the iron.

 

[aquaplane]

VicS talkes sense.

Oxalic acid is an organic acid like vinager, it's not so strong. If you use it dilute and use something like a Vax to suck out the "active ingredient" with fresh water you would be erring on the safe side. Oxalic is good for rust stains though and if it's a rust stain it's worth a try.

If you c0ck it up you can always move the chair 2" to coverup the results.

 

[VicS]

Oxalic acid is an organic acid like vinager,

Vinegar contains acetic acid, a weak organic acid.

Oxalic acid is an organic acid and is also a weak acid but it is many times stronger than acetic acid. In fact it may be the strongest of the carboxylic acids.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Isn't it present in rhurbarb leaves?

 

[VicS]

Isn't it present in rhurbarb leaves?

A number of other plants too.

www.rhubarbinfo.com

 

[V1701]

Isn't it important that using Oxalic you liberally rinse after, so if you do that should be OK?