On Monday, 20 January 2014 17:37:54 UTC+8, echinosum wrote:
"'Mike'[_4_ Wrote:

;997615"]Full strength coke is a good, cheap and easily obtainable

cleaning

agent. Personally, I've used it for removing oil stains from concrete

which it does very effectively.



... which is why I can not understand anybody putting the stuff inside

themselves ...



I know of a number of garages who use coca cola for cleaning

battery terminals!



This is simply because it is among the most acidic of beverages on sale.

It has a pH of 2.8. Some vinegars are less acidic than that (Wikipedia

reports taht cider vinegar has a pH of over 4, which may explain why my

chilli preserve with cider vinegar went mouldy) though strong vinegars

are down to about 2.2. Lemon juice is usually slightly more acidic

than vinegar, around 2.0. But I expect that coca cola is generally

rather cheaper than vinegar or lemon juice. Maybe if you could bulk

source vinegar it might be cheaper.



The potential trouble with using coca cola is the sugar in it which

would make your drive sticky until it had been washed by the rain, and

you wouldn't want to be treating it except when you could get a couple

of dry days to allow it to get to work.



I use Patio Magic, which contains benzalkonium chloride. A 5litre

container retails for around �20, but you dilute it 2 or 3 times so get

about 10-15 litres to apply. They say that treats around 170 sq m, but

my drive is 140 sq m and I don't quite get coverage of it all, so I

concentrate on the worst bits. Smaller containers also available. I

suppose that is still a bit more expensive than coca cola. I was

surprised at the admonition that the moss and algae gradually reduce

after the initial kill, but it seems to be true, the drive continues

getting cleaner for several months after application. I wait until

spring to apply it.



There is a product called Algon, which claims to be "safer" and

"organic" but they won't say what the active ingredient is. I wonder if

it is just a strong vinegar.[/i][/color]

According to http://www.rhs.org.uk/media/pdfs/adv...rsForGardeners it's acetic acid, so yep, pretty much just strong vinegar.


Graeme