In our area (southern New Jersey), the water leaves a white ugly residue
on all the Bonsai pots. I believe it is calcium carbonate; after about
two years the accumulation is decidedly bad looking and is very hard to
remove.

I have tried many commercial products to clean the pots, but nothing
works. I even left a pot in a solution called lime-a-way for over
three months and another in CLR, and they did absolutely nothing! I read
here on the IBC that if you bury them in the ground that they will come
out clean in a couple of years. I do not have a place to safely bury
them, so that idea is out. I have even tried elbow grease using a
product called Scotch Brite. It will scratch away the deposits, but it
is a very slow process. Obviously, someone out there might have found a
solution to this problem, but I have never heard of it.

I finally hit upon a solution, and it does work! I was able to
completely clean two of my pots yesterday in less than a half hour.
Today I cleaned up another five in the same amount of time. I mounted my
electric drill in a vise. Attached a wire brush into the chuck, and was
able to clean off the white residue. I wore safety goggles and gloves,
and I was able to make them look as good as new. One pot was glazed and
the second was a non-glazed pot made by Dale Cochoy. The pots cleaned
today were all glazed pots. I was drenched in perspiration, but it was
worth it. I only have another thirty or forty pots to clean. Sounds like
a job for the winter eh?

Carl L. Rosner - near Atlantic City zone 6/7
http://bmee.net/rosner
http://www.jamesbaird.com/cgi-bin/Ja...d=00000068 48

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