Found a trick for cleaning slag off stainless welds with cheap stuff

Been fighting with grinding marks on stainless for a while now. Tried a pickling paste from the supply house but it's like $40 a quart and you gotta be real careful with it. Last week a old timer told me to try a mix of white vinegar and water with a scotchbrite pad. Let it sit for 10 minutes then scrub. Honestly worked better than I expected and didn't leave those ugly swirls. Anyone else got a cheap method for stainless cleanup that actually holds up?

3 comments

3 Comments

gray_hall416d ago

lol the "old timer told me" part got me. I feel like every good welding trick I know came from some crusty guy who smelled like burnt metal and sarcasm. Honestly I've been using a dollar store spray bottle with just straight white vinegar and it does a solid job. You gotta make sure you rinse it off good though or it'll leave this weird cloudy film that makes it look worse than the grinding marks. The scotchbrite pad trick is solid too but I found out the hard way you can't scrub too hard or you'll just swap one set of scratches for another. My own "cheap" method is to keep a can of wd40 around for the lighter stuff. Spray it on a rag and wipe. It's not gonna fix a nasty burnt weld but for everyday cleanup it works way better than you'd think.

rosepark16d ago

Expand on that wd40 trick with a little baking soda mixed in for the really stubborn spots. Makes a paste that scrubs off the burnt stuff without gouging the metal.

kim_davis16d ago

Used to think vinegar was just for cleaning my coffee maker but after trying it on stainless I'm a believer now. @gray_hall4 mentioned the cloudy film which is real if you don't rinse it off quick enough. A little dab of dish soap in the water after the vinegar soak helps stop that from happening. Saved me from buying more of that expensive paste.