[G & M]

I know this has been discussed before, but does anyone know of a chemical that will remove lead stains from glass or other surfaces?

[rosskesava]

Sorry mate. There isn't one.

Lead reacts with glass and the acidity of rain running over it and onto the glass to produce lead carbonate - as hard as diamonds and chemically 'welded' to the glass and very stable.

Recent deposits may come off with some chemicals like G101, etc, or just plain scrubbing, but if the staining has been there for a while, forget trying to remove it.

[Bungle]

I know this has been discussed before, but does anyone know of a chemical that will remove lead stains from glass or other surfaces?

Try neat Viro-sol and a microfibre 

[slap bash]

The only way that will work is Doctor Power  and the  green pad used in the kitchen and elbow grease.

[Dave Willis]

Wouldn't bother trying, soon as it rains they will stain again anyway.

[Bungle]

Wouldn't bother trying, soon as it rains they will stain again anyway.

New lead sometimes bleeds, it will stop and you can cure it with Viro-sol.

[Tadgh O Shea]

Only product i ever had success with was 2% concentrate hydrofluoric acid pour some onto a magic eraser pad and wipe the lead stain, has worked on some with perfect results and others wouldn't budge.
don't wipe this solution onto the glass surface for more than 30 seconds and have a bucket of water and another magic eraser pad at the ready to rinse straight away, otherwise the hydrofluoric can etch the glass. if the lead stain won't shift after the first go try the same method a second time if there is still no shifting it, i would say forget about it.     Regards Tadgh

[rosskesava]

Tadgh, hydrofluoric acid is a contact poison. It is absorbed through the skin and is highly toxic. The fumes are equally toxic.

Is using that a good idea?

Hydrofluoric acid dissolves oxides and silicates and provided the lead oxide hasn't chemically bonded to the glass to form lead carbonate, it will dissolve it. As there's silica (sand) in glass, if left, it'll dissolve that as well.

Virosol etc will only be as effective as almost anything else like Mr Muscle, etc. An abrasive substance will remove anything that isn't bonded but there again, so will a stiff brush and water. Lead compounds are a whole different kettle of fish to organic dirt.

I only know that as I once thought to get into restoring really old stained glass but after going on an introductory course before laying out a lot of money, I changed my mind because of some of the chemical involved.

[Tadgh O Shea]

Tadgh, hydrofluoric acid is a contact poison. It is absorbed through the skin and is highly toxic. The fumes are equally toxic.

Is using that a good idea?

Hydrofluoric acid dissolves oxides and silicates and provided the lead oxide hasn't chemically bonded to the glass to form lead carbonate, it will dissolve it. As there's silica (sand) in glass, if left, it'll dissolve that as well.

Virosol etc will only be as effective as almost anything else like Mr Muscle, etc. An abrasive substance will remove anything that isn't bonded but there again, so will a stiff brush and water. Lead compounds are a whole different kettle of fish to organic dirt.

I only know that as I once thought to get into restoring really old stained glass but after going on an introductory course before laying out a lot of money, I changed my mind because of some of the chemical involved.

Hi Ross, yes you are right hydrofluoric acid has to be used with extreme caution and of course with PPE, we import a special version from a company in the USA when we need to deep clean oxidized stainless steel, while we were over to them for training they shared some other uses one being removing heavy stains from glass, we also have 5% and 10% versions but would only be used for deep cleaning stainless in Pharma plants but would just destroy glass, we have had success with the 2% in removing lead stains from glass again using it with extreme caution, but again its the only product that we ever got a result with.       Regards Tadgh

[rosskesava]

Hi Ross, yes you are right hydrofluoric acid has to be used with extreme caution and of course with PPE, we import a special version from a company in the USA when we need to deep clean oxidized stainless steel, while we were over to them for training they shared some other uses one being removing heavy stains from glass, we also have 5% and 10% versions but would only be used for deep cleaning stainless in Pharma plants but would just destroy glass, we have had success with the 2% in removing lead stains from glass again using it with extreme caution, but again its the only product that we ever got a result with.       Regards Tadgh

Interesting.

Cheers

[G & M]

Thanks everyone, a plenty to think about there.