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Title: Powdery Residue - How to clean? Post by: russelltatedotcom on February 21, 2008, 05:42:14 pm Hi Guys,
I have a VMC 56 and notice ther metal work inside the cabinet has a fine powdery build up on it, Can any one tell me what it is or how it is formed? Also any tips on how to clean it, it's kinda stubborn? thanks RT Title: Re: Powdery Residue - How to clean? Post by: coke_and_stuff on February 21, 2008, 06:09:58 pm Ive had good luck cleaning the inside liners with some CLR.
Joey Title: Re: Powdery Residue - How to clean? Post by: collecture on February 21, 2008, 08:59:56 pm It is calcium deposits from water.
Title: Re: Powdery Residue - How to clean? Post by: johnieG on February 21, 2008, 09:59:48 pm Yes, it looks like calcium deposits, but it's really zinc oxide from the galvanized liner, you can use CLR & water with proper protection ( long sleeve shirt, eye goggles & rubber gloves and proper ventilation, and a dust mask or you use steel wool & lightly rub it off, either way you don't want to breath the dust because as it's a throat/nose & lung irritant.
it's formed by common oxidation & a damp enviroment ( condensation on the cold liner in humid weather ) once it's cleaned, you will have also remove some of the remaining zinc coating off of the steel parts, which will tend to rust. you can help prevent it by either painting the liner & shelves with hammertone paint, aluminum paint, or a simple coat of auto wax. Title: Re: Powdery Residue - How to clean? Post by: russelltatedotcom on February 22, 2008, 01:35:00 am Thanks guys, very helpful !
RT PS. any tips on what I can do to get rid (or reduce) that heavy industrial smell whenever I open the cabinet to refill? Title: Re: Powdery Residue - How to clean? Post by: loman4ec on February 22, 2008, 02:32:48 am An open box of baking soda does wonders.
Title: Re: Powdery Residue - How to clean? Post by: johnieG on February 22, 2008, 11:36:50 am yep, backing soda work nicely on the old musky "refrigerator stank", what you are smelling is a type of mildew that luvs cool, damp enviroments like soda machines, walk-in coolers, etc. modern refrigerators have a anti-fungus additive in the plastic liner itself, so you don't smell it as often in a modern cooler,
most of it should dissapear once you clean it up & remove the porous surface it's living in (ie:the powdery galvanizing), there is a nice non-chlorine based anti mildew/fungus remover for the boating industry crowd , you can find it at most marina's , but I've forgotten its brand name. PS do NOT use bleach on galvanizing, the chloride will attact the zinc. Title: Re: Powdery Residue - How to clean? Post by: russelltatedotcom on February 22, 2008, 04:07:21 pm Sure learning a lot here guys thanks!
One more thing :)) Does anyone know why I get a circular condensation patch at the top of the glass door (inbetween the 2 panes of glass) It always appears after about an hour and makes the bottle caps of the top 2 shelves hard to see? It dissapears when machine has been off for a few hours? Cheers RT |