GOLD

[frhrwa]

by any chance, does anyone know anything about how to get melted bathroom carpet off of gold chains.. I know this is off the wall, but by chance with the knowledge base, someone might know of a good way to do it.. when my house was hit by lightning last August, the fire afterwards did a lot of damage of course, part of which, my gold chains somehow wound up on the bathroom carpet and melted into it.. I think its a nylon or was a nylon carpet.. I used to do amalgamation of gold using an acid to remove the mercury.. but wondered if such an acid would remove the nylon carpet? thanks.. if not, I understand.. kind of like asking about Pellet stoves.. ha.. oh.. sorry, shouldn't mention that here huh.. ..

[psycho]

If nobody answers here, I would ask a jeweler and see what they say. I don't know if this would work but how about a heat gun? Like the kind you can get from home depot. It might stink like crazy but it might work (by melting it away)???

And, sorry to hear about your house.
Kevin

[Externet]

I'll venture to say something...
If the gold chain is not melted, but the carpet is on it, try acetone or an acid that will attack the carpet, you can test which one works better; perhaps the carpet material will dissolve in it.
If the gold is melted/deformed on the carpet and you want only to recover the metal, burning the piece of carpet in a porcelain vessel should yield the gold.

[Janitor Tzap]

I agree with Externet that using some acetone will desolve the carpet fibers.
But gold is a soft metal, and if the fire was hot enough.
The gold has probably melted into the carpet fibers.

I would do as psycho says, and take it to a jeweler if this is the case.
The jeweler may be able to get the carpet fibers out by using an ultrasonic cleaner.

Good Luck!


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[Bob Scott]

I vote using the acetone. Let the gold soak overnight in a sealed glass jar if it won't work instantly.
If that fails, try Methly hydrate (methyl alcohol). is a pretty good slow solvent for just about anything. It just needs a lot of time on some materials.

[reloadron]

We use nylon jars at work to handle and transport acetone from 55 gallon drums. I am pretty sure nothing will happen. Actually I would vote for heating it up a little as gold has a high melting point and it would take considerable heat before the gold had problems.

Ron

[jwax]

Formic acid comes to mind.

[reloadron]

Formic acid comes to mind.

How does gold feel about it? That is what I wonder about. Finding something that will get to nylon and not react with gold.

Ron

[Externet]

Hi.
Page 7 shows something about carpet constitution; and perhaps something about solvents :

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/availa ... apter2.PDF

Formic acid did nothing to nylon seals and plastics washing my scuba gear. Xylene, toluene could be a good try?
Miguel

[reloadron]

I found this listing on nylon that may help. It shows what will dissolve it. Now a matter of gold friendly.

Ron

[jwax]

Aqua Regia (Hydrochloric and Nitric acids mixed) will dissovle gold, but formic acid will not.
Miguel- You wash your scuba gear in formic acid? Where do you dive?
I'm guessing it is a dilute solution of formic acid? For sterilization?

[Externet]

Hi John.
Yes, dipped in ~15% solution for a couple of minutes removes all calcification, salts, incrustations. Not with the intention of sterilization. Just a trick learned from a chemical guy.

I dive at 2.00ºS, 81.00ºW when I have the opportunity to travel. Not much active now since the belly grew up.
Miguel

[jimmy101]

my $0.02

Acetone is worth a shot. But, DO NOT HEAT THE ACETONE! Acetone is a gigantic fire hazard, much worse than say gasoline. A hot electric burner is enough to ignite acetone vapors. Acetone has a pretty low boiling point so even mild warming will generate a large amount of combustable vapor.

Another thing to try would be methylene chloride (aka dichloromethane). Kind of hard to find but some paint brush cleaners contain a fair amount of it. Weldon-3, the glue generally used for glueing (actually welding) acrylic, is methylene chloride. Fire hazard is less than with acetone and it'll dissolve a wide range of organic compounds.

Niether acetone nor methylene chloride will harm gold or any other metal. Both are fairly low toxicitiy but still it's best to minimize spilling them on yourself or breathing too much of their vapors.

[haklesup]

plain old paint thinner is worth a try as well. Several formulations available, read the labels. Paint remover (not the ecologically friendly stuff) has a good chance too. On the exotic side, maybe a little dry ice to freeze it and make it brittle enough to scale it off.

Googling the phrase "what dissolves nylon" also got plenty of hits. also datasheets for carpets detailing what they are resistant to are also available