Lesson learned. CLR (Calcium Line Rust)

[Vintage Veloce]

Be sure to store this stuff in the proper container. I put some used CLR in a water jug about 6 months ago... and it ate through the jug and started leaking. Made a mess on the garage floor, it etched a bit of the concrete away.

 

[jayoldschool]

I put used CLR back in the same bottle. Works great!

 

[snyder]

I put used motor oil in jug like that with the same results.

 

[slip knot]

Those type bottles are notorious for leaking, even water.

 

[mikegt4]

CLR can be pretty potent. I have had it eat through a steel container in a few days.

I have used CLR with great success to remove rust stains on FG boats, the kind that the PO generates when he uses cheap hardware store bolts and screws instead of stainless. It also works great to clean non skid surfaces on decks and cockpit floors. Let it sit for 15 minutes and scrub with a stiff brush then rinse throughly.

 

[Whasat]

Those type bottles are notorious for leaking, even water.

Agreed, I have had water in these jugs unopened for a year or so and they start to leak. Gallon water jugs are meant to have the contents consumed and thrown away within a short period of time. They are not manufactured with any long/semi-long term storage in mind.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd guess the water jug was a PETE (#1) while the CLR jug is more than likely HDPE (#2).

 

[58Yeoman]

Agreed, I have had water in these jugs unopened for a year or so and they start to leak. Gallon water jugs are meant to have the contents consumed and thrown away within a short period of time. They are not manufactured with any long/semi-long term storage in mind.

I've had this happen with new bottles of windshield washer fluid. See a collapsed jug sitting on the shelf, and find it leaking slowly through a pinhole.

 

[Ji m]

Those type bottles are notorious for leaking, even water.

yep

we're on a well,
so I filled some of those jugs for emergency water,
one at a time they all all started leaking.

 

[Slednut]

I put it in a spray bottle one time, did the same thing, made a big mess. Ruined the shelf in one of my cabinets.

 

[George in Rancho Cordova]

I think the plastics are being made to degrade faster.
I had two jugs of bleach leak all over some shelves and the washer.
Also had a large bottle of Dawn split when refilling a smaller bottle.
I may have to rethink buying in large quantities...

 

[Flail]

The usual cautions about putting chemicals in unmarked bottles. Looks like pop or juice to kids.

 

[tthornto]

My father in law works in a Nestle/Arrowhead Bottling plant as a mechanic on the Bottle making and filling and labeling machines. They have made the plastic so this that he refers to them as bags instead of bottles of water. They are always trying to reduce the amount of plastic used in each bottle, and to use a higher percentage of recycled plastic.
Less plastic is better for the environment, and the bottom line, but worse for those of us that try to reuse the bottle or recycle them and get paid by the pound.

 

[DenisG]

Three words: "biodegradable plastic additives"
http://www.biosphereplastic.com/

 

[langss]

Same thing happened to me, the original bottle got dinged and a very small leak left the outline of the bottom of the bottle etched in the Garage Floor. It really eats that concrete up.

 

[Vintage Veloce]

Hmm... interesting to hear about other failures here. I may have to start using a tray under this kind of stuff. Pesticides, Pinesol, CLR, Evaporust; I think I'll put in all on a tray.