Lemi Shine

lkenefic · Sep 10, 2020

I've seen this stuff referenced a lot, but where do you buy it? I did a quick search online and just went to two Walmarts and a Lowes and came up empty. I'm beginning to think this stuff is sort of like The Holy Grail. Often spoken of, but never actually seen!

I've started to look at alternatives for wet tumbling... I've heard about staying away from ammonia containing compounds (like Brasso, etc) ... I picked up a version of Oxi Clean "Triple Action Booster" that contains Glycolic Acid and surfactants to aid in rinsing. It's also billed as a cleaning booster/dishwasher cleaner, like the elusive Lemi Clean. Has anyone ever used this stuff?

I'll likely hop on Amazon and throw more $$ at Jeff Bezos... :-/

guzma393 · Sep 10, 2020

i got myns at the Anne Arundel walmart. I also saw them at the Dobbin Walmart in Columbia but that was 2 weeks ago.

I personally use armorall ultra shine and wax in conjunction with lemishine to get really shiny brass and degrease my pins with ZEP industrial purple from time to time.

4g64loser · Sep 10, 2020

F bezos. Don't give him your pesos. You can get it, so I am told, from the guys at stainlesstumblingmedia.com or at some targets (in the household cleaning products section). Works great. That, dish soap, water, and time. For really nasty brass, try half an hour to an hour with just some dishwasher powder (e.g. cascade) and water. Then rinse and restart with normal recipe.

ACMAN · Sep 10, 2020

I get mine from Target.
Just checked and Annapolis has it in stock for 8.69

outrider58 · Sep 10, 2020

Just buy a bucket of food grade citric acid(granules). It's a 10th of the cost and is the same thing. One bucket, around $30, is a lifetime supply.

GunBum · Sep 10, 2020

outrider58 said:
Just buy a bucket of food grade citric acid(granules). It's a 10th of the cost and is the same thing. One bucket, around $30, is a lifetime supply.

This...

lkenefic · Sep 10, 2020

outrider58 said:
Just buy a bucket of food grade citric acid(granules). It's a 10th of the cost and is the same thing. One bucket, around $30, is a lifetime supply.

https://images.app.goo.gl/bZorhd7Ls1CWTwXc9

I like it!

GolfR · Sep 10, 2020

outrider58 said:
Just buy a bucket of food grade citric acid(granules). It's a 10th of the cost and is the same thing. One bucket, around $30, is a lifetime supply.

Does anyone have suggestions on where to pick this up? I see smaller containers on amazon but going this route doesn’t save much over buying the lemi shine.

inkd · Sep 10, 2020

GolfR said:
Does anyone have suggestions on where to pick this up? I see smaller containers on amazon but going this route doesn’t save much over buying the lemi shine.

https://www.amazon.com/Milliard-Citric-Acid-Pound-VERIFIED/dp/B00EYFKNL8

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Citric-Acid-1-Pound-Food-Grade-Non-GMO-100-Pure/152305739

https://www.bulkapothecary.com/raw-ingredients/other-ingredients-and-chemicals/citric-acid/

Squaregrouper · Sep 10, 2020

outrider58 said:
Just buy a bucket of food grade citric acid(granules). It's a 10th of the cost and is the same thing. One bucket, around $30, is a lifetime supply.

Yup. Lemishine is 99% citric acid with some other trivial crap added to try to justify the price.
Check anyplace that sells canning equipment (Supermarket, Target, Walmart, etc) and they will have citric acid for sale.
This is a solid $50 worth of Lemishine... https://www.amazon.com/Milliard-Cit...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

lkenefic · Sep 10, 2020

Jeez... went grocery shopping today too. Instead of looking in the cleaning supplies at Safeway, I probably should have just looked in the baking section!

willtill · Sep 10, 2020

lkenefic said:
I've seen this stuff referenced a lot, but where do you buy it? I did a quick search online and just went to two Walmarts and a Lowes and came up empty. I'm beginning to think this stuff is sort of like The Holy Grail. Often spoken of, but never actually seen!

I've started to look at alternatives for wet tumbling... I've heard about staying away from ammonia containing compounds (like Brasso, etc) ... I picked up a version of Oxi Clean "Triple Action Booster" that contains Glycolic Acid and surfactants to aid in rinsing. It's also billed as a cleaning booster/dishwasher cleaner, like the elusive Lemi Clean. Has anyone ever used this stuff?

I'll likely hop on Amazon and throw more $$ at Jeff Bezos... :-/

When I tumbled my .50BMG shells I used Nufinish (the once a year car polish) and corn cob media. Really cleaned up the brass.

Dalebert · Sep 10, 2020

On the other hand, is there a reason that citric acid would be better than glycolic acid? Now I'm curious about using Oxi-Clean...has anyone tried it?

Seabee · Sep 11, 2020

Like SG said, lemishine is just citric acid. It can be had most anywhere. I can check the PX if there is enough interest and help those out that may want some. Just need to know how much to get.

outrider58 · Sep 11, 2020

Seabee said:
Like SG said, lemishine is just citric acid. It can be had most anywhere. I can check the PX if there is enough interest and help those out that may want some. Just need to know how much to get.

Squaregrouper · Sep 11, 2020

Folks, do not buy Lemishine; it is hideously overpriced for what it is. Get the generic brand called "Citric Acid".

lkenefic · Sep 11, 2020

Dalebert said:
On the other hand, is there a reason that citric acid would be better than glycolic acid? Now I'm curious about using Oxi-Clean...has anyone tried it?

Good question! From Organic and Bio-Chemistry, we know that citric acid is a tri-carboxylic acid (with 6 Carbons) with pka values of 3.13, 4.76 and 6.40. It's used in bacterial systems to buffer pH from about 3-7. Glycolic acid is only a 2-carbon species with a pka of 3.6. In this sense, I would expect glycolic acid to behave more like its 2-carbon cousin, acetic acid... aka vinegar. There's no indication on the packaging what concentration the glycolic acid is, but since it's being used in a household setting, I'd wager it's already pretty dilute.

Since I'm a scientist... let's experiment! I have about 100 or so 40 S&W cases that I've accumulated over the last few years... I don't shoot this caliber, so I'll send them through the wet tumble with stainless steel pins, Dawn, and Oxi-Clean... I'll see what happens...

GunBum · Sep 11, 2020

lkenefic said:
Good question! From Organic and Bio-Chemistry, we know that citric acid is a tri-carboxylic acid (with 6 Carbons) with pka values of 3.13, 4.76 and 6.40. It's used in bacterial systems to buffer pH from about 3-7. Glycolic acid is only a 2-carbon species with a pka of 3.6. In this sense, I would expect glycolic acid to behave more like its 2-carbon cousin, acetic acid... aka vinegar. There's no indication on the packaging what concentration the glycolic acid is, but since it's being used in a household setting, I'd wager it's already pretty dilute.

Since I'm a scientist... let's experiment! I have about 100 or so 40 S&W cases that I've accumulated over the last few years... I don't shoot this caliber, so I'll send them through the wet tumble with stainless steel pins, Dawn, and Oxi-Clean... I'll see what happens...

That might be the worst acid-base chemistry explanation from a “scientist” I’ve ever read. :lol2:

John from MD · Sep 11, 2020

GunBum said:
That might be the worst acid-base chemistry explanation from a “scientist” I’ve ever read.

He had to dumb it down for the rest of us that only know push down to go down, pull up to go up and if you keep pulling up, you go down again. :lol:

outrider58 · Sep 11, 2020

John from MD said:
He had to dumb it down for the rest of us that only know push down to go down, pull up to go up and if you keep pulling up, you go down again.

There's some kind of sex in there...somewhere. lol!

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