Storing Ferric Nitrate Solution

[T.R.]

For those who make their own ferric nitrate stain by dissolving iron in nitric acid, how do you store the completed product?  Even after the reaction appears to have stopped, there will probably some quantity of acid remaining in the solution.  It seems a glass amber bottle would be best, but what type of lid/stopper should be used?  Thanks!

[Eric Kettenburg]

Obviously nothing with a metal lid!  Seriously.  It will rust.

I've stored stain in glass bottles with plastic caps as well as plastic bottles with plastic caps, some mixes probably 15 years old and no adverse effects that I can see.

Cork will work for short term but it does seem to attack cork after a while, it gets crumbly and then you have tiny little floaters in your stain.

[T.R.]

Thanks Eric, that's exactly what I needed to know.

[Mark Elliott]

Plastic and glass bottles in a cool place out of direct sunlight.   Specifically,  I keep all my traditional finishing materials on the self under my metal working bench in the backroom (no windows) of my shop.     i still have some of Eric's AF left that works just fine.   I will be heart broken to see the rest of it go.    It is the only mixture I have that gives me a dark brown on leather.   I have been unable to duplicate it. 

[yip]

  gonna ask the same question, but with nitric acid. i finally got some nitric acid and was gonna ask the same question on storing the diluted part solution...........yip

[James Rogers]

I keep my 5:1 water/nitric solution in a Mason jar. This has no iron in it.
I had a full bottle of (I think it is 57% solution) nitric acid uncut in it's original brown bottle with plastic cap. It was sealed inside the factory cardboard box and surrounded by form fitted Styrofoam. The plastic cap must have cracked and the acid vented. It turned the cardboard so that when it was touched in the slightest, it would crumble. The Styrofoam fared a little  better. The bottle was only half full when I found it in that condition. The cap suffered further deterioration as well.

[Eric Kettenburg]

Absolutely, strong nitric acid will eventually deteriorate plastic caps, even those that are supposedly chemical proof.  I have some in glass chemical storage bottles and I bought a whole pile of extra caps because I have to change them out every year or so.  They get brittle, crack and fall apart.  This is really strong nitric, probably 75% to 80% purity iirc.

I haven't bought it in at least 20 years, but I used to get it from a local pharmacist in a small pharmacy when I lived in NJ and he would get it for me from Malinkrodt (sp.?) in glass jars with plastic caps that would not deteriorate.  So apparently they knew what plastic to use for the really strong stuff.

[jerrywh]

 I have a couple of bottles of pure nitric and Muriatic acid in Glass bottles with plastic caps that have been that way for years but All plastic is not the same. Without knowing the type of plastic it is not possible to say how safe it is. Truthfully I don't know what the safe type is but when shipped that is the way it comes from the chemical co. I bought acid bottles in the past and some pharmacies will sell them. They generally have a special type of top for pouring without dripping and are made of dark brown glass.
 Two years ago a friend of mine wanted to buy some from me so I bottled up some about 30% strength and took it to  UPS to be shipped. UPS will not ship nitric acid even when packed for hazardous shipping. So I took it back to the house and set it on the counter. The acid was in a plastic bottle that aquafortis came in and the plastic bottle was in a glass bottle with a plastic top.  A month later I decided to check on it and found that the plastic bottle had deteriorated and the acid had leaked out. The top on the glass bottle was also starting to leak.
  I was very glad that I didn't lie to UPS to get it shipped because it would have gone by air.
 I always double pack acid with a approved acid container inside of another acid container.
 When I transfer from one container to another I do it with the container in a plastic bucket or some other acid proof container.  I use acid for different etching operations in engraving.
 If you have an extremely hard metal that cannot be cut you can etch out a cavity and fill it with gold or some other metal. There is always a way, almost. 
 One acid I don't want around is aqua regia. That stuff is terrible. It will rust everything in the shop.