deal for anyone looking to buy citric acid

[passatdoc]

We've had a number of threads about using citric acid to descale coffee makers, dishwashers, and FL washing machines. I bought a five lb tub of it from Amazon with free shipping for about $25 a couple of years ago; now, that same product costs about $35 (free shipping).

I did a search for citric acid on Amazon and found the following deals:

http://www.amazon.com/Castella-Citr...r_1_3?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1297266839&sr=1-3

The above link sells 2 lb packages for $6 each. Shipping is not free, but if you play around with the quantity button, the shipping does not increase that quickly if you order multiple units. If you set quantity to 3 (= 6 lbs), the cost with shipping is about $30.


http://www.amazon.com/Spicy-World-C...r_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1297266839&sr=1-2

The above thread offers six packs of 7 oz each, ie 42 ounces (= 2.6 pounds) for $14, with free shipping for orders over $25. Thus, if you ordered two units, you'd get over 5 lbs for $28 with free shipping. Or, if you had other items to order, you could get 2.5 lbs for $14 as long as you order $11 in other merchandise that also qualifies for free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/MARSHALLS-CRE...1_11?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1297266839&sr=1-11

Finally, this supplier offers 12 oz containers for $3.95, shipping is $7.96 no matter how many you order. You can get about five lbs for $30. If you go above this, eventually this would be the cheapest route because they seem to charge $7.96 shipping no matter how many you order.

http://www.amazon.com/Spicy-World-C...r_1_6?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1297266839&sr=1-6

and the cheapest of all, if you are prepared to store ten pounds of it. $42 for ten pounds, including postage.

I bought my five pound tub about 1 1/2 years ago and it's about half gone. I descale washer and DW quarterly (1/3 cup each time), and descale coffee makers at work and at home (1 tbsp per descaling) once a month if I can remember. Some of the stockpile was divided into smaller containers for work and in the kitchen, while the main tub sits in the garage in a cabinet next to the washer and dryer. $30 seems like a lot, except that in my case it will probably last 3+ years and is servicing two major appliances plus two coffee makers.

 

[tomturbomatic]

You can also just buy some Fruit Fresh in the canning supplies section of the grocery store. To need a lot of that you must get rocks when you turn on the faucet.

 

[passatdoc]

Not that bad but I like having a large, low cost (per unit) supply and not having to buy it every few months. I also split the supply between home (DW, FL, coffee maker) and office (coffee maker, electric kettle).

Recently I opened a giant bottle of Finish/Jet Dry purchased from Costco. Purchased it for under $10. Too big to store in the kitchen, so I funnel it into a smaller bottle from the supermarket. The market bottles are like 8 oz. and cost nearly $4, so buying in bulk pays off if you have room to store it (I do, in the garage).

 

[3beltwesty]

Pool supply acids

When I lived in So California we use to just buy Pool supply acids like muriatic acid at the many pool supply stores. Even old Alpha Beta, Ralphs and Vons grocery store sold it in gallon jugs then.

 

[sudsmaster]

You can still get muriatic acid by the gallon at Home Depot.

 

I use it to remove scale from the removable plastic drip tray under the water dispenser in the side by side fridge door.

 

Nothing else seems to work quite as well.

 

[passatdoc]

I wonder if muriatic acid is gentle enough for DW and washing machines? If so, you can't beat the price. I went with citric acid because I knew it was safe (Perfect Brew descaler, sold in many hardware stores, contains 1 tbsp/15 ml of citric acid powder---$5 for a three pack!!).