DLB asked: >I need to know how does one bleach bone with slaked lime? I know about >green lime, hydrolyzed lime and white lime for gardening as well as >stripping paint off soft wood items, but I have not heard of slaked lime. Slaked lime is calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2. Lime (CaCO3) from limestone or chalk is burned in a kiln to drive off the C, leaving quicklime or calcium oxide CaO. That stuff is very reactive, hence the name, until it has been slaked, i.e. hydrolized to calcium hydroxide. Slaked lime is generally a paste, or a powder if the minimum of water has been used, or a wash (sometimes called lime milk or white wash) if lots of water has been used. The stuff you buy for the garden or for spreading on bodies to decompose them is slaked lime in powder form. >How do you use it? I'll post Dom Bedos instructions for preparing bone for key coverings in a separate email. Stephen Stephen Birkett Fortepianos Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos 464 Winchester Drive Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2T 1K5 tel: 519-885-2228 mailto: sbirkett@real.uwaterloo.ca
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