Can microwaving hydrogen peroxide be dangerous?

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Sounds like an old "Golden Book of Chemistry" stunt.

 

Well Ben knew what he was doing and still was lucky to escape electrocution. The next 3 " scientists" that tried it, did not escape. They were just going by "rumor" and not from doing many experiments with leyden jars first, like Ben did first.

Jim

 

But, I should mention that the OP's mom has the background and smarts to prevent him from messing up badly, so much of this is just academic. I am sure he still has all of his parts, and the microwave still heats FG's pizza.

Jim

 

Tell ya what Tom, you go right ahead and put xylene in microwave - then stand there and watch it.



Tell ya what Doug...I was referring to the everyday, 3 percent bottled peroxide..the same bottle that includes 97% water, you know, the one that we use as an antiseptic on our skin, you know, that stuff that goes directly into our bloodstream when we put it on a cut? Not the xylene...you know, the one used in rubber, airplane fuel and gasoline? HP= Hydrogen Peroxide...not Xylene.
You really should work for Fox news.

 

Iam no chemist but I would not think the fumes would be that harmful or harmful at all. All it is is hydrogen and oxygen. Cripes we give it to people to rinse there mouth out with. Ventilate the area....

 

Fear not, Garrett and dare I say the coin are both safe.:whistle: He was wearing a R95 3M Particulate Respirator while torturing his latest coin victim. I am NOT encouraging anyone to try this at home, but after reading the comments following Garrett's post I thought a bit of clarification was in order. He read about microwaving coins in hydrogen peroxide on one of his metal detecting sites. I must admit that I'm quite amazed but the coin looks better now than it has since we've had it. Although, Ben Franklin is probably rolling over in his grave given what Garrett has put his coin through. It's a coin that has been nothing but a pain in the rear since we bought it and we had given completely up on it. The coin was bought because it was a R6 Fugio that Garrett really wanted in his collection. We knew it had verdigris to start with but thought the pros at NCS could help remove the green blob with conservation. After we bought it, we started out by submitting it to NCS for "conservation" and they charged us a small fortune and sent it back exactly like it was. (There are a couple of old threads documenting this coins life since we aquired it.) After conservation/slabbing/shipping fees were incurred we had added another hundred or so to the original $350 we paid and for this we had a really ugly green coin in a slab. He left it alone for a while, tried to sell it as NCS had left it and then gave up on selling it after spending another $30 in ebay listing fees. He put it in the safe and forgot about it. He (we) decided to crack the slab and try verdigone. The coin was just too far gone for Thad's stuff to work. We soaked it for a week in a sealed container changing the verdigone solution twice daily because the solution turned blue REALLY fast. I'm guessing the solution turned blue so quickly due to all of the verdigris on the coin so it was trying to work but it proved no match for our green blob. We went through a whole bottle of verdigone with our experiment. Don't think that I'm knocking Verdigone because we've had GREAT luck with using it on other coins. Using it as Thad intended it to be used on light verdigris and even moderate verdigris, but he didn't create or market it for heavy verdigris on 220 year old coins and he told us straight up that he didn't think it would help this particular coin so; no harm, no foul. He even gave G a break on the price of the order of Verdigone for his experiment. :thumb: BTW, Thad & Jim have been a big help in guiding G on his "coin experiments" and have helped keep he and I both safe. Now, on to the boiling peroxide: the coin was placed in a 8 cup Pyrex measuring cup with 3/4 of a cup of a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide. I microwaved it for about 2 minutes until the peroxide boiled. We left the coin in the solution until it cooled. BTW after the peroxide stopped boiling the old copper continued to simmer for a bit itself. It was quite a sight. I took pictures of the process so Garrett can post them if you would like to see before/during and after pictures. Once the peroxide had cooled the coin was removed and soaked in distilled water for an hour or so then while wearing a R95 mask and nitrile gloves I took it outside to the lanai, and transferred it to a pyrex container with xylene. After it soaked for a bit I then rinsed it and did a final soak in distilled water. We weren't about to risk using tap water on a coin that's been soaked for a week, boiled in a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution and then soaked in xylene. :bigeyes: :mouth: Believe it or not, the green was all gone and only a small amount of black remained in a few spots. The coin was the ugly bright orange/pink color that cleaned copper has. After it was dry we used a small amount of a mixture of Dellars diluted with petroleum jelly and gave it a quick rub down with that. Garrett isn't allowed to use any chemical other than acetone on his coins and he wears a R95 mask and nitrile gloves while doing that. When ever anything else is used his Dad or I do it for him. IMO him using a bit of acetone here and there probably isn't any more harmful to him than me dragging him to my nail appts for my manicure & pedicures. Have you guys smelled a nail salon??? Phew. If he were a girl (or a boy that wore nail polish ) he'd be using acetone on his bare nails and skin so I don't have a problem with him using acetone with his mask and gloves on. If he didn't have asthma I personally would let him skip the mask.

I'm going to try and answer a few burning questions you might still have:

Why buy a problem coin and go through all this? Live and learn. We won't make the same mistake twice. We had the coin and couldn't sell it as it was so we were stuck with it. Since it's ours to keep we figured what the heck. Don't worry; the coin WILL not be sold now that it's doctored. It's now a permanent part of the FREAKY COLLECTION. His last tortured coin was put in a contest. Hmmmm maybe......

Now, the question that I feel most compelled to answer. Why microwave a shrimp cocktail from Publix? The $9.99 shrimp rings were buy one get one free a few weeks ago and I bought a whole bunch and froze them. Garrett eats one every other day so I saved a bundle buy stocking up and freezing them. I was giving it a headstart on defrosting by sticking it in the microwave for a minute. We're from Florida, we practically ARE shrimp, we would never eat a WARM shrimp cocktail. That would be like eating one of those garish GREEN key lime pies that people up north try to peddle as key lime pies. :kewl: REAL key lime pie isn't GREEN.
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Did I cover it all? If you want to see pictures ask Garrett and kids I repeat DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! :thumb:

 

Great thread, and what a mom! My mom would have no part of our experiments when we were yoots, and my wife banned me from telling our children about them.

It would probably have been better if our parents would have guided us a little bit more, at least a few boys would not have had missing eyebrows for weeks.

 

Please elaborate.What is it called

 

Go to the hardware store.they sell a product called naval jelly.It is a rust remover.it will get rid of the green stuff.

 

I would love to see some photos, especially~~ before, after boiling h202,after dellers.

I knew you would be safe!

Jim

 

Get a Scott respirator, learn how to form a paragraph and adopt me!:thumb:

Oh. What do you know about photography?

 

It would probably have been better if our parents would have guided us a little bit more, at least a few boys would not have had missing eyebrows for weeks.

Either parental guidance or, I don't know, perhaps ummm..guidance in the form of information provided in maybe a...coin forum? Just a thought.

 

THIS IS better than THE DeVinci Code!

Got Images? Save us the trouble of a "Do It Our Selves" Juried Journal.:computer:

Love your Work!:hail:

 

A Man, A Can, and a microwave......



Loved your post Missy. :smile

 

That's what they said about the Hindenburg !

The Saturn V rocket sent Americans to the moon with a hydrogen and oxygen first stage.

 

I wouldnt do it.

 

Some of us don't like cold shrimp. I prefer mine hot.

Mythbusters may have "debunked" it, but it IS possible. I know because it has happened to me. Heated a mug of water in the microwave and nothing seemed to have happened. I thought the microwave had failed. But when I grabbed the handle of the mug and moved it the water flash boiled. Got a mild first degree burned hand out of it.

 

I own a very powerful ultra-sonic cleaner. It is physically impossible to harm the coin from pure vibrating water. There is probaly nothing better or safer to remove debris from a coin (unless it is a chemical and must be dissolved). The trick ,however, is to rig to the coin so that is not touching the sides (touching the sides would ruin the coin). Resting it on a bed of cotton may be an option. Somehow hanging the coin from above would be the best move. Attaching it would be difficult, slipping it into a rubber gasket would be a good method though.

 

Even though this thread is pretty old, it was still an interesting read, and one thing I am still interested in is pictures of before and after.
I don't suppose, Missie, you still have them?