Vintage Double Hose

I thought my method for removing old duckbills might be of interest to the members. Recently I had left an eyedropper with a rubber bulb submerged in an isopropyl alcohol solution, only to find it in pretty bad shape which got me to wondering what it would do to an old duckbill. Since I had one that was in really bad shape I decided to experiment a little. As you can see from the photos, it was hard inside the can and bonded tightly to it. In contrast, inside and outside the exhaust port of the can was a gooey mess. I soaked the can in denatured alcohol for 24 hrs and was pleased to see the results. The entire duckbill has pretty much dissolved and what little remained was easily removed with a rag or wood tool. Denatured alcohol is easy to find at pretty much any hardware store, does not smell too bad and is a lot safer to use than most any other chemical I know of that will remove the rubber.

Cans before cleaning:



Cans after soaking for 24hrs in denatured alcohol. Other than a sloshing of the alcohol, no mechanical means of cleaning were used. The container is shown here laying flat, while soaking I had it raised at one end to keep the exhaust port submerged which allowed me to use less alcohol.


Cans after a light cloth rub and rinsing:

That looks pretty good Herman. Thanks for sharing the tip. I never had too much trouble on the flat part of the can, but inside the horn was another matter. A real PIA. That would be just the ticket. Thanks!

Jim

Thanks Herman.

swimjim wrote:That looks pretty good Herman. Thanks for sharing the tip. I never had too much trouble on the flat part of the can, but inside the horn was another matter. A real PIA. That would be just the ticket. Thanks!

Jim

Normally I don't either but this duckbill was rock hard and pretty much glued to the can. It was not coming out without a lot of work and most likely a lot of scratches on the can. The rubber on and inside the horn was a sticky mess.....including a couple of bugs who had the misfortune to wonder inside. Both of which pretty much disolved into nothing, all in all a lot easier on me and the cans. Any final clean up can be done with a rag soaked in the alcohol, not the best thing for your skin but at least it will not take your hide off with the rubber like some other chemicals will.