The Molasses Trick

As much as I've read on this, I don't remember ever hearing if you mix (as in actually stirring it up) the water and molasses or just dump the molasses in and then run the hose in on top of it.

Seems like it would separate - if not sooner, then later for sure.

What's the skinny? I'm heading to the Co-op now.

Thanks, JH

 

you need to mix it first and I believe you use warm water.

 

Yep, warmer the better and mix up as you are pouring in. With cold water the molasses just stays like a goo and really requires some serious stirring.

If you can dig up a paint stirrer that fits in a drill they do a great job.

 

Not only that, the pooled mollasses at the bottom of your vessel will not strip rust! It hasta be mixed with water. I ran the cold garden hose into my 55 gallon barrel, over 15 gallons of molasses. I stirred like mad with a stick of 1/2 inch square tubing for about a half hour. I thought it was all mixed and threw in my rusty parts with a length of wire attached.
Three weeks later, I yanked the stuff out to find the bottom 3 inches of my parts were still rusty. I learned to hang the parts from wire about 3 inches under the water line for fastest results.

 

is there a proper ratio of water to molasses? Does it have to be stirred often?

 

One part molasses to 3 parts water works for me. It shouldn't need stirring if you get it all stirred together at first. Stirring won't hurt anything but that stuff stinks so strongly, you prolly won't want to get that close to it.
I have some drums and backing plates soaking right now. Hope they're done so I can put my pedal car in the "soup" for a few weeks.

 

Anything from 3:1 to 5:1 works about the same, I cant tell any difference and just go with a rough guess 4:1.

If the solution is at room temperature, which may be -20 in ND these days, give it a stirring up every few days and also skim off the top crud.

I do most of my dunking outdoors in summer months with the sun beating on the drums so it stays pretty warm with a cover on. Even so I still skim the crud. Ive often thought of hooking up a small fishtank type pump to keep a constant circulation going to see if it would help but havent got around to it yet.

In the cold months I use steel or cast iron drums/pots and keep them heated a bit using yard sale cast iron, propane fired, camp stoves. Picked up a nice antique 3 burner one for $5. Propane is free at the local town dumps as yuppies throw away the old style bottles or just throw them away period when still half full. I havent bought propane in years!