I am using pure phosphoric acid in water at 3.7pH and it appears this amount doesn't completely take off the red coating. Sure, after about 12 days it gets it a little cleaner but not presentable. I cant sell these.

What pH do you use with your acid solutions?

What are you cleaning? For Iron stain removal I use a product called Super Iron Out.

Microcline, Smoky Quartz, Fluorite, Amazonite... pretty much anything that comes out of red sand.

I know a lot of people use the super iron out but I have 5 gallon buckets of Phosphoric Acid.

Im just going to go get some SIO =)

Oh man that stuff bubbles and is caustic too.

Why can't I get some kind of hippie cleaner I can bathe in that's effective and I don't have to wear rubber gloves and a face mask?

I don't have a yard and my garage is small. I just cant deal with too much noxious fumes. If I open my garage, neighborhood rabbits and other animals get in. Haha. Prospector problems.

Some safer things to work with could be vinegar (smells but not toxic) Dish soap, or "Simple Green" works well to. I have been using a small cheap ultrasonic cleaner with amazing results using dish soap or simple green in the cleaner(with water). Soaking the specimens for several days can loosen material so it comes off easier regardless of the method. The ultrasonic cleaner seems to get into the cracks of my fluorite finds faster and better than SIO bath. No harsh acids necessary. Hope this helps.

any added experience helps, and thanks.

I started off using vinegar, but ive had some stuff sitting in vinegar (still is) that has been there for about 2 months now. I have an ultrasonic cleaner from harbor freight that I use, and I soak my rocks in a 20% hydrogen peroxide solution from the field. Now I have a bath of 100% phosphoric acid on my specimens, a tub with some diluted to 3.7pH, and now another tub with 1/3 cup SIO in 1L water. Let's see what happens!

Ok, so after having a test batch of minerals in the tub for 2 days, the oxide staining is easily wiped off from most surfaces with a soft toothbrush. I am going to toss these into the ultrasonic cleaner to see what results I get now.

I am surprised that I have found what appears to be a copper dust layer on some of these plates.

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Here's an example of what I am trying to clean:

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That is in the SIO solution at the moment.

Here is a good one:

This piece of Amazonite is beautiful on all sides BUT the iron streaking is off-putting and detracts from the beauty.

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I can't wait to toss it in some SIO. I love the stuff now =)