Can I use something like baking soda and water to dilute the salt peter that is starting on my face brick of my home? I want to do something that would be non damaging to the face brick and I do have a clear sealer for after it is neutralized.
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Muriatic acid is the standard fix for this. There are subs here who specialize in acid washing (I wouldn't want that job.)
The efflorescence is caused by moisture coming out of the brick and drying on the surface leaving the salts behind. Be careful of using a sealer that may seal the water in the wall. Often this will work really well but if the water is not being soaked up by wind driven rain into the brick but is coming from bad flashings or other as yet unknown conditions you will need to solve that problem first.
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Salt peter is the common name for Potassium Nitrate. I don't think that is coming out of your bricks...
I had heard that Salt Peter was used to remove efflorescence but when I googled "removing..." it said diluted muriatic acid works. 1 part acid to 12 parts water, wet the surfaces before and after acid washing. Eye protection, wear old clothes and you'll need to watch where it goes because it will damage any masonry under it and kill plants.
DON'T ADD WATER TO ACID!
The saying we learned in chemistry class from our teacher who was originally from Boston: Do as you oughta, add acid to watah. Acid has higher specific gravity and if the acid is strong enough, water will boil on top, splashing everything near the container, so you want to pour the acid into the water.
My home is 10 years old and about the first 2-6 years I experienced the same problem, white stuff from the bricks.
One day I was using the "Windex exterior window wash"..... it attaches to the end of a hose and is sprayed onto the windows (outside of course). The windows came clean and to my surprise, the white stuff on the bricks disappeared when dry!!
About 2-6 mo later, some more appeared but I just hosed it with the "Windex" stuff (comes in a green bottle- attaches to a hose) and again it disappeared.
5 years later I have'nt seen any more white stuff.....
You mite want to try that before investing more time/effort. Good luck!!!!!