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Copper canteen blu green oxidation inside

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Joined
Feb 27, 2024
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Location
Hartland, Wisconsin
I’ve got a kidney shape, copper rev war canteen that I haven’t used in quite a long time… I rinsed it out, and then I took a penlight and put it inside the canteen and I saw all kinds of green blue oxidation inside… talked with a few guys from the gun club and they said that green blue stuff is poisonous… Is there anyway to salvage this canteen? Can it be cleaned out and can you drink water from it… Or will that stuff kill you and never go away… Help… I hate like hell to get rid of it but it sure beats pushing up daisies… Would a stainless steel canteen be better or a tin one be better? … would appreciate your comments and help.
 
I’ve got a kidney shape, copper rev war canteen that I haven’t used in quite a long time… I rinsed it out, and then I took a penlight and put it inside the canteen and I saw all kinds of green blue oxidation inside… talked with a few guys from the gun club and they said that green blue stuff is poisonous… Is there anyway to salvage this canteen? Can it be cleaned out and can you drink water from it… Or will that stuff kill you and never go away… Help… I hate like hell to get rid of it but it sure beats pushing up daisies… Would a stainless steel canteen be better or a tin one be better? … would appreciate your comments and help.

Let your wife drink from it for a week and see what happens
 
Clean it out it is a killer when cleaned out seal it with brewer's pitch or bees wax and use for water only you will be fine.

Personally, I would get the stainless steel one and paint the outside copper then you can put anything in it. ialso would use it for whisky, rum or whatever as I keep my plastic water supply in my pack.
 
Thanks guys for all your help… I’ll try and see if I can salvage this old copper canteen… If I can’t, I’ll buy a stainless steel one, but before I do that, and after I clean the copper one, I’ll offer a drink from it to my wife and see what happens within a week… Good idea on that one …. it might save me $100 on a stainless steel canteen.
 
Anything made of copper that you drink from should be tinned. Why would someone make a canteen out of copper without doing this? As someone said, brewer's wax would be an alternative.
 
Im not so sure its verdigris, like the reaction to acids in leather. If you look inside your copper water lines in your house they also have a blue green reaction inside them. Copper is considered to have a mild anti-microbial effect on water inside copper lines.
 
B.S. I'm an old moonshiner. That green verdigris on copper is poison.

Verdigris is copper carbonate, formed from a acidic reaction. Copper oxide is basic oxidation from moisture and air, they arent the same thing.

There are copper water bottles made, the info on them indicates the black to greenish patina deposit isnt harmful, and can be cleaned relatively simply. Copper cooking pots are also sold and popular with some.

https://www.google.com/search?q=gre...YECAIYB5IHBDIuMzagB5jxAg&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
 
Anything made of copper that you drink from should be tinned. Why would someone make a canteen out of copper without doing this? As someone said, brewer's wax would be an alternative.

Because tinning is ONLY needed if an acidic substance would be within the copper for a long period, and the surface could not be cleaned afterwards, or if scale does not form. ;)
Copper water pipes are not tinned,
Beer was and still is cooked in copper boilers.
Apple butter is made in copper kettles,
Moonshine was and in many cases still is distilled in copper stills,

LD
 

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