Can anyone help?

Does anyone know how to remove corks from a demijohn? I have aquired a couple of demijohns but both were full of corks. I have removed all the small ones but there are larger ones which I cant get out. I have tried the tea-towel trick but it doesnt work (not a long enough neck on the container). Is there any chemical i can use to degrade the cork? Thanks

Reply to
The Jenster
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Reply to
Young Martle

One might need a hell of a size of plastic bag for a demijohn ...

M.

Reply to
Michael Pronay

Michael Pronay wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@pronay.com:

and a lot of breath to fill it!!!

Santiago

Reply to
santiago

If you live in an area that has termites, they might eat the corks for you. You would have to bury the demijohn on the side and completely cover it so no lights enters. Termites do no like light. Then if you dig the demijohn up in a few months, termites likely will have eaten the corks. This might work especially well in regions that have many termites that are very difficult to kill. They can be quite a problem in Hawaii, the southern US, etc.

An undiluted acid such as sulfuric (H2SO4) might work over time. However enough to fill a demijohn would be quite expensive, and I doubt if a chemical company would sell it in large amounts to the general public, at least in the US. It might take a long time, and I have never heard of anyone doing this, so it might not work. There also are safety issues in using it.

Reply to
cwdjrxyz

Oh, I'm sure that someone with just a little ingenuity can adapt this method to a demijohn. Why, I've thought of a few just while typing this. :-)

Myron

Reply to
Young Martle

Why would one would to remove a cork out of a bottle -- as in this demo.

To use it again for home-made wine? Thanks. Dee Dee

Reply to
Dee Dee

Because it's there?!

Reply to
Young Martle

"The Jenster" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@n39g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...

How about filling the demijohn with water? Corks float, don't they?

Anders

Reply to
Anders Tørneskog

Certainly there are chemicals that will degrade cork quickly, but they are dangerous to work with and aren't easily obtained. One example would be aqua regia, a highly corrosive acid created by adding a few drops of concentrated nitric acid to concentrated hydrochloric (aka muriatic) acid. Aqua regia will dissolve most organics (such as cork), but also virtually all metals. Getting any on your skin, your clothes or your floor would be bad news indeed.

You might consider burning the corks to ash, which can then be removed from the demijohn, but that method is also fraught with danger. Corks won't easily burn, so you'd have to add a fuel to them, but you would need a relatively non-volatile fuel (gasoline or kerosene would evaporate, filling the demijohn with very flammable vapor and creating something not unlike a Molotov cocktail) such as gunpowder, lamp oil or paraffin.

Probably the safest method of removal would be to find someone who can safely handle liquid nitrogen and freeze the corks solid by drenching them with liquid nitrogen. They can then be shattered by mechanical force (crushing them with a steel rod or agitating them with some ball bearings that you add to the demijohn).

Sorry that I can't come up with anything easier (Myron's plastic bag method looks interesting, but you'd probably need something the size of a weather balloon).

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

There is a "cork remover" that looks like three-pronged forceps device. Most good wine shops have them. They insert contracted, expand to grasp the cork, then pull it through the neck. I use mine about twice per year, when an Ah-so, or other, pushed a cork into the bottle.

In your case, I'd fill the demijohns with soapy water, as the corks should float, and the soap will provide lubricant. It's kinda' like the old "crane" games in an arcade. It will take you some time, but should work, if you are patient. Unfortunately, I do not have a brand name on my unit, or I'd give that to you. "Cork Retriever" should do it in a wine shop, or on Google.

Good luck, and have a nice wine handy, as it will take some time. Do not drink any coffee, as you will need a steady hand.

Hunt

Reply to
Hunt

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