Ask the Expert Question-and-Answer Archive
(Hard Chrome Plating)
by Larry Zitko, ChromeTech, Inc.
June, 2002
Removing Chrome Plating
Q. What is the easiest way to remove chrome or can you let me know where to
purchase a chemical to do this with as my supplier stopped selling the
stripper that I used.
A. Sodium hydroxide at 8-12 oz/gal (w/v) works well for electrostripping
chromium from carbon steel substrates. The bath can be operated at ambient
temperature or higher, at a current density of 0.25 - 1.0 amp/sq.in. The
fumes evolved are toxic and must be evacuated and scrubbed. The bath starts
out as a simple solution of caustic soda but acquires an increasing
component of a hexavalent chromium compound as the metallic chromium is
electrostripped from the workpieces. The spent solution is hazardous waste
and must be properly disposed.