Cob Re: Water glass (was Yoda's ..)

[Michael Saunby]

> In message <199712070403.UAA16505 at mailtod-162.iap.bryant.webtv.net>,
[Snip]
> It was interesting to see the reference to Water Glass here.  We supply
> a chimney sealant which uses water glass in one of the coatings.  When
> we were first supplied this from our Swedish parent company I looked in
> the reference library (Glasgow's Mitchell Library is the UK's biggest
> reference library!).  I couldn't find a single reference to this
> material.
> -- 
> 
> Frank Duffy     Glasgow, Scotland.
> Personal email to                  frank at chimney.demon.co.uk
> 
> at work...
> ISOKERN - the safety chimney       fduffy at isokern.co.uk

Frank,
Really?  My mother (and her mother before her and ...) used water glass
to keep eggs for the winter.  Anyway I checked in "Collins English
Dictionary" (3rd i.e. 1991 ed) which gives:

water glass n. 1. a viscous solution of sodium silicate in water: used
as a protective coating for cement and a preservative, esp. for eggs.


An older Oxford dictionary gives it as either sodium or potassium 
silicate.

I think my mother used to buy it from Boots (the chemist).

-- 
Michael Saunby
Teachmore Farm, Jacobstowe, Okehampton, Devon, United Kingdom. EX20 3AJ