DIY rust removers

[Shran]

Muriatic acid works really well if you are OK with very nasty chemicals.

Citric acid is another good one. You can get it in powder form in the canning section of your grocery store. Mix with distilled water... it's nice because you can adjust the strength by adding more powder.

I have played with electrolysis a couple times. I used it to clean up a couple of old rusty guns. As with your corroseal product, it does leave a patina on the surface. FYI I used "washing soda" as opposed to "baking soda" - they are not the same and apparently the former variant works better for electrolysis.

 

[Rick W]

Muriatic acid works really well if you are OK with very nasty chemicals.

Citric acid is another good one. You can get it in powder form in the canning section of your grocery store. Mix with distilled water... it's nice because you can adjust the strength by adding more powder.

@Shran is dead on the money if you want to speed the process. Rust, the white corrosion on aluminum, etc. etc. is all oxidation. Acids break it down and dissolve it. The stronger the acid, the quicker it will dissolve the rust.

Safety first: You can put your hands in vinegar and even in bleach and in the orange rust remover stuff, as long as you only do it for a moment and you wash it off quickly. Not with muriatic or sulfuric or some of the stronger acids. They will do immediate damage, damage that can’t be seen. Proper gloves for acid, maybe a protective shirt or Tyvek suit, and you want to wear an acid mask, etc. definitely safety glasses & face shield!

The problem with the stronger acid is what makes them good, makes them bad. I’m using muriatic on some steel ranger wheels right now that I want to repaint, but you have to do it with the tires off and you have to trash the valve stem. The acid will eat into it and soften it even if it looks OK. Your skin too! The best way to use the stronger acid is to very quickly brush any loose rust away, and then paint it on in the shade with a throwaway brush from the dollar store. Rinse and redo. When you start getting down to bare metal here in there, stop treating those areas and just treat where there is still rust present.

The oxidation, the rusting, is an ongoing chemical process. There are phases to that process. The black residue is from an early phase of the process that’s left behind when the actual rust is removed. You get that last little bit off with a wire brush or sandpaper or such. Then metal polish.

Having said all that, I’ve bought a zillion used tools over the years. A trick I learned on the sockets is to slip them onto a nail or a short threaded rod or such (think of a baker’s rolling pin) and take them to the wire brush and let the brush spin them. If you hold it at a little bit of an angle you can control the speed of the spin and it only takes a second to bring the surface back like new. The nail inside usually cleans out the rachet hole, and I use a plumbers buffing brush, like you would use for small solder fittings, to clean out the teeth.


You can quickly figure out how to use bottle caps or PVC fittings to do the same spinning brush trick on ratchet extensions and screwdrivers and whatever.

Hope it helps!

 

[broncc]

Anything acidic like vinegar or hydrochloric acid will dissolve the rust. If I remember correctly, phosphoric acid acts like a rust converter. I'm not sure where you can get it locally, but it may be cheaper than a rust converting primer.

 

[Dirtman]

I use muriatic acid all the time for carving limestone, and have phosphoric acid for metal prep for welding. Never thought of using them on rust though.

 

[Shran]

I believe Naval Jelly is phosphoric acid. Used that years ago for removing rust before filling a hole with Bondo... I don't recall it working very well.

I've used muriatic acid for cleaning out gas tanks. It works great but it reacts with everything. I spilled a little on my gravel driveway and it hissed and bubbled for half an hour and turned a big patch of gravel yellow. Nasty stuff.

Citric acid in high concentrations is pretty wicked stuff too. Did the same reaction when I poured it on the sidewalk at my old house... bubbled for quite a while and turned it white.

 

[Dirtman]

Pure muriatic acid is definitely nasty stuff. I make limestone rock structures for my fish tank and use it to carve out holes and caves. Just drop it on carefully with a big syringe and it instantly eats big holes in the rock. With some practice and creativity I can take a huge chunk of limestone and widdle it down with the acid to make cool natural looking structures. Always keep plenty of baking soda near by to neutralize it...