# Evapo-Rust works!



## Alan H. (Jun 21, 2017)

I am sure that many here have used Evapo-Rust.  I recently acquired some reamers that look as if they'd never seen a hole but they'd been stored in humid conditions and had some surface rust.  

I decided to give them a dip in Evapo-Rust for a couple of hours and to see how it would work.   I cleaned them up with brake parts cleaner and then dropped them in the bath.

Two hours soak time was more than enough to get them cleaned up.  I then I rinsed them off with water per the instructions, dried them, and then hosed them down with Boeshield.  They're in the tool chest now in their sleeves and should be protected.


----------



## Ed ke6bnl (Jun 21, 2017)

I like to put them in my wifes old crock pot with the heat on and there done in less than an hour


----------



## hman (Jun 22, 2017)

I assume by "old," you mean the one she no longer uses?


----------



## Groundhog (Jun 22, 2017)

A similar product only thicker (to stay on vertical surfaces) is Rust Release SuperGel.
A good website for rust removal info (and products) is https://www.theruststore.com/


----------



## davidpbest (Jun 22, 2017)

I have used Evapo-Rust extensively and it's probably the best thing I've found (after trying 10+ other products) to recondition rusted surfaces, if you can completely immerse the material in the Evapo-Rust liquid.  I bought a faceplate on eBay about a month ago, wasn't in too bad condition when it arrived, but had some rust.   I soaked it overnight in Evapo-Rust and here's the before and after - no elbow grease required:







And a Phase II rotary table I found had been sitting in a barn for 20 years and was fully encrusted with rust.   I don't have the before photo (you would have guessed it was completely unusable) but here's how the top of the table came out after an overnight bath in the stuff:


----------



## RandyM (Jun 22, 2017)

Yup, I am a believer also. Used it to soak the ram and turret of my Bridgeport mill. Had to make a special container though.


----------



## Dave Paine (Jun 22, 2017)

I am another fan of Evapo-Rust.  I have used on some very badly rusted bench planes.  Not cheap, but the product can be recycled.   The cheapest source is my local Harbor Freight.  In the Automotive isle.

Any the rust removal methods which involve liquids require the part(s) to be completely submerged, otherwise a line will be created like a tide mark which is very difficult to remove.

I had a wide open container and the gallon container covered the parts but not deep.  I came close to evapouration lowering the liquid level.  I now try to use a smaller container or add something to fill the voids to raise the level.  For small parts I use a lidded container.

I tried using a garbage bag.  I was happy I had this in a tray.  "Murphy" visited over night and a small hole developed in the bag.


----------



## roadie33 (Jun 22, 2017)

I use it a lot. After buying most of my tooling at auctions and garage sales it all get dumped in a big container with EvapoRust. All of it comes out looking like new.
I buy it bulk from Walmart in 5 Gal buckets. Cheapest I've found so far.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Evapo-Rust-Super-Safe-Rust-Remover-5-Gallon/48810393


----------



## uncle harry (Jun 22, 2017)

Alan H said:


> I am sure that many here have used Evapo-Rust.  I recently acquired some reamers that look as if they'd never seen a hole but they'd been stored in humid conditions and had some surface rust.
> 
> I decided to give them a dip in Evapo-Rust for a couple of hours and to see how it would work.   I cleaned them up with brake parts cleaner and then dropped them in the bath.
> 
> ...



Recently I purchased a set of expandable reamers from a local equipment dealer. He insisted that I also take a rusted one in the deal.  I immersed it in some nearly spent Evaporust & forgot about it for about 2 weeks.  Upon retrieving it from the murky brown liquid i found it to be liberally coated in a black oxide-like film that smelled similar to a septic system. The rust is gone but no amount of soaking in water takes away the anarobic smell.  Under those conditions it still worked but it is certainly time for a fresh batch & a fresh memory for me as well.  All other items that I soaked in Evaporust came out nearly perfect so I can't say enough about its quality.


----------



## Cavediver (Jun 22, 2017)

roadie33 said:


> I use it a lot. After buying most of my tooling at auctions and garage sales it all get dumped in a big container with EvapoRust. All of it comes out looking like new.
> I buy it bulk from Walmart in 5 Gal buckets. Cheapest I've found so far.
> https://www.walmart.com/ip/Evapo-Rust-Super-Safe-Rust-Remover-5-Gallon/48810393



Wow!  That really is a good deal!
I love the stuff as well, though I have to echo Dave's comments about submerging the ENTIRE piece, or you will get lines.

One more note: aluminum containers aren't the best choice for soaking or storeage.  I use a lot of those disposable aluminum baking trays for part cleanup, project organization, whatever.  Anyhow, I used one of the small loaf pans to soak a couple of pieces, covered the container when finished, and left it sitting on the floor a corner of my basement.  Two weeks later I picked up the tray only to find it had eaten several holes in the tray bottom and had etched the concrete just a bit.  

It also removes non-stick coating from baking pans and cookie sheets.  (I have a bunch of old ugly pans and such that my wife wanted to replace.  They make great working and storage trays, and can be racked up in an inexpensive plywood box with runners.)


----------



## Alan H. (Jun 22, 2017)

Mike, thanks for the tip on the Walmart price.  That is an attractive price and a 5 gallon bucket would be great to have a removable basket in.   You drop the parts in and pull them easily that way.

The Evapo-Rust active ingredient is a chelating agent.  From their description:
_*How does Evapo-Rust Work?*
Unlike some products that use acids to remove rust, Evapo-Rust uses a chemical process called chelation to selectively remove rust. Chelation is a process where a large synthetic molecule forms a bond with metals and holds them in a solution. The active ingredient in Evapo-Rust bonds to rust while leaving surrounding materials unharmed._​
So it only removes the rust and does not damage the cutting edges on a reamer for example.  If they were already so corroded that the cutting edges were damaged, obviously that is damage done. 

For me, this is a standard for the shop and it is relatively safe and non-toxic.


----------



## roadie33 (Jun 22, 2017)

You're Welcome.
They sell a 3.5 Gal pail with the basket already if you don't want a 5 Gal bucket. But at a premium price too.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Evapo-Rust-Super-safe-rust-remover-3.5-gallon-with-dip-basket/48810394


----------



## Alan H. (Jun 22, 2017)

Thanks Mike, not sure that basket in the smaller pail is big enough.    What do you think?   Here's what I was dipping recently.


----------



## roadie33 (Jun 22, 2017)

Probably not for long items.
I use the same type of plastic container you have for soaking too.
Works good so long as the Evaporust covers all of it.

I picked up  over a 200 taps at an auction once and just dumped the whole box in overnight and some were pretty nasty.
Good as new the next night when I pulled them out.  Put them into another container that I drilled drain holes in the bottom and rinsed them off under water.  Then poured some Rustlick over them and let that drain into another container. Sorted them into separate bins and I've had them now for over a year and no more rust has showed up.


----------



## Alan H. (Jun 22, 2017)

Mike, did you degrease them first?


----------



## roadie33 (Jun 22, 2017)

There was no grease on them.
If it does have grease on it you will want to get it off as Evaporust will not work thru grease or oils of any kind.


----------



## RandyM (Jun 22, 2017)

I just recently did a long skinny thing and I used a pipe with a cap on the end for the container. You may find you need to be creative in what you use for containers for soaking. Mike is right on, you need to follow the instructions and you'll have a perfect part every time.


----------



## DaveD (Jun 22, 2017)

Just ordered (6/22/2017) 5 gallons online from Walmart. $23 and change if I picked it up.


----------



## Hozzie (Jun 22, 2017)

Same here.  Bought 10 gallons for $47 OTD.  Figure I would have it if I need to do something big.


----------



## randyjaco (Jun 22, 2017)

I often wonder why people rave about Evaporust. Do they pay for positive reviews? For what it costs it should work and make you a 5 course meal.  Before you spend the big bucks you might try a gallon of white vinegar. It will set you back @ a buck. You use it the same as you would the Evaporust. My results have been nearly identical. 

Randy


----------



## hman (Jun 22, 2017)

Cavediver said:


> One more note: aluminum containers aren't the best choice for soaking or storage.  I use a lot of those disposable aluminum baking trays for part cleanup, project organization, whatever.  Anyhow, I used one of the small loaf pans to soak a couple of pieces, covered the container when finished, and left it sitting on the floor a corner of my basement.  Two weeks later I picked up the tray only to find it had eaten several holes in the tray bottom and had etched the concrete just a bit.


Good cautionary note.  By the way, what you said is pretty much true no matter what (water based) solution you use.  Any time you have dissimilar metals in contact with each other in water, there's bound to be some chemical action - ie, corrosion of one metal or the other.  Aluminum with almost anything else will result in the aluminum being attacked ... and if it's a thin-walled container, it only takes a small depth of corrosion to eat through.

Hope your parts didn't get "high water marks" as the Evaporust leaked out.


----------



## Dave Paine (Jun 23, 2017)

There are many methods to remove rust.  The acid based liquids like vinegar do work but they attack the rust and metal.  A fellow forgot he had some screws in lemon juice so were in the liquid too long, days or weeks, and when he remembered there was not much of the screw remaining.

Another consideration is whether the items have metal plating or paint which is desired to remain on the pieces.

I was restoring a hand plane which had both metal plating and painting.  I used Evapo-Rust since I knew it would not harm the metal plating or paint.
  I do not think I could have achieved the same result as easily with other methods.

The as-purchased plane.  The green patina on the lever cap was a hint this was plated.  At the time I did not know if this could be restored without removing the plating.




After restoring.  The lever cap looks like new.  The painting was in very good shape.  The knob was sanded and re-finished.  The tote (rear handle) is new. 




I sometimes use other rust removal fluids, but Evapo-Rust is the safest to use.


----------



## roadie33 (Jun 24, 2017)

That's one of the reason's I use EvapoRust. No matter how long I've left things in it, it doesn't hurt them. I forgot I had put a set of reamers in once that I picked up at an Estate auction and left them soaking in EvapoRust for about a week. When I finally got back down to the shop and found them, they were all nice and clean, no rust left at all.
I tried the vinegar solution once, I couldn't handle the smell of it.


----------



## jocat54 (Jun 24, 2017)

DaveD said:


> Just ordered (6/22/2017) 5 gallons online from Walmart. $23 and change if I picked it up.



Do you have a link for that price?


----------



## Dave Paine (Jun 24, 2017)

The link in post #8 showed around $28 is shipped to the store when I checked that day.  Now the same link shows $90.  Wow.  I wonder what happened.


----------



## hman (Jun 24, 2017)

Sounds like Walmart's random number generator (like that of airline ticket sales) is in need of adjustment 
When I click the link, it comes up with $48, but out of stock.  Guess you can put any price you want on something out of stock, eh wot?


----------



## Alan H. (Jun 24, 2017)

randyjaco said:


> I often wonder why people rave about Evaporust. Do they pay for positive reviews? For what it costs it should work and make you a 5 course meal.  Before you spend the big bucks you might try a gallon of white vinegar. It will set you back @ a buck. You use it the same as you would the Evaporust. My results have been nearly identical.
> 
> Randy


Sorry Randy but acid treatment is different than chelation.  But if you are happy with it, go for it.  

BTW, I did not get paid for my review.


----------



## rolleikin (Jun 24, 2017)

Dave Paine said:


> I am another fan of Evapo-Rust.  I have used on some very badly rusted bench planes.  Not cheap, but the product can be recycled.   The cheapest source is my local Harbor Freight.  In the Automotive isle.
> 
> Any the rust removal methods which involve liquids require the part(s) to be completely submerged, otherwise a line will be created like a tide mark which is very difficult to remove.
> 
> ...


I love my evaporust, too. The cheapest source i found was sears. They sell by mail a 3.5 gallon pail that comes with a parts basket. Cost was 42 and shipping was free.  Even home depot is cheaper than harbor freight, by a several dollars per gallon 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T217A using Tapatalk


----------

