Best DIY rust remover on the planet

[JRaut]

The day has finally arrived.

This is --- hands down, by far and away --- the best, easiest, cleanest, cheapest DIY rust remover that I've ever tried. And I've tried just about everything from Coke to electrolosys. It works on the same principle as Evaporust, but costs about 1/10 the price.

I simply cannot over-emphasize how good this stuff works compared to anything else I've tried. Add this to the top of your to-do list.


I just mixed up about 4gal (to keep in a 5gal bucket) and have been de-rusting everything in my shop that looks at me the wrong way.

Recipe:

1L water
100g Citric acid (I used this)
40g Sodium carbonate (I used this) OR 63g Sodium bicarbonate OR 30g sodium hydroxide
Some dish soap to act as a surfactant




To get a good volume for a 5gal bucket, I weighed out the following (pardon the unit mix/match; I weighed the water on a bathroom scale and the other stuff on a kitchen scale set to grams)
29.3 lb H2O
1330g Citric acid
532g Sodium carbonate

 

[markba633csi]

On a similar note, here's a neat trick to clean those dingy copper saucepans:
Cut a lemon in half. Sprinkle some salt on the cut surface. Rub the lemon half on the copper.
Presto! Gleaming copper in seconds (I think it works on brass too)

 

[Eddyde]

There was a thread a few months ago about this video and process. I also bought the requisite chemicals, have been experimenting with it and have successfully reproduced the claimed results. It is better than Evaporust in most regards, It is as fast, much cheaper and seems to last almost 3 times longer. The only slight difference is it can leave some steels "Blackened", where-as Evaporust always leaves them pretty bare, bright. Note, the blackening, could be an attribute depending on the desired finish, use, of the part.

 

[GrifterGuru]

On a similar note, here's a neat trick to clean those dingy copper saucepans:
Cut a lemon in half. Sprinkle some salt on the cut surface. Rub the lemon half on the copper.
Presto! Gleaming copper in seconds (I think it works on brass too)

For brass, malt vinegar soaked into a rag, over the brass item and leave to soak a few hours

Old showmans trick I learnt from the owner of a showmans traction engine.

Showmans Engine = lots of brass!!!!

 

[GeneT45]

There was a thread a few months ago about this video and process. I also bought the requisite chemicals, have been experimenting with it and have successfully reproduced the claimed results. It is better than Evaporust in most regards, It is as fast, much cheaper and seems to last almost 3 times longer. The only slight difference is it can leave some steels "Blackened", where-as Evaporust always leaves them pretty bare, bright. Note, the blackening, could be an attribute depending on the desired finish, use, of the part.

Evaporust will do that too! Not sure if it's alloy dependent, or just time, but if you leave parts soaking in Evaporust, say overnight, they will usually blacken.

GsT

 

[RJSakowski]

It is less expensive than Evaporust @ about$6.00/gal but the cheapest by far is electrolysis. I use the discarded brine solution from cleaning out the water softener tank, diluted with water. Concentration isn't critical; it just needs to conduct electricity. When using common salt, you want to do this outside as chlorine gas can be generated, although keeping the electrolysis voltage around 3 volts will reduce that. If washing soda (NaCO3) is used for the electrolyte, you can avoid the chlorine gas generation completely.

I use a constant current power supply that I built for anodizing as a voltage source and can dial the current from 0 to 23 amps. 5 amps seemed to be a good compromise regarding excess voltage although the actual setting will depend upon the amount of rust and the surface area. Rust is fairly well removed in six to ten hours.

 

[RJSakowski]

I am always amazed at how a run through the dishwasher using Cascade detergent cleans the discoloration from the copper bottoms of our Revere Ware stainless cookware. I expect that the same results can be had by using that detergent with some hot water or simply applied to a copper or brass surface. A quick wipe with muriatic acid works too. almost instantaneous for even badly oxidized copper or brass. Rinse well with water after deoxidizing. I use this method for badly corroded wire prior to soldering.

 

[Dabbler]

This works even better than EDTA and is far easier to obtain.

 

[WobblyHand]

The day has finally arrived.

This is --- hands down, by far and away --- the best, easiest, cleanest, cheapest DIY rust remover that I've ever tried. And I've tried just about everything from Coke to electrolosys. It works on the same principle as Evaporust, but costs about 1/10 the price.

I simply cannot over-emphasize how good this stuff works compared to anything else I've tried. Add this to the top of your to-do list.


I just mixed up about 4gal (to keep in a 5gal bucket) and have been de-rusting everything in my shop that looks at me the wrong way.

Recipe:

1L water
100g Citric acid (I used this)
40g Sodium carbonate (I used this) OR 63g Sodium bicarbonate OR 30g sodium hydroxide
Some dish soap to act as a surfactant




To get a good volume for a 5gal bucket, I weighed out the following (pardon the unit mix/match; I weighed the water on a bathroom scale and the other stuff on a kitchen scale set to grams)
29.3 lb H2O
1330g Citric acid
532g Sodium carbonate

Your link to citric acid points to sodium carbonate. And the link to sodium carbonate goes to citric acid. Might want to correct the wording.

Thanks for trying this and reporting back. Lots of folks here can use rust removal, including myself.

 

[JRaut]

Your link to citric acid points to sodium carbonate. And the link to sodium carbonate goes to citric acid.

Fixed. Thanks for the double-check.

There was a thread a few months ago about this video and process. I also bought the requisite chemicals, have been experimenting with it and have successfully reproduced the claimed results. It is better than Evaporust in most regards, It is as fast, much cheaper and seems to last almost 3 times longer. The only slight difference is it can leave some steels "Blackened", where-as Evaporust always leaves them pretty bare, bright. Note, the blackening, could be an attribute depending on the desired finish, use, of the part.

I must have missed the prior thread. Glad it's working for you as well.

True about the black residue. And true that it could be either a feature or a bug, depending on your particular desires.

I found that most of it washes off in fresh water, and the rest can be easily removed with a wire brush (brass or steel).