Rust removers: Acetone vs. WD 40 rust release vs. vinegar

[Morgan Wright]

Here's the before pic:

[Morgan Wright]

Let soak 2 hours, rub with nylon fingernail scrub brush, and rinse with same solvent.

[Morgan Wright]

left, acetone

middle, WD40 rust release

right, vinegar

 

 

[Morgan Wright]

Results:

 

Acetone dissolved no rust and all the carbon on the lower part

 

WD dissolved a little rust and no carbon

 

Vinegar dissolved a lot of rust and some carbon. It also dissolved all the tarnish on the copper top, which the others didn't touch.

[Grimy]

What % vinegar are you using?  Industrial @ 10% or grocery store @ 5%?

[Terry Wiegand]

What was that old saying from years ago - Better Living Through Chemistry?

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas - Out Doo Dah Way

[Terry Wiegand]

Grimy,

 

Where would a person get 10% Vinegar?

 

Terry Wiegand

[Morgan Wright]

My wife's salad vinegar.

[Morgan Wright]

I was not aware that acetone dissolved carbon like that. It came off so easily and my hand was black from all the carbon that came off.

[Grimy]

25 minutes ago, Terry Wiegand said:

Where would a person get 10% Vinegar?

A friend in MA found some at an industrial supplier about 10 yrs ago to clean his radiator.  I couldn't find any locally, so I'm happy to hear that Morgan used the grocery store variety.

[Matt Harwood]

I've tried almost everything out there and I'm 100% sold on Evaporust. Maybe a little expensive but I haven't used anything that works better. Plus it's environmentally friendly and non-toxic. You don't even need gloves to work with it. Pretty impressive.

[J.H.Boland]

On small parts you can't beat a wire wheel on a bench grinder. Polishes your fingernails at the same time.Besides,there's nothing like using vintage equipment (until the belt gives out).

Edited July 21, 2018 by J.H.Boland (see edit history)

[Spinneyhill]

Oxalic acid (wood bleach) is a cheaper alternative to Evapo-Rust but takes longer. You should also neutralise it on the part afterwards.

Edited July 21, 2018 by Spinneyhill (see edit history)

[Gene Brink]

21 hours ago, Terry Wiegand said:

Grimy,

 

Where would a person get 10% Vinegar?

 

Terry Wiegand

Have it with vinegar section in my Walmart. Labeled as cleaning vinegar and was only in gallon size.

[Grimy]

8 minutes ago, Gene Brink said:

21 hours ago, Terry Wiegand said:

 

Have it with vinegar section in my Walmart. Labeled as cleaning vinegar and was only in gallon size.

Thank you, Gene!

[Gary W]

On 7/20/2018 at 8:53 PM, J.H.Boland said:

On small parts you can't beat a wire wheel on a bench grinder

 

Couldn't agree more!

 

I used the wire wheel on every single part of the car before paint!

 

[CarNucopia]

I got good results using a product called Metal Rescue. Here's a thread I posted on my experience: 

 

[PFindlay]

4 hours ago, Buick64C said:

I got good results using a product called Metal Rescue.

 

I was contacted by the Metal Rescue people a few months ago.  I'm president of our local club and they wanted to send a free sample pack for our group to see and try.  I took it to our next meeting and found a volunteer to test it out and report back.  A month or so  later they contacted me to see how it went and that was about it.  We haven't heard back from our member yet.

 

The Metal Rescue people seem to be quite happy to send out sample packs to groups, so you may want to contact them for a future club meeting.  https://www.workshophero.com/

 

Peter

[Spinneyhill]

Metal Rescue is another chelating solution. It will take time but will eventually clean the rust out of the pits. It works like Evapo-Rust and other similar agents like oxalic acid and citric acid as well as molasses. The blurb about it is here. It sounds to me like they are trying to break into Evapo-Rust's market.

 

As usual with these products, flash rust is immediate when you clean it up with water and a stiff brush. They say the part will go black, which is the left over carbon from the carbon steel. Brush or wipe it off. The solution is used up when it is black, as is Evapo-Rust.

 

The big question with all these products is how to make sure it is all removed from the pits before painting. Then you have to make sure your paint flows into the pits, but that problem also exists after media blasting.

[Morgan Wright]

The black is not carbon. The black is ferrous oxide, also called magnetite. Rust is ferric oxide, the brown flaky stuff.

 

When you remove rust with electricity and a sacrificial anode, you remove all the ferric oxide (brown rust) and cannot remove the ferrous oxide (black) that way,  you brush it off. When gunsmiths blue a gun, they let the iron coat itself with ferrous which prevents rust (ferric).

 

When you season a cast iron skillet, you heat it in oil so it coats with ferrous. Same thing the gunsmith does when he blues the gun under oil. Oil prevents water from touching the iron. If there is water you get ferric. Under oil and no water, you get ferrous.

[RiKi5156B]

Wire wheel is the way to go. On my small to medium non machined parts that are black I dip in a gallon of black  rustoleum and let drip dry over the paint bucket. Looks good with full coverage.

[Matt Harwood]

Wire wheels are great if you can get the item on a wire wheel. I bought four used chrome wire wheels for Melanie's 1956 Chrysler. There was some rust and pitting on some of the spokes, but for the most part, the chrome was in good shape. Couldn't wire wheel them, couldn't use something that would eat chrome (or the leather seal on the spoke ends on the rim, for that matter). Evaporust worked perfectly. No damage to the chrome or leather, rust gone, a coat of clear and the wheels look like a million bucks. Can't do that with almost any other product. Once these came out of the Evaporust dip overnight, I hosed them off with clear water, blew them dry with compressed air, and cleared the spokes and center sections, leaving the rims naked (so they can be polished). Very, very pleased with the results, which are kind of hard to see in these photos. Top two are before, the bottom is after, and all the rust in those impossible-to-reach places was totally gone, inside the rim and outside, on the spokes, everywhere. Hard to beat that.