Evapo-Rust removes rust from almost anything after a good soak
"Evapo-Rust" is a non-toxic, biodegradable, reusable liquid into which most metals, plastics, rubber, wood, glass, or other materials stained or coated with rust may be dipped. In thirty minutes — or up to a day for bigger jobs — your object will emerge rust-free. A gallon goes for a little over $20 on the street and can clean the rust from hundreds of pounds of metal.
Product Page [Evaporust.com via Toolmonger]
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Don't they have tiny fish that will do that now?
I was curious about the chelating process this uses, and a few searches later it appears you can do the same thing with molasses and water. The molasses just takes longer.
http://www.wr6wr.com/newSite/articles/columns/wp0906/wp0906.html
It's probably cheaper to use a solution of baking soda and aluminum foil to electrolytically deoxidize the rust.
Wrap the rusted piece in aluminum foil, and submerge it in a baking soda solution, about 1 tablespoon/gallon.
What happens is that you create an aluminum-iron battery with a baking soda electrolyte. Because the electrodes are touching, the battery is shorted out and drains, moving ions from one electrode to the other, oxidizing the aluminum and deoxidizing the iron.
Make sure you rinse off the iron thoroughly afterwards.
PS - my grandma used to do that to polish her silver. Line a pan with aluminum foil, fill with baking soda solution, drop your tarnished silver into the pan... wait a little while, presto: shiny silver with no rubbing.
Wonders if the small print on this includes something like: "*Also removes your stomach lining if breathed in too regularly."
I'd be curious to compare this to my old standby CLR. The bathroom formula for CLR is biodegradable, the general formula is not.
What about a rusty trombone?
similar to a 'dirty sanchez' but with more arm movement.
Is this citric acid in a fancy package that is expensive and surely not biodegradable?
I don't know about that stuff as I haven't used it, but I did use "Safest Rust Remover" by Ultra One on various rusty parts around the garage and I was frankly amazed. Left parts soaking for a day and I'd come back to no rust at all.
I had a floor vent for my '62 Comet that was rusted shut, and attempt to open it would just bend the bracket holding it. Soaked the vent overnight and not only does it have no rust on it, but it works like new.
I only wish this stuff was a bit cheaper, as I'd love to use it on a larger scale, but $100-$200+ for enough to de-rust large parts of the car gets expensive very fast.
http://www.safestrustremover.com
Anyone have safe-disposal recommendations for the now-rust-filled liquid (either from this product or the foil/soda method)?
Thanks, in advance, everyone.
According to the Evapo-rust page the product itself is PH-neutral, bio-degradable and safe to dispose of in sewers (meaning you can pour it down the drain).
From poking around MSDS sheets related to Red Iron Oxide (rust) the only real hazard is eye/skin/lung irritation if it is in dry powdered form. As far as I can find it is safe to dispose of red iron oxide in your regular trash. I can find no warning of environmental risks associated with it.
So *in theory* you could either pour it all down the drain. Or filter it (or put it out uncovered for the liquid to evaporate off) then throw the remaining sludge in the trash.
#3:
"What happens is that you create an aluminum-iron battery with a baking soda electrolyte. Because the electrodes are touching, the battery is shorted out and drains, moving ions from one electrode to the other, oxidizing the aluminum and deoxidizing the iron."
Somehow I'm tempted to assume that the aluminum would steadfastly foil (hah!) your attempt to do that.
After all, what you're basically doing there is making anodized aluminum, which is specifically known for having an even harder, more durable layer of oxidation than normal, in order to protect it from -further- oxidation.
I'm sure it would work for a bit, but I'd imagine once the aluminum has itself nice and sealed up in oxidation, which shouldn't take long, the process halts. Perhaps opt for a different metal as the anode?
Oh, and those talking about disposing of iron oxide... seriously, just pour it in the sink. It's absolutely harmless to the environment, and in fact would probably just wind up nourishing some plant life or plankton somewhere. Rust does more good than harm.
Randomcat, I'm trying your solution right now with a rusted cast iron statue. (Actually the baking soda concentration is much, much higher, so we'll see if it works.)
Just combine the rust with some aluminum powder and ignite with a strip of lit magnesium. Thermite-lytic!