rust removal

[ken in texas]

Anyone ever tried the use of sulphated molasses(a cattle feed)for rust removal? I read some about it ,but can,t find it now.Would like toget some information on it,s use.Like to hear from you........

 

[PaulW_NJ]

If you run a search in Google.com under "molasses rust removal", you"ll find 20 articles on the subject.

 

[PaulW_NJ]

Here's a particularly interesting one:
molasses

 

[Nolan]

I"ve done it. It"s slow, it"s messy, and good lord does it stink!

Dumping the feed molasses into the tub just creates a thin soup of sediment. When you drop a part into the mix, it gets buried under the sediment and doesn"t derust well. So plan ahead to be able to drain the liquid off into another container, leaving the sediment.

It does work, but it"s slow. It leaves a heavy grey film on the parts that requires a lot of scrubbing to get off.

After a few weeks, it starts to grow a very stiff thick blue/green/white crust that stinks worse than a rotting animal. When you reach your hand through this mess to grab out a part the stink soaks into you and doesn"t wash off worth a darn for a day or two. So don"t grab parts and then try to eat lunch. Reverse that order.

After a few months it quits growing mold, doesn"t smell as bad, and seems to quit working.

It is worthwhile when you just want to throw a rusty cylinder head into a tub and ignore it for a few weeks.