Vinegar for rust

[linster99]

I have started using viniger to remove rust because it works and it's cheap. Does it really need to be neutralized after soaking I would think just being deluted with water would be enough?

 

[jeffcat]

Some baking soda and a big bucket of water. Makes everything neutral and then hose it off with the garden hose.

 

[JF in MI]

For some reason I was thinking olive oil.

 

[OldTrucker]

I hauled chemicals before retiring. Definitely use Baking Soda for a neutralizer.

 

[kevinthefixer]

(quoted from post at 18:11:58 08/27/17) I hauled chemicals before retiring. Definitely use Baking Soda for a neutralizer.

Certainly for anything acid like vinegar. I work around lead-acid batteries, I keep a bucket of water with baking soda in it in my work bay. If you work around lye or caustic soda, keep vinegar around.

 

[showcrop]

Do yourself a favor and use phosphoric acid instead of vinegar. It will turn the rust which doesn't dissolve and fall off into iron phosphate, which is a durable protective coating as on hard nuts and bolts. Oh, you need something natural? well it is sold in dairy stores for milk stone removal.I don't find a need to neutralize it, just rinse it well. It is also sold as rust converter. My favorite brand is SEM.

 

[kevinthefixer]

(quoted from post at 05:24:00 08/28/17)
Do yourself a favor and use phosphoric acid instead of vinegar. It will turn the rust which doesn't dissolve and fall off into iron phosphate, which is a durable protective coating as on hard nuts and bolts. Oh, you need something natural? well it is sold in dairy stores for milk stone removal.I don't find a need to neutralize it, just rinse it well. It is also sold as rust converter. My favorite brand is SEM.

Is that the stuff they used to sell to "turn rust into primer"?

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 05:56:31 08/28/17)

(quoted from post at 05:24:00 08/28/17)
Do yourself a favor and use phosphoric acid instead of vinegar. It will turn the rust which doesn't dissolve and fall off into iron phosphate, which is a durable protective coating as on hard nuts and bolts. Oh, you need something natural? well it is sold in dairy stores for milk stone removal.I don't find a need to neutralize it, just rinse it well. It is also sold as rust converter. My favorite brand is SEM.

Is that the stuff they used to sell to "turn rust into primer"?

I never saw it advertised that way but you could say that about it, except that you can't say "used to" because pretty much everybody that deals with rust uses some form of it now.

 

[matthies]

Used some vinegar to clean up some cast iron skillets, cleaned them right up, but haven't cooked in them yet to see good or bad.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Where can you get phosphoric acid for $1 a gallon? You sure won't get it at your grocery store on a Sunday afternoon if the mood to tinker with some old rusty parts happens to hit you.

Nobody is going to blink if you dump a little vinegar on the ground, but if you spill phosphoric acid, you have to call in the EPA.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 12:05:11 08/28/17) Where can you get phosphoric acid for $1 a gallon? You sure won't get it at your grocery store on a Sunday afternoon if the mood to tinker with some old rusty parts happens to hit you.

Nobody is going to blink if you dump a little vinegar on the ground, but if you spill phosphoric acid, you have to call in the EPA.

Frankly barnyard I don't see any part of your question as being pertinent to my suggestion to the OP. Preventing rust from forming under anyone's new paint is waaaaay more important that saving a few bucks on a job that will most likely be costing way more right? Any job worth doing is worth a little planning and preparation right? A little spill of phosphoric acid out of a quart bottle is pretty insignificant when the EPA reportable quantity of any hazmat spill other than Radioactive is 5 gallons, right? RIGHT?

 

[Charlie M]

I agree with the phosphoric acid. Getting rust off is one thing - keeping it off is something different. Phosphoric acid is food grade so it can be neutralized and dumped down the drain. Just make sure you neutralize it first and don't do a drum all at once. Soak your parts in Coca-Cola - it has a lot of phosphoric acid and you can drink what you don't use. LOL.

 

[WESnIL]

For the small parts of implement restorations I like to get them zinc coated/galvanized. Yes, the correct police will want to shoot me before they shoot the paint. It saves the hassle of painting the small parts and touch up post assembly. If you go that route too in my experience do not use a rust converter that turns the resultant metal black. Post zinc coating the parts will have black where the rust converter was active as the zinc does not adhere to that converted iron that turned black. For this procedure one needs to use muriatic acid and 'soak' away the rust. This leaves no black spots to interfere with the zinc coating or galvanizing process.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 17:48:51 08/28/17) For the small parts of implement restorations I like to get them zinc coated/galvanized. Yes, the correct police will want to shoot me before they shoot the paint. It saves the hassle of painting the small parts and touch up post assembly. If you go that route too in my experience do not use a rust converter that turns the resultant metal black. Post zinc coating the parts will have black where the rust converter was active as the zinc does not adhere to that converted iron that turned black. For this procedure one needs to use muriatic acid and 'soak' away the rust. This leaves no black spots to interfere with the zinc coating or galvanizing process.

I agree about galvanized implements. I have never seen any on tractors though. Aluminized but not galvanized. I have never heard of any place around here that does galvanizing either.

 

[Texasmark1]

Ever try "Naval Jelly"? Does the trick and seems to treat what's left of the surface to retard further rusting. Now, whether or not the US Navy uses it (namesake) or not I can't say. Maybe some of you "old salts" can answer that. Grin

 

[travis miranowski]

I have been using vinegar for a couple years now with great results. It works very good on steel parts and will remove almost all rust in a couple days. However it does not work very well on cast iron. As far as neutralizing it, you can if it makes you feel better but I never do. Just soap and a little warm water. As a test I pulled a couple bolts out and rinsed them off with water and dried. Then let them sit on my bench for a couple weeks. I could not see any rust forming. The acid thing sounds like a bad idea to me, if you get vinegar on you it stinks, acid it hurts!!

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 14:09:14 09/03/17) I have been using vinegar for a couple years now with great results. It works very good on steel parts and will remove almost all rust in a couple days. However it does not work very well on cast iron. As far as neutralizing it, you can if it makes you feel better but I never do. Just soap and a little warm water. As a test I pulled a couple bolts out and rinsed them off with water and dried. Then let them sit on my bench for a couple weeks. I could not see any rust forming. The acid thing sounds like a bad idea to me, if you get vinegar on you it stinks, acid it hurts!!

Travis, just so long as you are not painting these vinegar soaked parts you will be fine. I have worked with both acid and alkali in my work for forty years. Never been hurt by acid but I have been burned plenty of times by alkali. Vinegar is acid, does it hurt you?