Rust is a silent killer, slowly attacking iron and steel. Heavy-duty trucks, suspension bridges and even mighty warships can all be brought low by a little oxygen and moisture. In unfavorable conditions and without adequate protection, ferrous metals can literally dissolve in thin air, turning into a heap of reddish crumbles.
But rust doesn't have to be a death sentence for a metal surface, it can be arrested and prevented. A range of products is available today that can eliminate stubborn oxidation rust spots on tools, car parts, antiques and, well, basically anything made of iron, all without the need to painstakingly grind it away or sandblast down to solid metal. Removing rust with these products is as simple as tossing any grungy-looking items into a bath of rust dissolver and letting the solution go to work, attacking oxidation without harming the base material and often without affecting rubber, plastic or even a painted surface.
There are many versions of this sort of product, which are like a whole lot of elbow grease crammed into a little bottle. Some contain hydrochloric acid or phosphoric acid that eats away at rust like termites gnawing on a rotten stump, while others use a fancy-sounding process called chelation to chemically break iron oxide down. Some come in concentrated formulas while others are prediluted in the factory.
We rounded up five readily available rust removal products to find out if they work as well as their manufactures claim. We soaked several rusty steel components in each one, following the manufacturers' directions and diluting if required. The items soaked include a section of sheet metal and two different sizes of threaded rod with rust buildup. For consistency, each sample was cut from the same overall piece.
Craig Cole/Roadshow
Like Rust 911, Eavpo-Rust is all about safety. It's noncorrosive, emits no fumes or foul odors, won't harm paint and it can be poured down the drain when it's all used up. It won't harm copper, brass, aluminum, rubber, plastic or vinyl, either. About the only warning this product comes with is to rinse your hands with water if you get any of it on them. It's that benign.
But there are two important areas where this product differs from its above-mentioned rival. One, the Evapo-Rust formulation is ready to go right out of the jug, so no dilution is required. And two, it contains detergents, which should make it better at cutting through small amounts of oil, grease and other containments so it can wage war against rust. According to the company, you can soak parts for anywhere from 1 to 12 hours. Larger items can be derusted by saturating paper towels in this product and draping them over whatever needs to be cleaned.
Eavpo-Rust is slightly yellow in color and somewhat foamy when poured out, while its rivals are crystal clear. Like the competing products evaluated here, this one had no trouble eliminating rust from the sheet-metal sample, eradicating most of the stain in just 2 hours and leaving behind a smooth surface. It also did an excellent job cleaning up the threaded-rod sections, getting deep in the grooves and removing rust, though it did seem a tiny bit slower to work than the others. Strangely, Evapo-Rust did leave the parts slightly black, darker than the components soaked in competing products, so be aware of that.
6 things to know about rust dissolvers
- These rust-dissolving products are intended to be used at room temperature. If your garage or workspace is freezing cold in the winter or if the attic of your townhouse gets boiling hot in the middle of August, you might want to consider finding a more temperate place or time to use them for maximum effectiveness. Cold temperatures, in particular, can slow down these chemical reactions.
- Another thing that enhances the efficacy of these products is cleanliness. No, you don't have to spit-shine the parts you're trying to de-rust, but if you clean off any heavy dirt and remove grease and oil, they will almost all work much better.
- Four of the five products tested in this article are safe to use, containing no solvents, acids, VOCs or other nasty ingredients. If you get any of these on your skin, just wash up with soap and water and you should be fine. Nearly all these rust-dissolvers are also environmentally friendly and will not harm other materials like plastic, rubber, paint or non-ferrous metals.
- Some rust-dissolvers come in concentrated form and must be diluted with water. Others come premixed and are ready to use right out of the container. Depending on how many components you're looking to clean up and how severely they're rusted will determine which product will work best for your application.
- Be patient! Unlike a T1 internet connection, none of these products deliver instantaneous results. Time is your friend. Depending on how severely rusted the parts are that you're trying to clean up, soak times can last from 15 minutes to two days.
- When spent, most of these rust dissolvers turn black and stop working. At this point, they're generally safe enough to be poured right down a drain, making cleanup and disposal a snap. But please read the directions or any accompanying legalese to see if this is permitted in your area.
You'd be a fool not to buy some
Whether you're working on a crusty carburetor base, revitalizing an old axe head you inherited from grandpappy or even sprucing up some antiques you just picked up from a garage sale, rust-removing solutions can be super handy. In certain applications, they essentially eliminate the need for sandpaper, steel wool and wire brushes, plus the associated time and effort required to clean things up.
While each of the products tested here has its peculiarities, all of them are highly effective and, perhaps best of all, exceedingly affordable. There's no excuse not to have a jug of this stuff in your garage or workshop.
