In my world:
definitely re use it, I keep it covered between uses. It will turn into a disgusting blob if you don't
definitely do not pour it back in the original jug. It has reduced efficiency, and this would dilute your good stuff. Better to top up with fresh.
You can reduce the volume used by putting the tool and ER in a heavy duty plastic bag, and then dunk it in a bucket of water. This greatly reduces the volume used. You can also put it in a bag, and just sorta contour it to fit.
Well, this seems like an appropriate post to respond to. Those who frequent the various rust removal threads know I'm a fan of Evaporust (preaching to the choir here) due to its safety for the project. Here is an example that shows several things I mentioned above.
Below are pix of what I believed was a
hand made square, and now I'm even more convinced. The rust hid lots of information. This tool is an example of forgetting a tool in the Evaporust, and still coming home to a tool, at least a month later. Also coming home to a disgusting blob because I forgot to cover it. I acquired this about 8/25, and threw it in the Evaporust, and left on vacation, completely forgetting about it, or about covering it, until today, when I went to throw more stuff in the bath.
The square was practically glued to the bottom, took a big screwdriver to pry it loose.
Without panicking, I had taken the whole bin outside, and wiped most of the goo off with a palette knife shown in the same ES picture. Then I laid down some sacrificial paper, and scraped it with a chisel edged putty knife. This pic is the goo and the layer of **** attached to the tool that scraped off.
Next I submerged it in a small box from a Costco frozen sous vide meal, and poured boiling water over it, added a bit of Dawn, and some cooler water so I could work with it quickly
Took a maroon Scotchbrite pad, about 1" x 2", and scrubbed everything for a minute or two. Looked pretty good, so I set it into the still warm oven from today's lunch heat up, to dry it thoroughly. Couple of dings above the stock on the thin edge
Thought I did so well, except I forgot to put a fresh dry paper towel under the square, so the residual water caused a bit of flash rust on the down side.
Snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. and just offscreen in that picture is a hand stamped G A, probably the maker.
A quick coat of Blue Magic Metal Polish Cream, and looking good again.
So, lessons learned. A month in Evaporust gives a really nice cleanup, and doesn't trash your project. Leaving the lid off the bucket, in use or not, is a bad idea over a month. My high class bucket (cut out jug from Simple Green) might be trashed. Even using a warm oven for drying isn't fast enough to prevent flash rust if you make stupid mistakes. Leaving the black gunk from Evaporust in the grooves of a measuring device gives a really nice contrast.
