2026 Summer Rust Out - Part Uno

[yatg]

2026 Summer Rust Out - Part Uno

What works best for rust removal?
lets find out

Test items are 4" pieces of old rusty 1/2" black pipe

item 0 control - no rust removal

item 1 plain water

item 2 vinegar (5%)

item 3 evaporust
the evaporust is slightly used.
ran out of new and not going to buy more just for this.

item 4 c.l.r.

item 5 citric acid
1 pint water, 1/4 cup citric acid powder

item 6 citric acid with baking soda
1 pint water, 1/4 cup citric acid powder
1/8 cup (2 tbs) baking soda

item 7 citric acid with washing soda
1 pint water, 1/4 cup citric acid powder
1/8 cup (2 tbs) washing soda

item 8 citric acid with washing soda (old)
this solution made up a couple weeks ago and used to clean up a bunch of stuff - that's why its black
this is to test the longer term efficacy of the solution


Methodology
Soak each item in a solution for 24 hours
rinse and brass wire brush the item
evaluate results
soak for another 24 hours
rinse and brass wire brush and soap pad the item
evaluate results

Day 1 - Monday



All items were
Stamped with a item number
Rinsed in plain water,

Immersed in 1 pint of the solution (except for control item)
hung from wire to keep them off the bottom

These pictures are from Monday just before noon, when the items were first put into the respective solution.

left to right, item 0 in nothing, item 1 in water, item 2 in vinegar


item 3 in evaporust, item 4 in c.l.r, item 5 in citric acid


item 6 in citric acid + baking soda, item 7 in citric acid + washing soda, item 8 in old citric acid + washing soda


Now we wait ...

 

[yatg]

Day 2 - Tuesday

Observations after about 24 hours

(click on thumbnails to see larger image of items in containers)

item 0 - control
no change


item 1 - water
some rust loss into water


item 2 - vinegar,
some bubble action, some debris bits in bottom


item 3 - evaporust,
turned darker, sample turned gray


item 4 - c.l.r.,
turned from bright green to yellow green, some debris bits in bottom


item 5 - citric acid,
lots of debris bits in bottom


item 6 - citric acid + baking soda,
some debris


item 7 - citric acid + washing soda,
less debris than plain citric acid, more debris than baking soda


item 8 - old citric acid + washing soda
too dark to tell



Visually, it looks like the evaporust did something, but the rust remains on most of the items.

Items were rinsed in water and a brass brush was used to remove any residual dissolved substance sticking to the item.


Items 0 to 8, left to right.
All the chemical variations had significant rust removal. That was unexpected looking at them before rinsing. Most of the surface rust that was visible in the above container pictures was brushed and rinsed off.



Items 0 ro 4, left to right
Item 0 (control), no change
Item 1 (water), no change
Item 2 (5% vinegar), worked surprisingly well.
Item 3 (evaporust), worked as expected.
Item 4 (c..l.r.), not so great



Item 5 to 8, left to right
Item 5 (citric acid)
Item 6 (citric acid + baking soda)
Item 7 (citric acid + washing soda)
Item 8 (old citric acid + washing soda)
looking at this grouping,
#5 the citric acid worked well,
#6 + baking soda worked not as well
#7 + washing soda, worked well
#8 the old + washing soda solution appears to have worked the best.
That makes no sense. The solution should have been weaker having been previously used for a lot of derusting.
It could be more concentrated due to evaporation.
If could be an ongoing chemical reaction over the last couple of weeks that makes the solution more effective.
It could be that item #8 wasn't as rusty/rough as the others.





Items were returned to their soaking containers and will be evaluated again tomorrow.

 

[yatg]

reserved for Wednesday

 

[yatg]

reserved for Thursday if needed