How to remove Eastwood Fast Etch?

[Sanderguy777]

I have a tablesaw cabinet that has/had terrible rust all over. Especially the base. I used a grinder, die grinder, and finally Eastwood Fast Etch.

I put it on, it did an OK job on parts of it, but its certainly no replacement for Evaporust if you have enough to dip in.


Anyway, I did too much at a time and it dried in some spots before I could hit it with acetone to neutralize it and wash it off, so it dried and left the "rust resistant" coating.

That's all fine and good (and a HUGE improvement over Rustoleum gel. Flash rusted in minutes and was a complete waste of time and money). The issue is acetone won't touch it.
It dissolves and then just dries in a different pattern without washing off.

Does anyone know what might work? Surely I don't need to regrind or wire brush everything, right?

 

[KenC]

Try wetting it well with another application of Fast Etch. I haven't used that brand, but most similar will wipe off after a rewet.

 

[jkuro]

Call Eastwood and see what they recommend.

​

 

[Sanderguy777]

Call Eastwood and see what they recommend.

​

I emailed them and I basically got put off. The guy said he didn't know, but that he'd push it on up the line and see what they knee, but it's been a week or two and nothing.

I think rewetting is a good idea, so I'll try that (I have to do more to it anyway cause some of the rust is pretty bad )

 

[Meursault74]

based on the composition from SDS, use lots of water. Who told you to use acetone? You're making "salts" for lack of a better term. Use water. If you need to neutralize, you're going to need a base, like a solution of baking soda. But if you leave either the acid sol'n or the basic sol'n on the metal for tool long, it'll rust the metal some more.

You can use the acetone to "dry" things out after using the water based rinse.

https://www.eastwood.com/images/library/19416Z.pdf

 

[Sanderguy777]

based on the composition from SDS, use lots of water. Who told you to use acetone? You're making "salts" for lack of a better term. Use water. If you need to neutralize, you're going to need a base, like a solution of baking soda. But if you leave either the acid sol'n or the basic sol'n on the metal for tool long, it'll rust the metal some more.

You can use the acetone to "dry" things out after using the water based rinse.

https://www.eastwood.com/images/library/19416Z.pdf

The bottle told me to LOL (either acetone or their "PRE" stuff, which is at least as expensiveas the Fast Etch).

Wouldn't water make it flash rust after? That's what happened to the Rustoleum stuff (which is also a phosphoric acid base), I rinsed it, and an hour later it looked worse than ever (only surface rust, but still.)

 

[Meursault74]

The bottle told me to LOL (either acetone or their "PRE" stuff, which is at least as expensiveas the Fast Etch).

Wouldn't water make it flash rust after? That's what happened to the Rustoleum stuff (which is also a phosphoric acid base), I rinsed it, and an hour later it looked worse than ever (only surface rust, but still.)

The acidic or basic conditions will make it rust. Water in itself will not, but the water will become acidic from the carbon dioxide in the air.

If you rinse with plenty of water, it should remove the residue you mentioned. Then you can use some acetone to remove the water and dry matters out. They likely suggest acetone as a final clean prior to putting on a finish, which is good. But the acetone itself is not a better solvent than water for removing the "salts", as you could see.

 

[Sanderguy777]

The acidic or basic conditions will make it rust. Water in itself will not, but the water will become acidic from the carbon dioxide in the air.

If you rinse with plenty of water, it should remove the residue you mentioned. Then you can use some acetone to remove the water and dry matters out. They likely suggest acetone as a final clean prior to putting on a finish, which is good. But the acetone itself is not a better solvent than water for removing the "salts", as you could see.

Huh. Ok, Ill give it a shot. I have given up on the bare metal look anyway, so if nothing else, I'll just wire wheel the flash rust and then hit it with rusty metal primer (something Rustoleum actually did well LOL).

 

[Meursault74]

https://www.eastwood.com/images/library/10041Z.pdf

here's the SDS for the cleaner. Yes, it's a surface cleaner. Acetone would be a better choice given the ionic residues after the water.

I've never used these products. My opinions on this based solely on the chemistry documentation and what you described.

 

[Sanderguy777]

https://www.eastwood.com/images/library/10041Z.pdf

here's the SDS for the cleaner. Yes, it's a surface cleaner. Acetone would be a better choice given the ionic residues after the water.

I've never used these products. My opinions on this based solely on the chemistry documentation and what you described.

So, I need to use water, then rinse with acetone and then paint? (Primer then paint?)


How would I do the acetone rinse? On the flat areas I can wipe off the water, then hit it with a spritz of acetone (from a squirter bottle) and that should take off whatever excess water is there, right?

And then for the hard to get places, I dry as well as possible then hit with a bunch of acetone from every angle and hope for the best? (Just worried that the water will stay behind and cause an issue. )

 

[Meursault74]

I saw some Q&A here

Rust Remover - Eastwood Fast Etch

Dissolves rust, leaves a protective zinc-phosphate coating, all in 1 step

www.eastwood.com

for a "rinse" with acetone, I'd just pour some on/saturate a lint free rag and wipe down. By using the acetone you're speeding up the evaporation of the water from the surface . I personally would be careful "spraying" any acetone, especially if the spray bottle was from something else. the components of the bottle may not be compatible. Do all this in a well ventilated area and hang the rags outside after.

A commercial metal prep spay, like the one they are selling might be a better bet in hard to reach area for the final clean as it is more volatile than acetone. This will be helpful as it speeds up matter so you can start the finishing process. Some of these metal cleaners do have some rust inhibitors in them to allow you the time to get your finishing started before any the flash rust you mention gets started.

You described some dried residue that wasn't coming off with acetone. Water should do that, but then you need to get rid of the water to continue your project. I think by what I read about this product, that if you hadn't of let it dry completely and used the acetone it would have been ok as at that point in time as it is still wet with the water content from the original product. Another here suggested re-wetting with the product, that would work as well, but you can't let it dry out. Let us know how it turns out.

Bottom line is you're not going to hurt anything (yourself or the equipment) by using the water to try and remove the residue. You may need to do other work though to proceed with your project.

 

[Sanderguy777]

I saw some Q&A here

Rust Remover - Eastwood Fast Etch

Dissolves rust, leaves a protective zinc-phosphate coating, all in 1 step

www.eastwood.com

for a "rinse" with acetone, I'd just pour some on/saturate a lint free rag and wipe down. By using the acetone you're speeding up the evaporation of the water from the surface . I personally would be careful "spraying" any acetone, especially if the spray bottle was from something else. the components of the bottle may not be compatible. Do all this in a well ventilated area and hang the rags outside after.

A commercial metal prep spay, like the one they are selling might be a better bet in hard to reach area for the final clean as it is more volatile than acetone. This will be helpful as it speeds up matter so you can start the finishing process. Some of these metal cleaners do have some rust inhibitors in them to allow you the time to get your finishing started before any the flash rust you mention gets started.

You described some dried residue that wasn't coming off with acetone. Water should do that, but then you need to get rid of the water to continue your project. I think by what I read about this product, that if you hadn't of let it dry completely and used the acetone it would have been ok as at that point in time as it is still wet with the water content from the original product. Another here suggested re-wetting with the product, that would work as well, but you can't let it dry out. Let us know how it turns out.

Bottom line is you're not going to hurt anything (yourself or the equipment) by using the water to try and remove the residue. You may need to do other work though to proceed with your project.

Ok, sounds good. I have to reapply it in some spots anyway, so I'll just do that in small patches and clean as I go to avoid this issue again. Thanks!