Homemade Evapo-rust

This is an old thread, but....

I have a few comments from a chemistry perspective. There was a question in this thread regarding substituting oxy-clean for the peroxide. That won't work because oxy-clean is sodium percarbonate, which is a basic (not acidic) compound. Mixing it with vinegar will neutralize the vinegar, probably not what you want for removing rust. It would be good for neutralizing residual acid on your de-rusted parts though.

Also, the suggestion of mixing peroxide with muriatic (hydrochloric) acid is dangerous. I worked in a chem lab and was investigating different peroxide mixtures to etch some very refactory materials, and tried mixing the two. Within seconds the mixture started releasing bubbles of chlorine gas!! Hydrogen peroxide is a very powerful oxidizing agent, in this case reacting with the hydrogen in the HCl molecule and releasing the chlorine as a gas. Of course, I did the experiment under a fume hood.

While I used concentrated hydrochloric acid and 30% hydrogen peroxide (neither one is commonly available), that result was enough to halt any further experiments along those lines. I write this, having worked with some really nasty chemicals (including red fuming nitric acid and concentrated hydrofluoric acid) over the years with NO injuries. PPE's are your friend when it comes to chemicals.

Just because you can buy OTC chemicals doesn't mean you can mix them willy-nilly. Do some online searching before picking up the mixing spoon.
 
As I recall, concentrated hydrochloric acid is 36% HCl whereas the muriatic acid that I buy at the local DIY is 31.45% HCl.
 
Yes, the acronym I was using means Personal Protection Equipment. I'm familiar with polyphenyl ethers as diffusion pump oil because they are quite resistant to oxidation. Wish they had been around when I was a grad student, it would have saved me from a nasty cleanup job when the lab's diffusion pump lost its coolant flow.
 
As I recall, concentrated hydrochloric acid is 36% HCl whereas the muriatic acid that I buy at the local DIY is 31.45% HCl.
That's pretty strong stuff! I didn't think it was that concentrated. Thanks for the info!
 
I tried some of this home made evapo rust. Soaked some heavily rusted parts off my midget overnight. It took some of the rust off. Still had to scrub with a wire brush and there is still rust. I made up another batch. Left out the water and added more salt. I'll report back tomorrow on how this batch worked.
 
I was just going by the OP's formula and what he called it.
 
After soaking stuff for another 24 hours all I can say is that I am not impressed. It doesn't seem to work any better than other home brewed rust removers that I have used and it did some serious etching. Probably the salt caused the etching. Don't know. I'm not a chemist.
 
White vinegar and table salt. Works extremely fast...pay attention it will etch
I’ve been using this recipe for 20+ years. Just cleaned a triumph clutch plate. Took aprox 15 min total.

Did someone already mention this?
The Hydrogen peroxide is not absolutely necessary.
 
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