Bleach and rust! !

Hey everyone, I'm not sure if this is the right kind of section. ..anyway I had an hour free today and I've been thinking about how most toilet bleaches are up to 47% hydrochloric acid and I wondered what it might do to a few rusty pieces so I set up a foil disposable bake tray, gloves ,glasses and a cheap tooth brush and started scrubbing the bits with bleach! Here are the before pics.....

Mixed results!! After scrubbing I filled up the tray with very hot water and left for an hour then I thoroughly rinsed and dried everything and this is how everything came out, some things did better than others, I'm sure a wire wheel would improve things more and perhaps a metal polish but to be honest I'm surprised what the bleach did to these bits, it could be a useful technique on rusty exhausts and things?

HCl is harsh stuff and should be neutralized with some base solution such as baking soda so it doesn't continue to eat into the parts after rinsing. Phosphoric acid is much safer to the metal.
Edit: better still is oxalic acid. Found in many wood bleach products. The bicycle restoration guys love that stuff and with good reason; it eats off rust and don't hurt chrome or paint. A great mild cleaner that's environmentally safe.

Please be very carefull Sheath.
Toilet cleaner is not bleach, its HCl. Bleach is hypochlorite. Mixing the two together can generate chlorine gas which can kil you.

Thanks for the feedback guys don't worry JR I only used the bottle in the picture ,no mixing going on I think I'd better cover those exhaust clamps in baking soda though! I intend to use those! :laugh:

Evapo-Rust is the best product I've used for safe rust removal. I'm currently restoring two gas tanks using 3 gallons of it undiluted.

I've been moving the tank in different positions for a couple of days. I checked inside a few times and it's amazing. Clean bare metal inside.

www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/evapo-...er-safe-rust-remover

Hmmmmm Evapo-rust, I'll have to look that up I've been trying different things on my fuel tank for the past couple of years! Plus I have many rusty tools and things that I'd like to refurb

Nessism wrote: HCl is harsh stuff and should be neutralized with some base solution such as baking soda so it doesn't continue to eat into the parts after rinsing. Phosphoric acid is much safer to the metal.
Edit: better still is oxalic acid. Found in many wood bleach products. The bicycle restoration guys love that stuff and with good reason; it eats off rust and don't hurt chrome or paint. A great mild cleaner that's environmentally safe.

Can metal that has been de-rusted with oxalic acid be painted as is, or will all the residue need to be removed? I need to repaint a set of pipes that are showing some tiny specs of rust.

TexasKZ wrote:

Nessism wrote: HCl is harsh stuff and should be neutralized with some base solution such as baking soda so it doesn't continue to eat into the parts after rinsing. Phosphoric acid is much safer to the metal.
Edit: better still is oxalic acid. Found in many wood bleach products. The bicycle restoration guys love that stuff and with good reason; it eats off rust and don't hurt chrome or paint. A great mild cleaner that's environmentally safe.

Can metal that has been de-rusted with oxalic acid be painted as is, or will all the residue need to be removed? I need to repaint a set of pipes that are showing some tiny specs of rust.

I'd scotchbrite the metal before painting to make sure it's roughed up and 100% clean.