rust stains

[Rob53]

I had a customer call and say that his landscaper put down fertilizer and where it landed on the concret there are now rust stains. Is there any product that I can buy locally that will remove the rust ? This is a large area and I am suppose to be there the end of this week . Thanking you in advance for your reply
Rob

 

[Poster]

Did you find any product to remove rust stains on driveway?

Jack

 

[Dan Flynn]

Acid should work.

 

[Richard R.]

Rob,
As you probably already know, the rust your friend is describing is rust cause by the iron in the fertilizer.
Unfortunately there are only a few products on the market that will semi take this out, however, sometimes I've found that nothing will touch it.
The first think I would try is 50% muratic acid and 50% water. Increase the muratic acid as needed. You can try a product called CLR that is made specifically for removing rust, lime and calcium, but I believe you will find that it is very expensive and muratic acid is a main ingredient and is a lot cheaper. I used a product called Inviro Terror that I purchased from a janitorial supply company about 3 months ago, but after suggesting it to others, I found that no one could seem to find it. As far as I know, it is new to the market and is about as strong as muratic acid but mild as dish washing liquid. Hard to believe but seems to be true. It doesn't seem to hurt vegetation at all.
One other suggestion:
You might try using the search menu part of this site to see what others are saying they have used and experienced.

Hope this helps

Richard R.

 

[Marv]

I just tried Zep's calcium, lime and rust remover on some heavy and older rust stains in front of dumpsters. It did a good job, it got up almost all of it ( again these were thick and wide stains, pretty old). It contains Hydrochloric acid and sulfamic acid. I did not find a complete list of contents. I picked it up at Home Depot for approx $5 for a quart. I think I will keep some in the truck.

 

[Dan Flynn]

Be careful to secure it well. I had that same bottle you're talking about and it leaked really easy. It tipped in the back of my new van and removed the paint down to the metal.

Lucky for me it's was in the door jam so you really can't see it. Just a thought I had.

 

[Paul B.]

In case anyone didn't know:
Hydrochloric acid = Muriatic Acid = Hydrogen Chloride

Regards,

Paul B. (Mean Papa - Blues Meister)
Genesis Pressure Cleaning Ltd.

 

[Chuck Richard]

Rust stain Remover

the best stuff on the market is dr-60 from Dominion Restoration Products out of Virginia. Spray on let dry stains gone rinse concrete. It is one hell of a time saver. Look at www.domrest.com I'v never seen a rust stain it would not completely remove. Might take more than one application. Expensive though. I Hope no one from my area sees this. Keeps me one step ahead of the rest.

 

[timhays]

ALSO TRY OXALIC ACID FROM YOUR LOCAL CHEM SUPPLIER

 

[Tim Lynch]

Originally posted by Paul B.
In case anyone didn't know:
Hydrochloric acid = Muriatic Acid = Hydrogen Chloride

Store in a wood box if you can. I worked at a hardware store for many years and Muriatic Acid even in a closed container will eat metal.

 

[ShellBean_1]

where are you in ohio???

Originally posted by Paul B.
In case anyone didn't know:
Hydrochloric acid = Muriatic Acid = Hydrogen Chloride

Regards,

Paul B. (Mean Papa - Blues Meister)
Genesis Pressure Cleaning Ltd.

Where in OHIOare you located?

 

[chirobob]

From my experience with brickcleaning I would stay away from the Hydrochloric acid as this will only make the area worse maybe not initially but a few weeks down the track you will probably have more rust evolving than was there originally. Hydrochloric acid if used on brickwork at a concentrated rate has caused me numerous headaches in the past it leaches the iron impurities from some brick and develops a stain. I have tried oxalic acid at 10% and it didn't make an ounce of difference, not to mention the difficulty in getting it to stay in solution in water, I found it dropped out of solution and re-crystalized in a matter of hours.

Alot of the commercial rust removers we buy over here have 40% Phosphoric acid in them . You can buy this at a usually concentration of 81, 85% technical grade from a local chemical supplier. If you apply it through a shurflo pump(a mop will also do the trick if you don't have a shurflo) diluted at 20-40% with some surfactant added to make it stick to the surface, I'm sure you'll be happy with the results. The beauty of it is that it is reasonably cheap (probably $8.00 US a gallon), and it is extremely safe compared to other acids (they use it in Coke). CLR used to have this as their active ingredient until they decided to replace it with Sulfamic and Glycollic acid to try to keep phosphates from poluting water ways and aiding in eutrophication. Give it a try I'm sure you will be happy with the results.
Regards
Jason

 

[HeavyChevy]

Speaking of stains...is it common for straight muratic acid to cause a yellow stain on cement? Had a customer call to see if this yellow stain can be removed. Some tree trimmers used the muratic to remove sap from a driveway!

 

[timhays]

Speaking of stains...is it common for straight muratic acid to cause a yellow stain on cement? Had a customer call to see if this yellow stain can be removed. Some tree trimmers used the muratic to remove sap from a driveway!

yes it is,i would be suprised if the concrete finish hasnt been damaged as well.

 

[Mike Gwas]

Heavy,
Where you been ???? Let's do lunch ???

 

[CaroliProWash]

Speaking of stains...is it common for straight muratic acid to cause a yellow stain on cement? Had a customer call to see if this yellow stain can be removed. Some tree trimmers used the muratic to remove sap from a driveway!

Muriatic acid will etch concrete as well, doing some permanent damage.