REVIEW: EVAPO-RUST, Super Safe Rust Remover
(Words and Photos: Classics Monthly Magazine, July 2015 issue)
With an Alfa Spider and a ’91 Discovery in the garage, we’re always interested in rust removers and over the years we’ve tried most of the common rust converter products on the market. evaporust
Most of them are relatively innocuous but you do need to take care removing the chemicals afterwards, while many of them can leave unsightly stains behind on paintwork. Evapo-Rust, sourced from the USA and now stocked in the UK by Frost, is reckoned to be different. A water-based product, it’s claimed to be environmentally safe, being biodegradeble, non-toxic and safe on skin. It’s also claimed not to affect plastic, PVC and most paints which for automotive use is a useful feature.
Rather than being painted on to a rusty area, the idea is that you immerse a product entirely in the solution and leave it for just 10 minutes before simply washing it off to leave a shiny bright surface. The process is achieved by the use of a synthetic molecule which forms a bond with the iron in iron oxide but not in steel, holding it in solution until it’s washed away. Well, that’s the theory anyway.
We had the US quart (just under a litre) container, which wasn’t quite enough for any of the really rusty car parts we had knocking around, so we gave it a test involving a section of rusty concrete reinforcing steel rod – we’ve been using it as a jack handle for the Discovery – and a pair of pliers which had been left out in the rain once too often, together with a rusty offcut of sheet metal.
With a jam jar filled with Evapo-Rust, we left the rusty items in there and waited. The instructions suggest just 10 minutes is required and although that proved sufficient to get the surface rust off the offcut of sheet metal, the other items needed a longer soak.
The packaging suggests leaving heavily corroded items overnight if necessary but after an hour or so, we found the tools were looking good, while the metal bar wasn’t rust-free but was looking a whole lot better. The following morning it was pretty much rust-free.
GOOD NEWS: Now, for the bigger parts, you can buy Evapo Rust in 5 US Gallon (18.9L) - The quick, simple and safe way to remove rust!
