Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Removing rust from painted metal sign

I know this topic has been talked about ALOT, and I've looked at old posts, but was wondering what's the latest thinking on best approach at removing rust from PAINTED metal signs (not porcelain). I guess this would just as easily apply to oil cans, etc.

From what I'm reading, citric acid, Iron out, and Evaporust are possible chemicals to use. What's working the best or is your "go to" approach? I'm going to be working on this sign and its been a while since I've worked on a rusted painted surface. It's very big, like five feet, so soaking it is kind of problematic.

This sign needs some serious TLC, straightening out, reframing, some rust removal, etc.

Thanks!

Hi Paul, I’ve done a lot of research on this as well because I have a few signs that I have to do to. It seems like a lot of guys are having real good results with prep and etch. That is what I’m going to try after my research.

I spoke with my friend Brian H on here and he had good results with it as well.

Hopefully some more people will share their thoughts on this topic.

-Steve

Thanks Steve. Is this the stuff?

I’ve have some metal prep I use for bare metal panels, makes sense could work.

That's it Paul. Spray it on with a spray bottle, set a timer for 10 minutes, then rinse off. I did NOT scrub with it at all. Just let it sit. Rinse and repeat as necessary. If you go too much it will start to fade the colors.

BrianH

You can also check out this youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQSbWKPB0ko

I’ll give it a shot! Thanks for info!

Paul, when you get a chance, please show us how your clean-up turns out. I have a similar project to undertake, and am interested in what you're doing. Thanks. John

Ok so bought the metal prep from Home Depot. Did as recommended, coated with spray bottle and let sit for 10 minutes, then wash off. Repeated an additional two times (no change in rust on third time).

I also tried it on a porcelain sign, seemed to work on that too but also did a lot of scrubbing on that sign.

So anyway seemed to work pretty well, thanks for info!

Wow Paul..... that looks great. Looks like a whole different sign. Nice job. Thanks for posting the difference.

-Steve

Wow yeah that looks awesome! It's amazing how nice a sign can look when you pull the rust out of it!!

Great results Paul! Glad the sign cleaned up so well. Nice sign.

difference of nite & day, sign has a shine too it now

put the prep & etch on the shopping list - seems too

work great with little labor on the tin signs .. ...

Paul...that is incredible! Unbelievable! Has any of the good paint seem to be affected in any negative way?

Going to have to try this stuff. Nice work

Steve, I didnt see any loss of paint color at all, no fading. I imagine different paints on different signs might fade though.

Once the sign dried more, like a day or more, there was some white residue left behind on the formerly rusty areas (not all over, just in some spots). Seems to partially come off using wax and grease remover. Probably a residue from the chemical reaction on the rust.

I wasnt going to matte clear this sign, but think I might, if I do I'll add a picture. I think it'll look better. At this point I've added a cedar frame and did some sign straightening... you can see the white residue on the second picture.