Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Cleaning rust off porcelain!

OK Troops--Heres the scoop! I've cleaned up a lot of porcelain signs over the past few years, with varying degrees of success but this was the worst case of rust stain that I had ever encountered and I thought you might enjoy seeing how I handled it and the results!
I generally start out my cleaning with soap and water and follow up with Mothers Metal Polish after it has dried. In this case, the Mothers was very helpful in that it removed a lot of the grimey type stains and part of the rust stains but would not really do a lot to the older, heavy rust staining!
This is where I got out the Muriatic acid! I just poured it into a glass container and dipped a paper shop towel into it and made sure that all of the surface was covered. If you've never worked with this stuff before, be prepared in that the fumes will do damage to you if you breathe them in directly! I just used a moistened rag over my face to keep the fumes away and I was fine. After letting the acid sit for 1 minute, I began rubbing the worst stains first and then moved to the entire surface, adding more acid if needed. When the stains were gone, I sprinkled Baking powder on the metal to neutralize the acid and simply wiped it down with a wet cloth.
As you look at the pictures, you can see the difference where I had applied the acid to a small spot in order to show the results! Muriatic acid produced no damage to the porcelain shine in this instance and no problems on other signs that I have used it on, but I have never left it on for any length of time, either, so I can't say what would happen in that scenario.
I'm very happy with the results of this cleaning and I'm really glad it works so well on the really bad rust stains. Besides that, its really easy to use. If anyone has any questions on the process, feel free to contact me.---KEVIN

That's a good job, Kevin. I always use muriatic acid to clean porcelain. Usually use an old paint brush and dip it in the acid, then spread it on the porcelain. Works great. Thanks for sharing...Dale


Looking for Pennzoil, Shell, and Woco Pep signs.

Hey Kevin; I see you got the the pump home. I've used muratic acid before as I work in the construction-roofing-sheet metal field , it'll definately clean out your sinuses. I've never used it on porcelain yet. I've had pretty good luck with tidy-bowl toilet cleaner. Can't wait to see this pump when it's done, color me jealous;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;Ron

wow Kevin that really came out nice....i am working on a large porcelain sign now from 1903 & it has some stubborn rust..i eill have to give it a try....Thanks for the info.DT

Be careful & not leave any acid on rusty spots for long periods of time. It WILL eat the rust, BUT will also get under the porcelain & eat away at the metal causing the porcelain to lift.
Found out the hard way & destroyed many well head signs from Tidewater & Shell Oil Co. years ago.

why use dangerous chemicals when you can use something from wal mart that costs $3.00 bucks? Weimans glass stove top cleaner with the weiman scrubbers or X-fine steel wool(both work wonders). you want proof you say, here's before and after.

before

By allenbrown82 at 2010-10-07

after

By allenbrown82 at 2010-10-16

now you cant do anything about the dings but you can see... no more rust streaks.

MURIATIC ACID? YOU DID WEAR GLOVES TOO IN ADDITION TO COVERING YOUR NOSE?

my experiences with Muriatic acid is that it takes the rust off, but takes away the gloss, puts fade in the porcelain

I've cleaned rust off many porcelain signs with muratic acid. Never had a problem with it taking away the gloss. It did cause a little fading on one sign, but the porcelain on that sign didn't have very good gloss to start with, and it extremely heavy rust stains. I brush the acid on and rinse with water after a few seconds.

Looks good Kevin. Did you dilute the acid? Allen, never heard of Weimans, but your sign came out great too. Maybe I will try some of that on my kitchen stove.
John

Yes, I wore gloves. The kind that mechanics use and come in a plastic jar with about 50 pairs! I have no idea what it would do to the skin but I wasn't going to find out! LOL
I did not dilute the acid but I believe it is a diluted concentrate to begin with.
As far as dulling the porcelain, I had no problem at all and the gloss seemed to be even better when I was done, but like Dick said, I didn't leave it on very long, as I nwas rubbing on it while I was applying it. The acid concentrate was on the porcelain for less than 5 minutes from start to finish!

I usually use rubbing compound mixed with a little CLR and that has worked great with a light abrasive disk attached to drill and give it a coat of wax. Never tried the acid trick.

IF YOU USE C.L.R., THAT'S ANOTHER PRODUCT YOU SHOULD NOT LEAVE ON FOR VERY LONG OR IT TOO WILL DULL THE FINISH. BEEN THERE DONE THAT!