It works REALLY well, but it's fairly expensive at around $30 a gallon. I like the effectiveness and ease of use, but tend to be stingy with it due to expense.

There's a DIY version that uses Citric Acid, Sodium Carbonate (washing soda) and water. A drop of dish detergent as a surfactant is optional.

As I understand it, the Sodium Carbonate (a base) reacts with the Citric Acid to produce Sodium Citrate which is the active ingredient in Evaporust.

I mixed up a batch and tried it and it works perfectly. Somewhat more aggressive than Evaporust and alleged to last longer before neutralizing to the point that it won't work any more.

One liter (a quart is close enough) of water
100 grams of citric acid From Amazon, $9.95 for 2 pounds
40 grams of Sodium Carbonate (Arm & Hammer washing soda, also used for electrolysis)
A drop of dish soap for surfactant

Use warm water.

Add citric acid and stir until dissolved.

Add washing soda, wait for the reaction to subside (think baking soda and vinegar) and stir again to get any undissolved remnants.

Add a drop of dish soap.

It'll be clear when new, and turn a lovely yellow color when first used. Can be reused a number of times depending on amount of material being treated. I pour it back into the container (I use a Mason jar) through a bit of gauze to filter out any chunks of rust scale.

Good to know...I've got a few Motorcycle Fuel Tanks that need rehabilitation, and Evaporust was part of the plan. Thank You for posting that!

I have a small $13 32 oz container of Evaporust that I got a while back at my son's recommendation for refreshing some pruning shears left outside and forgotten (not by me).

Great stuff. At my current minimal usage rate, the re-used stuff from that project and what's left in the container will probably last several lifetimes, but when/if that does run out I'm up to try the PHPaul mix!

Got the same stuff and since it basically lasts forever someone will end up throwing it away after I pass away...

Will evaporust work effectively on car frames? I've got some rust on underneath of my Tundra my mechanic pointed out.

^^^^
POR-15 for frame rust

Thank you for the recipe; great option.

This was a fun watch:

Evaporust dip a Land Rover frame

And your recipe tested against Evaporust:

More expensive, does less

quote:

Originally posted by Vette02:
^^^^
POR-15 for frame rust

Thanks

OSPHO is great. It is the go to in the marine industry in a high rust environment.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
OSPHO is great. It is the go to in the marine industry in a high rust environment.

I used Ospho to clean up my Lotus chassis, worked great. Just make sure you get an extra HD sprayer, it'll instantly kill a cheap spray bottle trigger.

Evaporust is great because it’s non-toxic. Doesn’t leave a black phosphate finish. Can reuse. So in the long run it’s not that expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
Evaporust is great because it’s non-toxic. Doesn’t leave a black phosphate finish. Can reuse. So in the long run it’s not that expensive.

Ospho does leave a good bit of scale behind. Looks great when cleaned up, but it is extra work.

I've used Evaporust and Ospho. I won't use Evaporust again.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
OSPHO is great. It is the go to in the marine industry in a high rust environment.

I used OSPHO for years. Still do on some things like rust stains on the bolts of the transom platform.
On the advice of a friend who is a helluva painter I started using a product called Rust Mort on anything I need to prime and paint afterwards.

quote:

Originally posted by pootie:
I've used Evaporust and Ospho. I won't use Evaporust again.

Because … ?

Doesn't do nearly as good a job as OSPHO when I used it.