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LA Awesome Cleaner

2K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  donwilwol 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Just curious if anyone has tried the Dollar store LA Awesome Concentrated cleaner to remove rust from hand tools at all, it says its a citrus based formula so just curious if it works as good as the canning citrus powder I normally buy or better.
 
#5 ·
I use the citrus degreaser from Home Depot and it is highly effective on grease, tar, and grime in general but only mildly effective against rust. All acids will remove rust, the more acidic, the faster it works. The question is whether the cleaner is really citrus based (acidic) or just has citrus flavoring. The MSDS might have some clues … first aid is drink milk which suggest acidity.

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My belief is that The Works Toilet Bowl Cleaner, also available at the dollar store, is more acidic and will remove rust faster.
 

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#6 ·
My belief is that The Works Toilet Bowl Cleaner, also available at the dollar store, is more acidic and will remove rust faster.

- Rick M.
It is and I'm sure it does but using Citric acid I've never had to worry about how long I leave it in, I've had The Works start eating through stuff at the 2 hour mark.
 
#7 ·
Yeah Works is HCL, if you're forgetful it's not the way to go. It's for: 'I'm in my shop and want to de-rust it now;' not drop it in and get it whenever. Also good for removing coatings from hardware, screws, etc.
 
#8 ·
If you've never had citric acid start to eat through and pit you've been lucky. About the only product I've heard to be completely safe is evapo-rust. I'm sure there are other like it, but be careful with citric acid as well. Even with evapo-rust, make sure the piece is completely submerged or you'll forever know where the water mark was.

I did a small test for different techniques here. Not completely in line with the conversation, but may help, http://www.timetestedtools.net/2016/02/29/restoration-technique-comparisons/

All this is worse on steel, so I'll never put a blade in any kind of acid what so ever.
 
#10 ·
If you ve never had citric acid start to eat through and pit you ve been lucky. About the only product I ve heard to be completely safe is evapo-rust. I m sure there are other like it, but be careful with citric acid as well. Even with evapo-rust, make sure the piece is completely submerged or you ll forever know where the water mark was.

I did a small test for different techniques here. Not completely in line with the conversation, but may help, http://www.timetestedtools.net/2016/02/29/restoration-technique-comparisons/

All this is worse on steel, so I ll never put a blade in any kind of acid what so ever.

- Don W
Just curious how long was it in the citric acid before that damage happened? I've used some canning citric acid and I think I left mine to soak for almost an entire day and nothing happened to any of the 3 planes I did.

The Works I only use if it is heavily rusted, but that stuff is toxic to no end, I have to do those dips outside on my patio and still wear a respirator near it. It chewed through the cheek of a heavily rusted no. 3 on me, the whole top round was basically disintegrated in about 2 hours.
 
#11 ·
I suppose how concentrated the citric acid is has an effect, and I've noticed differences in different brands, but I've seen it happen in a couple hours. I've ruined a couple of blades pretty quickly, as I said, I never put blades in acid any more. I'm sure the quality of the steel plays a role.

I use the works once in a while to, but I also do it outside. I won't use it in my shop. It'll rust stuff 10 feet away.
 
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