The Best Rust Removers of 2024 - Reports from Your Best Digs (2024)

WI spent three days testing six of the best rust removers on the market on a variety of rusted tools, household items and doors to determine which was better. Ultimately we choseSpread - stain removeras the best rust remover. Iron Out is easy to apply in the form of a spray gel, works quickly and works on some surfaces (such as rusted chrome) to restore products to near showroom condition. Our second place isCLR – Limescale rust remover.

Table of contents

• The 6 rust removers we tested
• Best Overall:Spread - stain remover
• Also great:CLR
• Other products we tested
• How we chose
• How we tested
• Types of rust
• Common disposal methods
• Important features to consider
• In short

The 6 rust removers we tested

Best Overall: Iron Out – Stain Remover

We were happy to see that one of the spray products performed very well across the board.Spread - stain removerproved to be best for a variety of surfaces and was especially impressive in restoring our vintage chair's chrome legs to near showroom condition. It also quickly removed water stains from the door of our stainless steel refrigerator.

Iron Out's packaging states that it specializes in bathroom, kitchen, carpet and fabric stains, along with chrome and other surfaces. Combined with the great performance on chrome, we liked that Iron Out applies easily as a spray and dries in just a minute or two. With nearly 1,000 positive Amazon reviews, we weren't the only ones who thought Iron Out is an excellent choice for a household rust remover.

With Iron Out you get the best features of all our rust removers: easy application, fast results and the versatility to treat different surface types. Iron Out is a spray gel that is easy to apply to vertical surfaces and does not drip too much.

One slightly tricky thing about Iron Out is that the product instructions recommend wiping it off after a few seconds. In our experience, an application of between 60-90 seconds was optimal. It also helps to use a little elbow grease for best results. We had good results removing rust stains from the front of a stainless steel refrigerator door, but we had to scrub vigorously and then let the product sit for about a minute.

Key learning points:

• Iron Out applies easily with very little overspray and wipes off easily.
• It gave positive results within minutes compared to some other products that require hours of treatment.
• Iron Out produces very little odor.
• We achieved spectacular results on the rusted chrome legs of a vintage chair.

Also great: CLR – Calcium Lime Rust Remover

One thing to look for with rust products is the manufacturer's recommended applications. The word "rust" is often applied to a wide variety of surfaces besides metal, including some surprising materials such as fabric. We appreciatedCLR – Limescale rust removerquite a bit, as it comes in liquid form and can be diluted to the correct strength needed for the job.

It is recommended to dilute CLR with 50 percent water, but it can be used at full strength for more stubborn stains. For our testing we used CLR at full strength. CLR proved to be a consistent performer. It worked best on nuts and bolts and shined on the front of our stainless steel refrigerator almost as well as our favorite Iron Out – Stain Remover.

CLR is a product better suited to surface rust stains such as those in toilet bowls, tile grout and limescale on shower heads and taps. We liked that it can be used at full strength for things like nuts and bolts, but can also be diluted into a more household cleaner for appliances like the refrigerator we tested.

Another thing we like about CLR is that it is an EPA Safer Choice product, and it has a pleasant citrusy scent. CLR comes in liquid form and is packaged in a plastic can. If you plan to dilute it, you should transfer it to another container, such as a small plastic container, or apply it to a surface such as a shower head. If you use full force, you can simply use a sponge or cloth and hold it against the mouth of the jug; but it has been our experience that CLR works best when the item can be fully submerged.

Like all our tested products, CLR was easy to clean with a paper towel or sponge and left little to no residue.

Key learning points:

• CLR – Calcium Lime Rust Remover is intended for rust stains on metal, concrete and other household surfaces.
• CLR can be applied by immersion or surface application.
• For regular stains you can usually dilute it with water, but it can also be applied at full strength for more stubborn, difficult-to-remove stains.
• It contains no oxalic acid or other harsh chemicals and we found it had a pleasant citrus scent.
• CLR is een EPA Safer Choice-product.

Other products we tested

Steel – Innosoft B570

Steel – Innosoft B570is a strange product. Touted as an "organic" rust remover, it contains sodium alkyl sulfonate, which can cause serious eye damage. In this sense, the label 'organic' is misleading, because it implies that the product cannot be harmful.

Innosoft B570 is quite easy to apply, but the surface must be horizontal as the gel can get messed up if you are not careful. For the more heavily rusted products we tested, such as our garden tools, the Innosoft B570 didn't have enough breath to make any difference with a single application.

Evapo-Rust – Super safe rust remover

Evapo-Rust – Super safe rust removeris touted as a "fantastic rust remover," but it performed only average in our group and performed best on our rusty weeding tools. It works best on items that can soak for the recommended one to twelve hours. The positive thing is that Evapo-Rust is non-toxic, biodegradable and contains no acids.

Star Brite – Rust Stain Remover

Star Brite – Rust Stain Removeris closer to an all-in-one household cleaner than a specialized rust remover. One of the main applications is cleaning fiberglass surfaces such as boats. During our testing, it performed well on nuts and bolts and also did a decent job of removing rust from our teapot. Star Brite is a spray-on rust remover. Although we haven't had the opportunity to test Star brite on a boat, it is often mentioned on public forums as an effective boat cleaner.

WD-40 – Specialized rust removing penetrating spray

WD-40 is a well-known brand for many people because of its household lubricant spray. We tested the sister productWD-40 – Specialized rust removing penetrating sprayand loved how it can be applied in very tight places. It worked amazingly well to prevent garage door creaking and it easily cleaned our nuts and bolts, or evenpruning shears. The downside to this WD-40 product is that it cannot be easily applied to large rust spots or to irregular surfaces such as teapots.

If you want to supplement a general purpose rust remover with a product that specializes in loosening rusted nuts and bolts and eliminating squeaky hinges, we highly recommend WD-40 – Specialist Rust Release Penetrant Spray.

How we chose

Rust is the common name for iron oxide, the combination of iron and oxygen, expressed as the chemical compound Fe2O3. The process of how rust works involves an electrochemical reaction involving an anode, cathode and electrolyte. For those of you who skipped chemistry class, the first two are pieces of metal that donate and accept electrons, and the last element is a liquid that helps the electrons move.

For our review, we first identified highly rated products from consumer and specialty sources and then screened the product reviews for authenticity. We focused on rust removal products that are convenient to use, have a wide range of applications and minimize the use of toxic chemicals. Our finalists were chosen based on three factors: the best for metal, the best spray and the best liquid.

Of the three rust removal techniques – mechanical, conversion and direct application – all our products fall into the latter category.

In very broad terms, household rust removers are designed to work in one or two simple applications. They can be divided into products intended solely for metal and those with a wider range of applications, such as vinyl, ceramic tile, fiberglass and even carpets and fabrics. We looked for the best representatives of both categories.

How we tested

The first part of removing rust from household products is assessing what type of rust you are dealing with. Stable rust and pitting rust are the most common forms in a home. We tested our products on tools, surfaces and devices to determine the best overall performance.

All rust products, even the simplest spray-on products, require a fair amount of preparation to protect your hands and eyes. We tested several product types, including sprays, gels and liquids, and found that we liked the sprays best for their ease of use.

After reviewing the product instructions and optimal applications, we identified six products that offered an adequate range of surfaces and rust types. Not all products are the same, so we targeted at least four surfaces for each product. The six finalists can be broadly grouped into metal-specific products and non-metallic products for treating surfaces such as ceramic tile, vinyl and fiberglass.

Metal-targeted rust removers:

Steel – Innosoft B570: good for white goods and steel

Spread – Rust Stain Remover Spray Gel: good for fabric, tiles and tools

WD-40 – Specialized rust removing penetrating spray: good for nuts, bolts, locks and chains

Around rustfjernere:

Star Brite – Rust Stain Remover: good for fiberglass, vinyl and metal

CLR – Limescale rust remover:good for surfaces and appliances

Evapo-Rust – Super safe rust remover: good for equipment, hardware and tools

The test surfaces include the following:

• Steel work table (stable rust spots)
• Garden tools (power wash nozzle, shovel, hoe and rake; including a mix of stable rust and pit rust)
• Nuts and bolts (pit rust)
• Teapots (water stains)
• Chrome chair legs (stable rust)
• Stainless steel refrigerator (water stains)

The products have been applied according to the instructions. Where a range of application times was given we used the midpoint time. Where possible – for example on the workbench – we used multiple products simultaneously to compare performance. For other rusty items, such as workshop tools, we applied each rust remover separately.

Garden furniture and tools

Old tools never die, they're just left outside to rust. Rust and related stains can be found everywhere: tools, surfaces, bicycles, cars and furniture are common victims. Most rust can be treated to some extent, and fortunately there are excellent household products to get the job done.

Our steel workbench was the biggest challenge. None of the four products we tested on the table effectively cleaned table legs. Even Evapo-Rust – Super Safe Rust Remover used overnight didn't have much effect on the table legs (other than darkening them a bit).

The table was our most "industrial" representative, with heavy steel and a painted surface that was probably applied electrostatically. Heavy-duty products with painted or coated surfaces typically require a two-step approach, first removing the finished surface and then applying the rust remover. We tested our products on the table to see if they would improve the overall rusty appearance without becoming a major project.

Our garden tools category was a bit of a mixed bag. We used four tools for stable and pit rust: a shovel, a weeder and two rakes. The vapor rust, likely because it is a liquid that allows complete immersion, removed most of the rust from the weed whacker tip after it was partially submerged in a bucket. We also applied Aceros – Innosoft B570 to our rusty shovel with a wet sponge, as recommended. It did a creditable job of removing the rust from the box and giving it an overall darkened appearance.

One area where all of our finalists “shine” was removing fossilized rust from nuts and bolts. For very small objects, complete immersion is quite practical. We saturated paper towels and then rinsed and dried the nuts and bolts. While all of the products did an excellent job, the WD-40 – Specialist Rust Release Penetrant Spray was perhaps slightly better, about what we would expect from a product that emphasizes nuts and bolts as its specialty.

Our two rakes were so badly rusted that it was hard work for the two products we tested on them, CLR and Iron Out. Both products darkened the scratches, but the metal remained rusted. CLR, which we used at full strength, narrowly beat Iron Out in this test.

Indoor appliances and household items

When we moved in, we tested our products on common appliances: a refrigerator, a stainless steel tea kettle, and a steel pour-over kettle. For the refrigerator we chose the four products that suited the task: Innosoft, Iron Out, CLR and Star brite. We divided an area of ​​the water-stained refrigerator door into four separate areas and applied our products according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Once again Iron Out – Rust Stain Remover Spray Gel did the best, returning a nice glossy finish and almost completely removing the water spots. CLR – Calcium Lime Rust Remover also did an excellent job of buffing out the water spots.

We then checked within 48 hours to see if there was any "ghosting" or residual marks where the original stains occurred. The presence of such stains suggests that the rust removal products had worked topically but had not penetrated the surface. Very little ghosting was visible in the sections treated with Iron Out and CLR. Star Brite and Innosoft also worked quite well on the refrigerator, but didn't restore shine as well as the other two products.
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Types of rust

Although the rust conditions all look the same to the untrained eye, there are subtle differences in the nature of how rust forms, even within the confines of a small tool like a wood plane. An ideal example of different types of rust includes four varieties: stable rust, flash rust, flaky rust and pitting.

Rust stable:Occurs over an extended period of time and tends to have a uniform appearance. In certain cases, such as with uncoated steel building panels, stable rust is considered a desirable aesthetic effect.

Flitsroest:Results of water occurring in one location. Fly rust is often bright orange in color and can occur within six hours.

Rust Peeling:Can take up even more space than the metal it displaces and is often found in transition areas where a coating ends.

Kernels:Occurs due to trapped moisture and is often found in cavities in tools and furniture.

Common disposal methods

Rust removal is a broad topic that includes a wide range of techniques for cleaning metal and other materials whose surfaces are dull, tarnished, or stained with oxidized metal (also called rust). Handling rusty metal objects and surfaces can be solved with three basic techniques:

Mechanical methods:Grinding, sanding and scrubbing.

Conversion methods: Prevent further spread of rust by using chemical solutions to convert the rust into a protective barrier.

Direct application:Soak, spray or wipe a removal product onto the surface.

In addition to metal, the word "rust" is often used to describe discoloration from hard water stains and reactive stains that occur on non-metallic surfaces such as porcelain, stone, wood, brick, concrete, fiberglass and vinyl. The rusty spots in bathtubs and toilets are common examples of non-metallic rust.

The reality of rust is that it is difficult to figure out. Many household items have rust stains mixed with paint or other coatings. This was the case with the steel table we tested. The legs were painted, the paint was worn in some places and there was rust between them. Our overall experience with the four (only four of our six were used on the table) rust removal products was that most of them darkened the rusted area but did not damage the paint. For these types of heavy cases, a more labor-intensive process with a paint stripper and/or a chemical rust remover is required.

Important features to consider

Home rust removers are packaged and applied in different ways. The most common applications are sprays, gels and liquid (i.e. immersion) forms. In addition to the effectiveness of the product in question, we also delved into the properties that consumers find most important.

Application form:Rust removal products are available in spray, gel and dip forms. The most useful products are those that can be sprayed onto the rust. While it's easy to spray on, it can still be difficult to know how much spray to use, but here's a tip: the location of the rusted item is important. If you spray on a vertical surface, the spray will drip onto the face and it can be difficult to apply the product evenly. The best way to deal with this is to spray a little at a time and work it in as you go.

Toxicity:This was an important consideration in our product choice. Toxicity refers to both the impact on the person using the product and the disposal of the product in the environment.We avoided products containing oxalic acid, a relatively abrasive and harmful chemical.Instead, we focused on products that didn't require respiratory protection and special handling, although we used gloves to avoid direct contact with the skin during application (and we recommend you do too). Some products, such as Iron Out – Rust Remover, warn that burns can occur that may not be immediately noticeable. Extra caution is required when using rust removing products.

Odor:Most of the products we tested had a relatively mild scent or no scent at all. If you are sensitive to odors, it is advisable to wear a respirator and goggles when applying rust remover. Because the products we tested were selected in part for being relatively environmentally friendly and non-toxic, none of the manufacturers recommended wearing a respirator during application.

Application duration:The recommended processing time is stated on all products. For some products a different prescribed time applies, depending on the severity of the rust and the type of surface treatment. Of the products we tested,Evapo-Rust – Super safe rust removerhad the widest range of recommended application times.

Efficiency from a single application:For domestic use, a single application is desirable. Since even the simplest application of a rust remover involves a certain amount of care, mess and cleanup, no one wants to go through multiple applications to achieve a good result unless absolutely necessary.

In short

An easy-to-use, non-toxic rust remover is a good item to have on hand and will help with everything from loosening locks, improving the appearance of tools and equipment, to restoring metal and other surfaces in an almost new state. We tested six rust removers in gel, liquid, and spray form to determine ease of use and effectiveness of results.

Our favorite overall product wasSpread – Rust Stain Remover Spray Gel, which worked extremely well on a rusted steel refrigerator door, an electric kettle, and nuts and bolts. Another incredibly practical product, WD-40 – Specialist Rust Release Penetrant Spray, has a long nozzle designed to penetrate rusted tool parts and loosen locks. We think it's a good idea to keep both fairly cheap products.

The other wasCLR – Limescale rust remover, which is effective on a variety of surfaces. However, as a liquid, CLR can be more difficult to apply than a spray, gel or spray gel, especially on vertical surfaces where it will drip down.