Rust Stains on Whiye Vinyl

[tenzing]

Just doing a bit of mildew removal in the boat.
The staples on the backs of the vinyl seat cushions in the cabin are steel and have rusted badly, and aherever I have put the sat top on top of another one for access it has stained the WHITE vinyl.
So far it has resisted my efforts at removal. Products tried: Exit mould, CLR , Gumption.
Anybody got any clues??

Cheers
Brendan

[Prowl n Wolf]

hey brendan, have you tried star brite rust stain remover? it worked for me on a few spots. its available at that big fishing, camping and boating chain. regards, tony.

[tunaticer]

my mrs reckons try scrubbing with baking soda then adding lemon juice to the baking soda whilst scrubbing. Then my neighbor who was there as well said vinegar and baking soda.

[tenzing]

I can add vinegar and salt to the did not work list.
Have lemon on as I speak and at least a part of the fruit went into the neck of a corona - so a point for the lemon I guess
The star brite vinyl stain remover did not make any difference. Their rust stain remover says it is for fibreglass and painted surfaces. I was worried it would eat the vinyl.

Someone out there knows the answer to this !

Cheers
Brendan

[terry71]

try using eucalyptus oil

[Prowl n Wolf]

hey brendan, i have used the star brite rust remover on everything from vinyl to the storage cover and touch wood have not had any problems. i also use it on stainless rust runs and works a treat. regards, tony.

[greenie61]

There's an add at the top of each page on the site, this is in one of the adds http://www.k2r.com.au/ Rustiban,replaced by K2r Rust Stain Remover 4 Clothes,Fabric & Textiles.Washable & Non Washable

[lucee81]

Have you tried BAM.... or even bleach..

[tenzing]

Well this has been an interesting exercise.

Tony if I had taken your advice straight up I would have been done hours ago, But after a family lunch put the thing off for a few hours I did a bit of reading.
Rust of course is an iron oxide , and as such can be reduced by a number of acids with varying levels of efficiency and creating certain compounds as a result.

I believe that the star brite product's effective component is oxalic acid which is also the main component of timber deck cleaner. It breaks the rust down into a water soluble product and is not dreadfully unsafe if used carefully.

Hydrochloric acid (Muriatic acid)is cheaper and more effective in a shorter time , but is very dangerous to use and the resulting gas is quite toxic. It is pool acid

I could feel a trial coming on so I divided my cushions into 2 piles and did half with pool acid and half with deck cleaner ( both undiluted as in both cases the diluted solutions were pretty ineffective.)
The Pool acid was far and away the quicker and more effective cleaner but even it left some small marks behind.
So after reading how many people struggle with this I was pretty happy with the outcome, and as I already owned the chemicals the final cost was essentially nil.

PLEASE NOTE. I am NOT advocating that you go out and clean anything with Hydrochloric acid just because I did. I used hand and eye protection and had a good breeze at my back. I had running water handy the whole time

ALSO . Dont do this INSIDE your boat, all these cushions are removeable and were cleaned out in my yard away from children and pets.

Cheers
Brendan

[FishHunter]

White King Bathroom foam works for me

Sent from my Galaxy Tab using Tapatalk 2

[tenzing]

Yeah its a strange thing FH but exit mould and pool chlorine didnt help.
Dr google in fact suggests that bleach will make rust stains worse.
In the real world though whatever works eh. thanks for the tip
Brendan

[Midnight]

Yep, I would have gone with Oxalic acid.

Glad you got them clean.

Cheers