Letter 28059

Need to remove rust on vinyl siding [Virginia] 

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Wanting to get rust stains off my chimney that the metal is started to run rust down the side of the house in the front. I heard that will will manatic acid is that true and will I need to get a professional to do the work or will that work with just a hose spraying it off... I have a light beige vinyl siding ... thank you.

Deborah Large
homeowner - Virginia Beach, Virginia

Should I read here, muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) instead of manatic acid? This will work most likely, as might citric acid. You would want to be careful your siding is not damaged, and so might want to try a small spot first. Rust is basically iron oxide, and that is attacked by a number of acids. The trick is to find the simplest and safest one that is effective and that does not attack the siding. I would try citric acid first, and then hydrochloric, though the latter is likely much easier to work with! Rubber gloves, and avoiding the fumes, etc., are in order.

Vincent E. Summers
- Charlottesville, VA, USA

An easy and safe way to get rid of "rust" stains on vinyl siding is to use "Lime-A-Way [link is to product info at Amazon]" cleaner. I worked as a maintenanceman for a local mobile home sales company and one of my responsibilities was to pressure wash the houses and keep the rust stains off. All of the houses used vinyl siding. For regular cleaning, use a diluted solution of chlorine bleach and water (about 1 in 10 parts). Bleach is a surface tension inhibitor (lubricant). Any built up dirt will run off of the vinyl siding within 2 to 3 minutes, then just spray fresh water on the siding. The rust stains are not real rust, but lime deposits. I spray the deposits with Lime Away and the deposits will dissolve within 1 or 2 days.

Raymond Bliss
- Jacksonville, FL, USA

 

Ed. note: You're experienced at it, Raymond, and if it works, it works. But we have a hard time agreeing with you that the deposits are actually lime.

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I have been watering my yard and not even caring about the well water hitting the siding on my garage and side of my house. I've read that possibly Lime Away for a form of citric acid or hydrochloric acid might work. How would I apply these solvents and is there something in a name brand available that might be easier on me?
thanks a lot in advance!

Ted Trulley
- Mokena, IL, United States

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