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-----:Can Lime Away clean rust stains in my washing machine?
Quickstart:
Lime Away, CLR, vinegar, and lemon juice are mild acids. While they can dissolves rust, they'll probably promote continuing rust. Better to wire brush, apply rust converter, and re-paint.
Q. The inside of my washing machine is all rusted around the bottom of machine. A friend suggested I try Lime-A-Way ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] to soak and clean it. Can I do this ? Thank you in advance......Kathie
Kathie Vigliottihomeowner - Rochester, New York
2007
A. Disconnect it, tip it on its back, steel brush the rust and spray paint. Fix the leak (hose?). Hook it back up. Get ready to buy a new one.
James Watts- Navarre, Florida
A. Hi, Kathie. Although Lime Away or C-L-R might be useful for removing the rust, the way to deter continuing rust would be to use a rust converter
⇦ on
eBay
or
Amazon [affil link]
on it after the wire brushing and before painting.
I think I'll somewhat disagree with James on planning for replacement, because my experience has been that the older a washing machine is, the longer a life it has in front of it 🙂
I've got a real Maytag, from back when that name used to mean something. It's 35 years old and I'm confident it will still be in service after the (ahem) "Maytag" (ahem) you buy today is in the junk yard 🙂
(Maytag, JennAir, Kitchen Aid, & Amana are all actually just Whirlpool products now -- I wouldn't expect one to be higher quality than another anymore since the same management is deciding how important quality is or isn't). But design engineers are human and make good & bad decisions, lucky & unlucky choices, so when you need a replacement unit, go to Consumer Reports to discover which ones worked out better 🙂
Paint won't old up in place of porcelain (which is closer to glass than to paint) though. If it's a porcelained or stainless steel tub, dabbing a bit of hydrogen peroxide
⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link]
on rust stains will remove them.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
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