water rust stain

[Dorie]

How do you remove water rust stains from the outside of the fiberglass rv? WD40 didn't work.

[Per Walthinsen]

Never tried it on gelcoat, but maybe you could experiment with Naval Jelly (no, not navel jelly). Anyone?

[Victor Benz]

CLR works great in fiberglass sinks and shower stalls.

Victor

[Gina D.]

Per, I have lint in there.

I just removed some rust from the INSIDE glass on my burro. I used a VERY fine grit sanding sponge. I just wiped it across, applying no pressure. I was suprised the gloss stayed intact.

I was willing to put up with a matt spot, but the stain had to go. No worse for the cleaning! Alls well.

[Doug Mager]

Sadly, I've NEVER had ANY luck with CLR....

[Pete Dumbleton]

Chemistry! The iron oxide penetrates the gelcoat -- Use a product like Naval Jelly or stuf from Home Depot that contains iron oxide-eating acid to get in there and eat the IO without damaging the gelcoat (Rust stains tend to come back in the same spots).

Swimming pool acid works fine except that you have to be VERY careful to keep the acid off any metal parts or it will eat them also -- Keep a water hose running and rinse everything down three times -- Use safety precautions for eyes and skin!!!

[Miriam]

Sadly, I've NEVER had ANY luck with CLR....

Yeah...what is it with that? Some people swear by it, but I've never found ANYTHING it could clean. Works no better than water for me. Hmph!

- Miriam

[Carol Ann in TO]

Yeah...what is it with that? Some people swear by it, but I've never found ANYTHING it could clean. Works no better than water for me. Hmph!

- Miriam

I had tried to clean the rust from both the sink and the kitchen counter with 3 or 4 products. The only one that worked was CLR Kitchen and Bath cleaner.

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Doug and Miriam,
CLR sure works well when cleaning calcium deposits from hard water. When I ran the maintenance program at Guide Dogs of the Desert we had misters to keep the dogs cooler in the outdoor kennels. The brass mister orifices would become clogged on a regular basis and we'd simply replace them with ones which had been soaked in CLR for about 10 or 15 minutes. They would come out all shiny clean. Works great around sink faucets also. It only reduced the rust stain in the bottom of our old porcelain claw-foot bath tub though.
Let us know if a truly efficient rust removing product turns up.
Dorie, thanks for starting this discussion!
Kurt & Ann K.

[Suz]

When I got my trailer it has a couple of really bad rust streaks on it. Mine was so oxidized that I wasn't too concerned out ruining the finish. I tried several things, but what seemed to be the most effective was a nonabrasive cleanser: Bar Keepers Friend. (I get it at the grocery store.) Initially, that removed most of it. Then I used a boat polish with cleaners. It was hardly noticeable and it eventually faded completely out.

Be sure to get rid of the offender or it will come right back.

This is one place that I have a before of. The picture isn't great, but if you click on it to enlarge, it might help see it better. It was really much worse than it shows in the picture.

[Donna D.]

There's a product that's been on the market for years and years. Found at most grocery stores called "Zud." I know it really works for cleaning rust stains on stainless steel. It's non-abrasive. And most of all very inexpensive. Comes in a "can" similar to Comet. Certainly would be worth a try.

[Debbie H]

We have a lot of iron in our well water and have used Iron Out to remove the stains from our bath tub and washing machine. The washing machine has both plastic and metal areas where the rust accumulates, Iron Out works every time. I've picked it up at Home Depot and Canadian Tire.

[Dorie]

Never tried it on gelcoat, but maybe you could experiment with Naval Jelly (no, not navel jelly). Anyone?

Per, I bought some naval jelly and it worked!! Wow. Thank you.
Dorie

[Dorie]

CLR works great in fiberglass sinks and shower stalls.

Victor

Heh Victor, thanks for the information. I will try CLR at some point on something. I think I will pick some up. I am getting so many good ideas on what takes off what that my supply list will be probably lengthy when I stock up on items.
Thanks for the info.
Dorie

[Dorie]

Per, I have lint in there.

I just removed some rust from the INSIDE glass on my burro. I used a VERY fine grit sanding sponge. I just wiped it across, applying no pressure. I was suprised the gloss stayed intact.

I was willing to put up with a matt spot, but the stain had to go. No worse for the cleaning! Alls well.

Now that's a neat idea! A fine grit sanding sponge. Never heard of it before. Am discovering lots of great things on the forum.
Thanks.
Dorie

[Dorie]

Chemistry! The iron oxide penetrates the gelcoat -- Use a product like Naval Jelly or stuf from Home Depot that contains iron oxide-eating acid to get in there and eat the IO without damaging the gelcoat (Rust stains tend to come back in the same spots).

Swimming pool acid works fine except that you have to be VERY careful to keep the acid off any metal parts or it will eat them also -- Keep a water hose running and rinse everything down three times -- Use safety precautions for eyes and skin!!!

Now I did not know any of that. Thanks for the info.
Dorie

[John & Sandy M]

I had rust stains on our Scamp door and a few places on the side of the cabin. I used a powdered rust remover intended to remove rust from driveways... available in the plumbing section of Lowes/Home Depot. Make a thick paste of the stuff and apply to the stain. Takes about 15 min. to work (reapply if really terrible stain). No rubbing so no abrasion of the gel coat. If the fitting can't be replaced with stainless- clean it to bare metal, mask and paint with a 95% zinc primer (available at auto stores and most hardware stores). I did this a year ago to a couple of offending fittings and no rust since.

[Jeff G.]

Hi there....


This is NOT that hard of a situation. No need to mess with all these chemicals.


Go to Wal-Mart, go to the camping/boat section, purchase 3m "Marine Fiberglass Restorer" in the white bottle. Rub it on the rust gently, and it instantly goes away. Its also the only easy product to use to remove oxidation on fiberglass. You can leave it as is as it contains wax, or you can coat it with Nu-Finish from Wal Mart depending on if you want a mirror finish. Nu-Finish alone will remove the rust, but you have to really polish as its not that abrasive. Nu-Finish after the 3m product will make the exterior look better than new. Its SIMPLE.

[John & Sandy M]

We have a lot of iron in our well water and have used Iron Out to remove the stains from our bath tub and washing machine. The washing machine has both plastic and metal areas where the rust accumulates, Iron Out works every time. I've picked it up at Home Depot and Canadian Tire.

The stuff I used was the same as used to remove rust stains from a driveway (also works great in sinks and toilets). It's a powder you can pick up at Lowes/Home Depot. Make it up as a paste and apply to the stain. Rinse the stuff off in about 15 min. Re-apply if necessary. I then masked and painted the offending fitting with 95% zinc primer and no additional problem now for two years (best would be replace with stainless steel if you can find the fitting).

[Tony Nowak]

Dorie,
When we got our '99 Scamp in 2002 it had been outside for 3 years and had a unsightly rust stain down the door,from the hold back hardware.We removed the hardware and tried everything to get the rust stain out.Finally heard about Rustolium (?sp) Rust Stripper on this site or Yahoo Scampers. I must say it worked like magic!
There is another product called Rust Remover by the same company,but I had no need for that after using the Stripper and don't know if it would work.
Hope this info isn't too late to help you!
Tony