rust stains

[ce1993]

I was working on my teak with steel wool, thought I cleaned up all the steel shavings. But when I returned to the boat last weekend I had rust spots on the fiberglass. Tried scubbing them off with a bio-degradable soap but it didn't help. Anybody have any suggestions?John

 

[Al9586]

Ospho!

Ospho comes in quart bottles, and you can get it at a local hardware store for about $12-13. It has cleaned up rust on anything I have used it on (although I haven't tried teak yet). I keep a little in a spray bottle so the quart will last you a long time. Spray it on and give it a little time. Ospho is used to remove rust prior to painting something around the house. I highly recommend it.

 

[robert19826]

clr

clr does a great job and is less expensive, and easily available. throw away the steel wool. there is no place on a boat for it. a good hardware or marine store will carry bronze wool or stainless steel wool. you probably have steel slivers in the wood that will rust and turn your wood black. you may have to sand it off. with sand paper grit available from 60 grit to 2000 grit(auto parts store) why would anyone use steel wool or bronze wool or stainless steel wool on wood. i sometimes use stainless steel wool to remove stuborn rust on a bolt head or something.

 

[MikeC]

OSPHO?

How does it work on the stainless?

 

[jerry10848]

OXALIC ACID

I did the exact same thing with steel wool on my boat last year. Tried a variety of cleaners, including CLR, but none worked. I posted the problem here & got a reply to try oxalic acid. It's sold as a dry wood bleach at Home Depot. You mix it with warm water & apply to the stain. The stains disappeared like magic, no scrubbing.