Thread: EDTA for rust removal.

In the spirit of experimentation I decided to use EDTA to try and improve the cosmetics of the steel I was working on.

Some EDTA background for those who don't know.

This is lifted directly from Wikipedia, and is accurate, to my knowledge.

"Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, widely abbreviated as EDTA (for other names, see Table), is a polyamino carboxylic acid and a colourless, water-soluble solid. Its conjugate base is named ethylenediaminetetraacetate. It is widely used to dissolve limescale. Its usefulness arises because of its role as a hexadentate ("six-toothed") ligand and chelating agent, i.e. its ability to "sequester" metal ions such as Ca²⁺ and Fe³⁺. After being bound by EDTA, metal ions remain in solution but exhibit diminished reactivity. EDTA is produced as several salts, notably disodium EDTA and calcium disodium EDTA."

I heated (am heating) steel bolts, and a razor in a small bat of EDTA solution. I was hoping for the rust to dissolve into the Chelating agent EDTA. It worked quite well, I am still working on the razor, as I only added that after I saw it was safe for the bolts and stuff.

I brushed it with a BRASS wire brush because brass is a soft metal, and will do less damage to the steel. It will unfortunately taint the surface of the steel with brass because of this same quality, you can just polish it off.

Washer Before EDTA submersion, and after using a brass wire brush:

Washer after a short time in the EDTA:

Washer after about 20 minutes and a brass wire brushing.


This appears to have been mostly successful.

Now for the razor I am only working the end of the razor:
Before EDTA submersion, and after using a brass wire brush:

Razor after a short time in the EDTA:

Razor now (I am going to carry on with the EDTA):

Another picture, after about 45 mins:


Where is the rust, I hear you ask ...

There was a lot more, but I poured that away to get a better picture.

this is awesome! is this process difficult to do? what would I need to do this?
I have been thinking of trying out a jewellry cleaning machine that I have also

Originally Posted by saitou

this is awesome! is this process difficult to do? what would I need to do this?
I have been thinking of trying out a jewellry cleaning machine that I have also

Hey There

So you need to get some EDTA from eBay. Before you open up the package, read about EDTA, what it does and what you need to do to be safe. I did this in an old pan that I am never going to use for cooking again. You need a soft metal brush, and some tissue paper. That is it.