While stainless steel is known for its corrosion-resistant properties compared to the tool or mild steel. Just as its name suggests, it is stain-“less” steel instead of stainproof steel. Sadly, in several situations, even stainless steel can form corrosion which can look like mild tea staining discolouration to flaky, thick rust. This can create a situation of panic for owners of stainless steel equipment, railings, tanks, sinks, grills, appliances, sculptures, boat hardware and other objects which turn ugly due to the thick layer of rust. Because of this, “How to Remove Rust from Stainless Steel?” becomes an important question. The exciting news is that rust on stainless steel can easily be removed and prevented from quick recurrence if the proper steps are followed.

One of the most common reasons behind rusting on stainless steel is surface iron contamination that was collected during or after manufacturing, and the alloy structure change along the heat-affected zone of welds. These are corrosion situations that should be protected with proper passivation but are sometimes ignored. Moreover, even stainless steel that has been passivated properly can still be attacked by rust due to chloride formation because of harsh chemicals such as muriatic acid as well as long term susceptibility to highly corrosive environments such as marine areas, swimming pools, winter ice-melting salts, or repeated cleaning with bleach-based cleaners. In these situations, frequent rinsing with clean water is helpful to take away the chlorides from the surface, but regular re-passivation is also prescribed in order to keep the stainless steel looking intact and nice.

In case, corrosion occurs, be it just a little “tea staining” discoloration or full-fledged rust, it is crucial to deal with it as soon as possible. The longer the corrosion remains, the worse it will get and may even lead to very severe pit corrosion.

Taking off the rust from stainless steel is not at all difficult and can be done with the help of several different chemicals, grinding, abrasives, blasting, etc. However, these methods do not take into account the integral issue of passivation to help protect the stainless steel from future corrosion. This is the most essential part of fixing the rust issue because efforts to remove it seem wasted if the rust comes back again rapidly.

Products used to remove rust from stainless steel

You can get many environmentally friendly, citric acid-based CitriSurf products that ease the process by performing both tasks in one treatment so that the stainless surface stays beautiful and clean for as long as possible. Hence, Passivation with Citric Acid is quick, easy, safe and inexpensive. Now when you know what and How to Remove Rust from Stainless Steel, you can keep your equipment maintained and functioning for years to come.