iron rusts in concrete

[pyroracing85]

Okay, when I cut my metal I get steel dust. Well it has been rusting my concrete. How can I clean this up?

Also, is it legal to have a bunch of steel dust and let the rain wash it away?

[MoonRise]

Well, the concrete isn't rusting. The steel dust -on- the concrete is rusting, and that rust is making a rust stain -on- the concrete.

Don't get or leave the steel dust on the concrete and you won't get rust stains.

Your choice as to how you get rid of the steel dust.

As to 'legal'? There is probably some enviro-nazi rule or regulation about it. And for businesses, the rules and regs are often (but not always) a whole other level compared to a homeowner/hobby.

You want legal advice? Ask a lawyer. Seriously.

[MoonRise]

.....

[DSW]

Some acids will help remove rust stains, but the best way is to avoid the problem to begin with. I'd suggest a leaf blower to help remove the dust over washing. Usually when you wash the metal dust will find a spot and drop out as soon as the flow decreases enough. Then you just end up with rust in all those low spots.

A magnet would also work, but you'd need to be sure to get everything, then how do you clean the magnet?


Or just acid stain your concrete a nice reddish color so you can't tell there's rust there!

[Mundy]

Muriatic Acid followed by Baking Soda. You can get the acid at a hardware or pool supply.

[Oldiron2]

Hydrochloric acid is too hard on the concrete; use oxalic acid ("Wood bleach") if you don't want to eat the concrete surface away.
To remove steel filings from magnets, dip them in molten wax, let the wax solidify enough to hold together, and then peel it away; it can be melted again and poured away from the steel chips to recover most of it, or be distilled off and recovered if you want to get really fancy.
Or, first wrap thin Saran Wrap around the magnet to make the last bit of filings come off easier.

[Bluewelders]

Some people put the iron grinding dust on their lawns, never tried it myself.

[Jack Olsen]

Part of my garage briefly flooded a couple of months ago. I had enough steel dust on the floor to generate rust stains on my tile. Cleaning it was not easy -- in fact, cleaning dried oil-based overspray from the tiles is much easier. I tried a few things, including CLR Cleaner at full strength (it advertises itself as being for calcium, lime and rust). Nothing took it up easily. My best luck was with ordinary Ajax powdered bleach cleaner and a Scotch Brite pad. With concrete, a mixture of Ajax and water might work with a stiff-bristled steel or stainless brush. The longer I let the bleach soak on the tile, the easier it came up.

I fixed the cause of the flooding, but clean up pretty quickly after grinding now. I also put welding blankets down underneath where I'm welding. I learned that nothing cleans up the burns from slag on ceramic.

In a perfect world, I'd have an uglier place to weld and a prettier place for car work and home projects.

[pyroracing85]

Originally Posted by Jack Olsen

Part of my garage briefly flooded a couple of months ago. I had enough steel dust on the floor to generate rust stains on my tile. Cleaning it was not easy -- in fact, cleaning dried oil-based overspray from the tiles is much easier. I tried a few things, including CLR Cleaner at full strength (it advertises itself as being for calcium, lime and rust). Nothing took it up easily. My best luck was with ordinary Ajax powdered bleach cleaner and a Scotch Brite pad. With concrete, a mixture of Ajax and water might work with a stiff-bristled steel or stainless brush. The longer I let the bleach soak on the tile, the easier it came up.

I fixed the cause of the flooding, but clean up pretty quickly after grinding now. I also put welding blankets down underneath where I'm welding. I learned that nothing cleans up the burns from slag on ceramic.

In a perfect world, I'd have an uglier place to weld and a prettier place for car work and home projects.

Nice car.

I was thinking about renting a pressure washer for the job. Do you guys think it would work?

[DSW]

The pressure washer probably won't work. The rust is in the surface of the concrete, not just laying on top. To remove it with the pressure washer, you'd have to remove the surface of the crete. It's posible to do that if the concrete is relatively new and has a high portland content on the surface, but you will be damaging the crete in the process.

If you want to remove the surface, sand blasting would be a better choice.

[pyroracing85]

Originally Posted by DSW

The pressure washer probably won't work. The rust is in the surface of the concrete, not just laying on top. To remove it with the pressure washer, you'd have to remove the surface of the crete. It's posible to do that if the concrete is relatively new and has a high portland content on the surface, but you will be damaging the crete in the process.

If you want to remove the surface, sand blasting would be a better choice.

Hmm... Interesting thought.

Then I guess back to chemicals

[Billdacat]

Jack Olsen
What material is covering the floor? Is it tile?
BTW: Nice man cave...

[Stick-man]

Originally Posted by Bluewelders

Some people put the iron grinding dust on their lawns, never tried it myself.

I used to work at a company which produced iron powder (consistancy of baby powder) from a ball mill. People used to ask me to grab them some for their lawn. I never heard the results.

[Oldiron2]

Some people put the iron grinding dust on their lawns, never tried it myself.

It all depends on the soil and what it lacks, if anything. Cast iron chips were supposed to be good for Roses, according to the wife of a retired Machinist who gave me a hundred gallons of chips left from machining some engines; somewhere I have the analysis, which includes manganese.
My chips may someday be 'devoured' by a small cupola!

[six]

Just use some muratic acid (diluted with h2o) and scrub it in with a broom. Have good ventilation. Watch it bubble and rinse away. I usually mix pretty strong. I had a pressure washing business for about 10 years and we did lots of pee gravel driveways that had iron ore mixed in and would leave rust stains.. Just don't walk through the muratic acid and then through the yard or else you will see your footsteps tomorrow and the next few days. Water down any areas that the run off will go so that it is even more diluted after run off. I used a 2 gallon hand pump sprayer from any home depot/lowes/walmart.

[MrBill]

WOW!!!!! Jack. What a great looking garage. Gorgeous car.

[mooseye]

We use to have a guy that came by every so often to get drill shavings. He said they were great for grape vines.
Also, I don't think a magnet will pick up iron oxide. Only the steel that is not burned.

[Jack Olsen]

Originally Posted by Billdacat

Jack Olsen
What material is covering the floor? Is it tile?
BTW: Nice man cave...

Thanks.

It's ceramic tile.

It cost .68/sf at Home Depot and cleans up easy -- like I said above, a little acetone on a paper towel cleans dried spraypaint off of it. It's not glossy like bathroom tile -- I haven't had any issues with it being slippery when it's wet. I chipped the glazing on one tile when I dropped a 70-lb vise from a 37" bench, but the tile underneath it didn't crack. I don't know if I'll always be that lucky in terms of durability, but so far I'm happy with it. I jack up the car, drop tools -- no problems so far.

Still, when there's going to be molten metal, I throw a welding blanket down:



More about the garage build here.

[Oldiron2]

Also, I don't think a magnet will pick up iron oxide. Only the steel that is not burned.

Iron has a number of different oxides; ordinary rust is not magnetic but mill scale (Fe3O4) is.

[MrBill]

Nice to see it doesn't always look that clean Jack. I was wondering if you did any work at all in there.

[gimpyrobb]

I have had good luck wrapping the magnet with a paper towel. Pick up the iron, pull towel away from magnet, chips fall in trash. Ymmv.

[mjb]

My belt grinder is at the entrance to the garage, so I always have steel dust on the driveway. If I remember to hose it off, the rust stains are minimal. If I leave it overnight and the moist air gets to it, rust everywhere.

I use this stuff every six months or so and it works well on my concrete. http://www.theruststore.com/Concrete...er-P66C29.aspx

I will take some before and after pics next time I do it.

[dave_welder]

Originally Posted by pyroracing85

Okay, when I cut my metal I get steel dust. Well it has been rusting my concrete. How can I clean this up?...

good luck. I never *ever* found anything to get the rust stains out of MY driveway (car battery 'gave up the ghost' and, for whatever reason, caused rust stains on driveway). may (or may not've) had something to do with dust from my welding grinders. I tried everything: wire brushes, comet, rust-cleaner powders, driveway cleaners, muriatic acid, ALL of it, some 'more than 1 at a time', nothing ever worked...

I'm -strongly- in the 'use the leafblower to blow it onto the lawn, or -way- out into the street, *before* it rains again' school...

[Big65mopar]

Coke a Cola works wonders on rust.

Given the price of metal in the market I would catch the dust and bin it for recycling and not only would you be making a bit of change but keeping your place cleaner.

Nice garage Jack sharp as a pin in all aspects.

[DrmChld]

What about CLR?

That garage looks to nice to be used. I'd be afraid of making a mess and then having to clean it up.