Rust stains on carpet or fabric?
I had no idea there was anything to take rust marks out of fabric. Has anybody tried this product?
Forum Discussion
So it will likely damage the carpet or upholstery, right? I always thought rust ate up whatever it attached itself to. I guess we just can't win. :R
No. Rust ON something just sits there like any other colorant. When a car is rusting, the problem is the rust falls off and exposes more elemental iron (Fe0) which is converted to rust (Fe3+) in the presence of 1. salts and 2. water. Now aluminum also "oxidizes" but the ionic form of Al+ does NOT fall off and forms a protective barrier so the oxidizing aka rusting stops. Think of rust more like a stain that can be removed, but it is removed with acid. Weak acids can do fine but slowly, while strong acids work fast. BTW, acids also remove Calcium, which is why vinegar is poured into coffee makers to get rid of precipitated or elemental Calcium. Heated vinegar works faster.
In general the elemental form of metal is "solid", like shiny copper. But when exposed to air (oxygen), mild acid and water (rain) it oxidizes to that nice green color, the patina. Dark silver is also oxidized silver, it can be rubbed off, or, pushed back from the ionic form to silver metal by that method with aluminum and baking soda. All of this is about "who has the electrons". Metals have the electrons, ionic aka oxidized forms have lost their electrons. If you give silver back electrons by taking them from aluminum, you get silver metal back.
Ingrid now getting off her teacher soap box... sorry.
