2018 test7 productsShop Chemicals & Lubricants
Which Rust Removers Brand Wins?
We compared 7 rust removers options head to head. Krud Kutter came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Winner
Krud Kutter
Price shown in test: 62 cents an ounce
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Runner-up
Evapo-Rust
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Nut Soak Test | Bolt Soak 24hr | Sheet Metal Paper Towel 1hr | Wrench Restoration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Krud Kutter62 cents an ounce | removed the most rust of all products fastest, all rust appeared removed after just 1 hour | looked absolutely amazing after 24 hours | quite a bit of rust byproduct accumulated on the paper towel, described as doing a pretty decent job considering it is designed for a longer application, presenter recommends using it for at least 3 to 4 hours | selected as the product to fully restore a rusty wrench; looked pretty good after 2 hours, very good after 4 more hours (8 total), and the presenter left it soaking for a total of 23 hours for maximum cleanliness, ending extremely impressed with the result |
| 2Evapo-Rust | removed some rust in the first hour but showed little additional improvement between 1 and 5 hours; by 10 hours looked pretty good but not as good as Krud Kutter | did a pretty good job, but still had some visible rust remaining in the threads after 24 hours | did not appear to do much on the paper towel test, very little accumulation | not used for the wrench restoration |
| 3CLR | started slow but was looking quite good by 10 hours, about as good as Krud Kutter at that point | quite a bit of rust still left after 24 hours | quite a bit of substance accumulated on the paper towel but rust was still visibly present on the metal; presenter said afterward it actually went down to bare metal in some areas | not used for the wrench restoration |
| 4white distilled vinegararound 2 to 3 cents per ounce | little to no visible improvement from 5 minutes through 10 hours, described as by far the least performing product tested at that stage | did a little bit of good on the threads but was by far the least performing product among the acids/rust removers tested | described as doing the best of the group at that point in the paper towel test, about as good as Krud Kutter but not quite as good as CLR | not used for the wrench restoration |
| 5Naval Jelly Loctite | did a great job removing rust by 5 hours and again by 10 hours, one of the better performers | did a pretty good job though some rust remained in the threads, seemed to perform better than CLR and vinegar but not as well as Evapo-Rust or Krud Kutter | described as doing the best of the products tested besides muriatic acid | not used for the wrench restoration |
| 6Coca-Cola | little to no visible rust removal from 5 minutes through 10 hours | removed a little bit of rust but not much, described as by far the least performing product | removed a little bit of rust but not much | not used for the wrench restoration |
| 7muriatic acid 31.45% hydrochloric acid | by far the cleanest and fastest of all products by 10 hours, stripped down to bare steel, but had started to eat into the metal itself | did by far the best at removing rust the quickest, but also took some metal with it | did the best of all products in this test | not used for the wrench restoration, presenter avoided it for this purpose because it is too powerful and tends to remove good steel along with the rust |
How it was tested
- nut soak test checked at 5 minutes, 1 hour, 5 hours, and 10 hours
- bolt soak test for 24 hours
- sheet metal surface application under a paper towel for 1 hour
- full wrench restoration soak using the winning product
“regarding products that I really like the best, I really liked Krud Kutter the best”
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