Rust stain from old waterleaks?

[BradFenstermaker]

Alright looking for a magic bullet here. Have a new customer with loads of industrial buildings.

The three I have been in so far have old water stains with rust on the outer edges. Either roof or old pipes leaking.

These are usually atleast 3-4 feet or bigger in diameter. Other than Winks rust remover is there something else?

Be nice to have a quart pump up ready to pretreat these monsters.

What cha got?

 

[BradFenstermaker]

Glad I'm not the only one without a clue.

Come one any suggestions?

 

[ACE]

Just use an strong acid. I don’t know if I would want to use that much hydrofluoric especially if there are windows nearby if you do be sure to neutralize with a high PH. You could use phosphoric (CLR) or glycolic; they will do the job but will require long dwell times.

 

[sweendogg]

Get some of the hydrox Releasit. Its designed especielly well for water stain issues. And encap the problem away if its commerical glue down carpet.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Brad is it really rust or is it browning from slow drying?

If rust PC Rust remover is very safe and usually takes it right out.

If browning we would use Yellow RX or similar anti Browing treatment. Spray on HWE or Pad off.

Hydrox works good too, as Sweeny mentioned.

 

[BradFenstermaker]

Thanks I will try those, most are in bad need for HWE so rinsing won't be a problem. Have some of the Hydrox from a sample to try next time.

 

[harryhides]

Brad, you need to do some testing on small areas to know just what you are dealing with before proceeding.

Water marks from tap water or well water are not quite the same as those from water that has traveled through who knows what, in the roof.
Sometimes water coming thru a roof contains some oils or asphalt, etc and will need some kind of solvent.

Wet out a square inch area and agitate to look for foam or excess soap residue that could interfere with the removal process if not rinsed out first.
Then clean a small area 3' x 3' with your regular pre-spray using a spotting machine - check what comes out.
Cleaning will do nothing to remove water marks or rust but will let you know what else lies in the carpet.
Towel off and speed dry with a fan. This is similar to using an OP machine with a cotton Pad.
Once dry if the test cleaned area really looks different or lots of residue came out, you will have to explain the facts to the customer.

Spray another area with 9% Peroxide - do NOT add ammonia for this - it is the best and fastest solution for water marks but not rust.
You can do another test area with an encap product as a comparison.
Rust marks should have a definite shape of the metal object that caused it. If it's just on the edge of large stain it is just a concentrated water mark usually found at the last place that the water
For heavy water marks, you will need to towel off the peroxide after a few minutes ( absorbing some of the minerals like iron oxide that are the visible element of a water mark) stand on the towel and then re-spray with some more peroxide and leave it to work.

Also, test a couple of rust removers on some areas.