How to Get Rust Stains Off Concrete

We have a concrete driveway, and my husband left his snow tire chains under the porch all winter long and clean in to the summer. The other day I noticed the chains sticking out and moved them, fearing someone would trip on them on the way to the shed. Lo and behold, a lovely rust stain was left behind, right on the side of the porch and even underneath it for all to see. Leave it to my husband, however, to know exactly how to remove the rust stain he caused. Here’s how to easily remove a rust stain from concrete.

To remove a rust stain, you have to use an acid based liquid on the concrete surface to pull the stain out. Lemon juice will do the trick, simply pour a buttload of lemon juice all over the rusty spots and leave it there until it soaks in, about 5 minutes or so. Then scrub at the rust stain with either a scrub brush or a large swishy broom with rough bristles, like we used. Scrub in a circle to help break up the rust stain, adding a cup of water so you can kinda froth the stain up. It will look (and smell) a lot like drying blood. This means you’re getting somewhere.

Let the frothy, bloody-smelling mess sit for another 10 minutes or so, allowing the lemon juice (my husband said you can also use vinegar, but he doesn’t like the smell while he’s using it- he uses vinegar to clean his old tools a lot, like rusty nails or a rusty screwdriver and it makes them shiny) then rinse the concrete off with a hose. If you have a power washer, then you can almost forget about cleaning the stain and just blast the rust out of the concrete. Otherwise, you’ll have to put your thumb over the water stream to create pressure and blast the rust stain away.

If the stain is still slightly there (ours wasn’t) then pour vinegar on the rust stain that is still there, which is more acidic than lemon juice and will froth up the stubborn rust. Then repeat the same process again to get rid of the stain. Wear gloves when pouring vinegar or lemon juice, as the acidic liquid can really burn your cuts (like the lemon juice did to my blister). Ouch!

Source:

my husband, who successfully removed a rust stain on concrete before my very eyes (ooh, ahh…)


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