Which Rust Removers Brand Wins?
In our test 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.
Krud Kutter
Price shown in test: 62 cents an ounce
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Evapo-Rust
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“regarding products that I really like the best, I really liked Krud Kutter the best”
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Nut Soak Test
- 1Krud Kutter
removed the most rust of all products fastest, all rust appeared removed after just 1 hour
- 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
- 3CLR
started slow but was looking quite good by 10 hours, about as good as Krud Kutter at that point
- 4white distilled vinegar
little to no visible improvement from 5 minutes through 10 hours, described as by far the least performing product tested at that stage
- 5Naval Jelly Loctite
did a great job removing rust by 5 hours and again by 10 hours, one of the better performers
- 6Coca-Cola
little to no visible rust removal from 5 minutes through 10 hours
- 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
Bolt Soak 24 Hr
- 1Krud Kutter
looked absolutely amazing after 24 hours
- 2Evapo-Rust
did a pretty good job, but still had some visible rust remaining in the threads after 24 hours
- 3CLR
quite a bit of rust still left after 24 hours
- 4white distilled vinegar
did a little bit of good on the threads but was by far the least performing product among the acids/rust removers tested
- 5Naval Jelly Loctite
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
- 6Coca-Cola
removed a little bit of rust but not much, described as by far the least performing product
- 7muriatic acid 31.45% hydrochloric acid
did by far the best at removing rust the quickest, but also took some metal with it
Sheet Metal Paper Towel 1 Hr
- 1Krud Kutter
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
- 2Evapo-Rust
did not appear to do much on the paper towel test, very little accumulation
- 3CLR
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
- 4white distilled vinegar
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
- 5Naval Jelly Loctite
described as doing the best of the products tested besides muriatic acid
- 6Coca-Cola
removed a little bit of rust but not much
- 7muriatic acid 31.45% hydrochloric acid
did the best of all products in this test
Wrench Restoration
- 1Krud Kutter
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
not used for the wrench restoration
- 3CLR
not used for the wrench restoration
- 4white distilled vinegar
not used for the wrench restoration
- 5Naval Jelly Loctite
not used for the wrench restoration
- 6Coca-Cola
not used for the wrench restoration
- 7muriatic acid 31.45% hydrochloric acid
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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