Oldgas.com Home  

Click here for Petro Porcelain Sign auction listings


Home | Help | Events | Auctions | Parts | Pictures | Links | Contact
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 2 of 3 1 2 3
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 84
Active Member
Offline
Active Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 84
I have always used The Works Toilet Bowl Cleaner from Target and it works wonders for taking out the rust staining. Wear gloves though or you will feel a burning sensation.


Matt Jamison
Please use For Sale forums to sell

Please - NO offers to Buy or Sell in this forum category

Statements such as, "I'm thinking about selling this." are considered an offer to sell.
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,348
Likes: 1
Veteran Member
Offline
Veteran Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,348
Likes: 1
...Kevin and Dave: how about the gloss? It's hard to tell from the photos...thanks...


Looking for better Gulf items: signs, globes, cans and paper - especially porcelain Gulf flanges, and Gulf A-38 & A-62 ad glass...
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 8,818
Likes: 2
Veteran Member
Offline
Veteran Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 8,818
Likes: 2
I have never noticed any dulling or loss of gloss due to the use of the acid.


Dave GILL,
Dave's Garage & Memorabilia, Inc.
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,050
Likes: 4
Veteran Member
Offline
Veteran Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,050
Likes: 4
I heard that muretic acid can dull the gloss on some of the real old blue porcelain. Also don't breath the fumes from it.


US Air Force Retired, 1981-2007
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,262
Likes: 1
Veteran Member
Offline
Veteran Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,262
Likes: 1
Clarification. I wash the sign first to get off any gunk the acid would have to work through to get to the rust. Acid is applied after it is dry. I use a spray bottle-be aware of acid drift coming back on you in a breeze and of course fumes will be present.

As far as loss of gloss, I have not experienced any, but as the TV disclaimer states, your results may differ. I don't know of another medium that works as well and as consistently.


Collecting the Mississippi companies:
Billups, Southland, Rose Oil,Crystal Oil, Barq's
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 112
T
Petro Enthusiast
Offline
Petro Enthusiast
T
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 112
my 2 cents. I don't like the m. acid - never worked on really tough/deep dark porcelain stains for me yet - don't breath that stuff at all like already stated. Search on this site.. good info.. from past on this. Try mother's chrome polish (drugmart, kmart) or Weidmans stove top cleaner and green scratch pads -- takes time and work but does the job. Couple times for me on a really tough porcelain stain not even m. acid would cut it when these other 2 did nothing - m. acid was my last resort and nil affect. Just what I have experienced. be safe.

Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 12,282
Likes: 12
Veteran Member
Offline
Veteran Member
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 12,282
Likes: 12
I have never experienced any loss of gloss from the muriatic acid, but then I don't leave it on any longer than is necessary to do the job either. As soon as I have cleaned a piece to my satisfaction, I simply drench it with a pail of water and wipe dry.
It takes very little time to remove the rust stains, so you're looking at 5 minutes or less, on most applications.


Everything Cities Service
Specializing in old Gas Pumps
kwfrith@gondtc.com
Cell#-701-739-6133
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 20
O
Member
Offline
Member
O
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 20
This is a wonderful thread, but I still have a question -- I know muriatic acid is highly corrosive, especially for metal. Is this a problem for a sign with some loss of porcelain? Will using muriatic acid further corrode the rust spots where porclain has been lost, or cause a loss of more porcelain on that part of the sign? Does washing it off well with water take care of the problem. Again, any help would be appreciated. This is really a great site for assisting the novice collector. Thanks.

Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 629
Petro Enthusiast
Offline
Petro Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 629
I have used toilet bowl cleaner and CLR . The CLR will take the rust off any bare metal and you can dry it and use a touch up clear coat on bare metal to keep rust away. Not saying to clear the whole sign just bare spots.


Remember you are only as good as your help
If you don't make any noise no one will hear you!
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 395
Petro Enthusiast
Offline
Petro Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 395
I have also used muratic acid with success. Never any ghosting or gloss fading. I don't recommend someone use acid on darker colored porcelain until they have some experience using it. I have also used bar keepers friend and think it does a good job. But, nothing has worked better and been easier than IronX. Quality of cleanliness is equal to Muratic acid. Level of effort, is almost zero. Acid you have to be quick, do some scrubbing, be extremely careful, have the water on stand bye, and not let it get on anything. It takes me 20 minutes to get ready for 5 minutes of work. Iron X, just spray on, wait 10 minutes, wipe it off with a sponge, and then hose off the sign. I have never encountered rust stains that I couldn't get off with acid or IronX. Sometimes I may have to use a light grade of steel wool like you have in your kitchen for tougher rust spots. Muratic Acid or Hydrochloric acid is sold to every car wash in the country. When used properly, it should never take the shine or dull the color on anything.


Check out my finds at Mantiquities on Facebook!!!!

facebook.com/pages/Mantiquities/167580613447712
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 12,282
Likes: 12
Veteran Member
Offline
Veteran Member
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 12,282
Likes: 12
Muriatic acid will not cause additional porcelain loss on a damaged area. If applied enough times, it will completely remove all rust residue and after drying, that area is prone to flash rusting again in a short time. It will just be a surface rust, but will give problems with an area that will be painted, so additional metal care is warranted if the area is to be left bare for a period of time.
Get a piece of rusty metal out and experiment! Then you'll know what happens in most situations! You don't want to always rely on the experience of others, as there are too many variables!!


Everything Cities Service
Specializing in old Gas Pumps
kwfrith@gondtc.com
Cell#-701-739-6133
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 395
Petro Enthusiast
Offline
Petro Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 395
Toilet bowl cleaner also has hydrochloric acid in it. It is just a diluted version of Hydrochloric acid. HC and muratic acid are essentially the same thing. Muratic acid will eat concrete if it stays on it and can be very dangerous if inhaled. You should never leave it on porcelain longe enough it could eat through it. It's not like instantly it will eat through stuff. It will start to produce vapors and look like its smoking. But, as Kevin said, after you wipe it off. Run a healthy amount of water on whatever porcelain you apply it to. The water completely dilutes it. Toothpaste can also clean up stuff very well. It's way to expensive and not practical to use. But, it works wonders on anything that has oxidized in the sunlight. It supposedly will take the fog out of a headlight lense.


Check out my finds at Mantiquities on Facebook!!!!

facebook.com/pages/Mantiquities/167580613447712
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 2,194
Veteran Member
Offline
Veteran Member
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 2,194
IronX it is for me. Had too good of results to not use it in the future
Dan


Quart and Liter can relidding and dent removal services.PM for detail and pricing.
Collecting Mobil and other graphic quart cans.
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 86
F
Active Member
Offline
Active Member
F
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 86
I have tried Iron-x, Bar keepers friend, muric acid.. ive also tried a lot of random weird things as well. The thing I stand behind the most is ZUD, its Hands down my favorite cleaner of all time. sometimes it takes a little more scrubbing but I have never lost gloss or hurt any signs. Ive even used it CAREFULLY on some painted sings with success. It cleans rust stains like its nothing. I wet the sign, and apply liberally and scrub just enough to make sure all the sign is covered then I let it sit for 3-5 minutes, finally I scrub the entire sign (spending more time in bad areas) with a short bristled brush and rinse. Love it!

The pictured sign is about 32"x32" and the whole process took 10-15 minutes.

zud2.jpg zud.jpg zud3.jpg
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,369
Likes: 1
Veteran Member
Offline
Veteran Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,369
Likes: 1
Heres a idea I have used and it works somewhat...Pure bleach and let it soak for a day ...sometimes it fades the rust stain away...Sometimes not so much. Good luck.


Looking for Keystone,Pure,Sinclair,Texaco,Sterling and Gulf...Thanks, Brian
Page 2 of 3 1 2 3

Moderated by  Oldgas, Ryan Underthun 

Link Copied to Clipboard

Click here for Gas Pump auction listings

Copyright © 2023 Primarily Petroliana Interactive, All Rights Reserved

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5