Workshop Hero’s Metal Rescue

For this ‘Psyco product review let’s checkout Workshop Hero’s Metal Rescue
rust remover. In the past I have always used good old phosphoric acid for removing rust. In fact I have a 15 gallon tank of the stuff carefully stored away for cleaning old gas tanks & stuff like that. It really removes the rust quite well but it is also toxic, smelly and will corrode the base metal while removing the rust. To use it requires rubber gloves and eye protection.
Last year at the VMA swap meet in Eustis Florida, I bought a gallon of Metal Rescue from a vendor and brought it home, then I poured some out in a small container & dropped a couple of extremely rusty parts in it and left them overnight. The next day they were a little better but not as good as I hoped so threw them into the acid tank and stuck the Metal Rescue on a shelf under the workbench until last month (January 2015).
I’m in the very beginning stages of ruining a wonderful dirtbike by restoring it, so I decided to try the Metal Rescue on some of the chrome bits that really needed cleaning up. First I got a good bucket large enough to hold the parts with a good fitting lid to seal it up and poured the entire jug of rust remover into it.

After waiting a day I opened it up and this is what I found, meh give it another day.

This is a picture of the same after 3 days, I am not a happy camper at this point.

So I pick up the jug to look for a way to file a complaint and read the part of the instructions that says; “For best results, use at room temperature (68°F or 20°C) or above. Metal Rescue™ works optimally at room temperature (68°F or 20°C) and above, so it may require heating in cold temperatures.” Looks like using it in an unheated shop in January is out of the question unless you live closer to the Equator than I do or on the opposite side of it.
Determined to get my money’s worth out of this product I carried the bucket into the house and put it in the laundry room to warm up. When I checked on it the next day 90% of the rust was gone and on the fifth day of soaking the heat shield looked like this!

The rust was completely removed from both sides and I was very impressed. It probably would have helped a lot if I had read the instructions first. Since then I just keep this bucket of Metal Rescue in a safe place in the house. It is chemically safe with no hazardous ingredients and if you take care to ensure that no hazardous substances get into it, Metal Rescue can be safely disposed of in most sewer systems but check your local laws first.

To give you an idea of how much I like this product, I bought some more and put it into the bucket with what I already have. With the solution at room temperature it took less than 24 hours to clean up this headlight ring to the condition that you see here. Plus I was able to leave it assembled with all of the plastic parts & springs while it soaked something you would not dare do with acid.

The instructions do warn that if you leave plain steel parts in the Metal Rescue
too long that it will turn them dark after removing the rust. Plated parts don’t seem to be affected by this. The screws in the picture below illustrate this. Since I am going to be re-coating these screws it’s not an issue for me, but if you are restoring something that calls for a natural metal finish you should be aware of this.

What’s the bottom line, is it worth 25 -30 bucks a gallon? Yes, especially when you consider that if properly stored it can be used over & over combined with the fact that it is biodegradable and contains no VOCs, solvents, acids, bases or hazardous ingredients. Just be sure you read the dadgum instructions on the jug first. It really does work much better when it is warm.
Peace Y’all